KEY POINTS:
An independent report into police recruit standards needs to be completed without further allegations being made, Police Commissioner Howard Broad said yesterday.
The Dominion Post reported that a paper by the police human resources general manager, Wayne Annan, appeared to have sanitised the results of recruits, and the Prime Minister and public might have been misled in the process.
The Government sought a third and independent assessment after two conflicting reports.
The first, by Police College trainer Iain Saunders, showed a decline in standards. One recruit had to be taught how to write the alphabet, and the need to give extra training to poor performers had increased by 150 per cent, that report said.
Mr Annan's subsequent report said the standards were high.
However, the two reports were based on the same data and comparisons showed the positive report omitted poor test results.
In one instance 33 recruits who scored poorly - 18 per cent of the sample - were omitted from one graph and one low scorer who should not have been accepted into the college was left off another graph.
Organisational psychologist Dave George was appointed by the Government three weeks ago to provide an independent assessment of the standards of police recruits.
Mr Broad said yesterday that work needed to be completed without further allegations being made.
"There is internal debate about what weight can be placed on various testing methods and there are certainly differing opinions about the standard of recruits and training practices," he said.
"What the Dave George work will do is to illuminate the facts and set aside conjecture. Meantime, we need to let Mr George complete his work before jumping to any further conclusions."
Prime Minister Helen Clark said that given the conflicting versions, it was time for "someone independent to come through the middle and tell us where he thinks the truth lies".
Dr George's report is expected to be finished in September.
- NZPA
