Handling of police sex cases 'a crock'

Standing-down a policeman accused of rape without asking whether he had an alibi has been criticised as an example of police headquarters putting public relations before commonsense.

The policeman, who subsequently resigned from the force, was suspended in May last year.

His accuser, a 44-year-old Waikato woman, is to be sentenced next month for making false allegations against him and a non-sworn female police worker.

A detective, who did not wish to be named, said: "An innocent guy has been scarred for life. Anyone can make an allegation and you could be gone by dinner. It's a crock."

Police Association president Greg O'Connor said this case and the handling by the Police Commissioner's office of the pornographic email scandal were examples of a culture change given impetus by the Louise Nicholas allegations of rape against several policemen.

The office has defended the practice of standing down staff accused of serious crimes as "long-established standard procedure".

Superintendent Stuart Wildon, national manager of professional standards, said officers accused of serious offences were often stood down to remove any risk of interference with the inquiry.

That might be perceived as prejudging the case but Mr Wildon said this had to be balanced against what he believed was a public expectation the officer should be removed.

Serious allegations had to be taken seriously and inquiries could take weeks or months.

Being seen to be accountable was a reality of being a police officer.

Mr O'Connor said the police administration, pressured by the Government, was keen to be seen to be cracking down on errant behaviour. The appointment of civilians to senior executive positions, including deputy commissioner, brought a determination to be seen to be "squeaky clean".

"The irony is our reputation has never been so sullied," he said.

"There is a serious danger we are beating ourselves up for what we may have been like 15 years ago. We have changed considerably."

As a consequence, decisions were often left to the Crown Law Office and Crown Solicitors to make and there was a tendency to send doubtful cases to court, which "completely disregards the impact on the police officer who is suspended for 12 months", Mr O'Connor said.

Police spokesman Jon Neilson said reviews by Crown Solicitors, the Crown Law Office and the Solicitor-General helped to ensure there was sufficient evidence to send cases to court.

Mr O'Connor, however, said police rank and file saw the approach by headquarters as "puritanical, never more manifest than in the way we went public on the emails".

"That isolated the eighth-floor OOC [Office of the Commissioner] from the rest of the organisation."

The email investigation involved 5000 images and 327 police staff. Most accepted the images were inappropriate. Cases of 30 to 40 more serious images are yet to be determined.