KEY POINTS:
The police supervising officer was known as a ladies' man.
Any policewoman wearing a dark-coloured bra got her bra strap pinged by him, an officer who worked with him told the Bazley inquiry.
The officer and his district are not named in the report of the Commission of Inquiry into Police Conduct but his sexual harassment activities are recent.
In 2002 an entire police team made a complaint of sexual harassment against him, the report says. During an investigation into his conduct, it was established he had been displaying sexually inappropriate behaviour since 1994.
An officer who worked with him said it was well known he had "a huge reputation for being a ladies' man and for being responsible for acts of sexual harassment".
The officer said: "Without a doubt, everybody who had worked at [name of police station] for any period of time and who knew [alleged offender] would have been aware of his reputation and some of his antics."
Another officer said she experienced the bra-pinging but didn't think anything of it. "I just took it to be part of his personality ... I wasn't singled out. It was across the board. It was his general behaviour towards the women constables."
When formal complaints were laid, the officer was stood down and left the job, so the police were unable to proceed with any internal disciplinary charges.
In her report, Dame Margaret Bazley said police investigated 76 complaints of sexual harassment between 1979 and 2005.
Women officers experienced considerable problems getting sexual harassment complaints upheld in the 1980s, but in the 1990s files revealed increasing recognition by police staff of the existence of unacceptable attitudes and efforts to combat them.
She said changes to policy and processes for dealing with harassment since the mid-1990s appeared to have been effective.
"One female officer, who had made a complaint of sexual harassment at the start of her police career but who had persisted with her choice of career, described the work environment and police culture as being now a very positive one."
But Dame Margaret noted persistent difficulties in encouraging potential complainants to make official complaints and recommended an annual audit of the safety of women staff.
Police Minister Annette King said yesterday that women comprised 16.2 per cent of the police force, compared with 14 per cent when Dame Margaret's report was commissioned three years ago.
- NZPA
