Police move to stamp out 'sick' culture

Judge Bruce Davidson said the police culture that led to this photo was 'sick'.

Police moved swiftly yesterday to set up a sweeping inquiry into what a judge described as a "sick" culture within the force.

Announcing the investigation, Assistant Police Commissioner Peter Marshall said he wanted to maintain public confidence in the police.

"I want to assure the public that police will do everything to identify any other culprits and put an end to this abhorrent kind of behaviour as quickly as possible.

"We will go where the investigation takes us."

The inquiry follows a court case in which a senior sergeant was this week found guilty of assault.

Evidence emerged during the hearing of police practices including joke photographs (right) of machete-wielding men making death threats and the photographing of suspects who had been made to wear demeaning signs.

Senior Sergeant Anthony Solomona, who was then section chief of the Wiri-based emergency response unit, was found guilty of assault.

He was acquitted on three further charges of assault and one of assault with a weapon.

But Judge Bruce Davidson in the Papakura District Court strongly condemned "some disturbing police practices" that came to light during the judge-alone trial.

Manukau-Counties District Commander Steve Shortland has enlisted the help of the Police Commissioner's office in the inquiry, which will look at officers "aligned" to Solomona during his tenure. The Police Complaints Authority is also being consulted.

Solomona, the husband of a Youth Court judge, has been on suspension since last April.

The inquiry will focus on the activities of Solomona's Section 4, which was disbanded as part of a police restructuring last March.

Mr Marshall told National Radio last night that the actions of the officers involved were "bizarre, appalling and should never have been allowed to happen".

Though he would not be drawn on Solomona's fate, Mr Marshall said such police officers constituted a tiny portion of the force's 9000 members.

Mr Shortland said everyone who served on Section 4 was potentially a target, and investigators would follow up claims from "anyone who approaches with a story to tell".

The investigation is expected to be completed in a few weeks.

Police staff in the Counties-Manukau district were put under the spotlight after Solomona was found guilty of assaulting 17-year-old Angelo Turner at a South Auckland service station last March.

Judge Davidson strongly condemned what he said were disturbing police practices including photographing a 15-year-old boy wearing a sign that read: "I belong to Senior Sergeant Solomona."

The court was also shown a photograph of a man in police uniform and balaclava swinging a machete and axe and wearing a sign saying: "RIP to Section 4".

Judge Davidson said the practices may be reasonably widespread, especially in South Auckland.

"In my view, the culture is as sick as the joke."

Mr Shortland said he was appalled at police officers photographing members of the public and themselves in unacceptable circumstances.

Solomona had told the judge he found the picture of the machete-wielding officer "quite amusing".

A colleague, Sergeant John Nelson, told the court that taking pictures such as the one of the 15-year-old occurred in police stations throughout the country.

The practice was part of a police culture that was unlikely to be understood by the average citizen.

Mr Shortland said frontline staff were in disbelief and appalled that an officer would report the activities as common practice.

"Not only are these comments disturbing but it is also disappointing that a sergeant knew about this practice and did not report it."

He said district restructuring last March had resulted in closer supervision and training, and greater accountability.

Detective Senior Sergeant Richard Middleton, who has worked in Counties-Manukau since 1992, said staff were "gutted" by comments that the culture within the police was sick.

It was "not police culture to do things that were complained about".

Mr Middleton said isolated incidents occurred from time to time but, as the Solomona case had shown, they were dealt with.

"It's not endemic, it's not part of our culture to do these things and we take our job really seriously."

Police Association president Greg O'Connor said police officers were upset and hurt by Judge Davidson's comments.

"However, we believe he may have based them on what he perceived as a cross-section but were, in fact, in the context of the trial."

The inquiry

* Focus: On the Wiri police station in South Auckland and officers aligned to suspended Senior Sergeant Anthony Solomona.

* Involves: Police Commissioner's office, Manukau-Counties district commander Steve Shortland and Police Complaints Authority.

* Time: Investigation expected to take several weeks.