Police officers warned against corruption

Greg O'Connor. Photo / Supplied

The country's 8654 sworn police officers have been warned to beware of becoming corrupted with the growth of organised criminal gangs.

Police Association president Greg O'Connor said today there would always be wayward police officers who committed crimes but there was no evidence yet of widespread corruption where police and gangs worked together.

However, with the arrival of organised crime "it is a warning to our people to be bloody careful".

He said New Zealand did not want to be tainted with the same corruption scams which had hit Australian police.

He said corruption did not exist when he was a young beat cop in Wellington in the 1970s but well-entrenched and well-established organised crime had opened the opportunity for it in this country.

In the latest issue of Police News, the magazine of the New Zealand Police Association, Mr O'Connor said in an article headed "The insidious creep of corruption" that there were now groups operating in New Zealand "for whom corruption of public officials is a craft honed over centuries, particularly Asian gangs, and other more contemporary groups who are learning the art through exposure and practice".

He said it was subtle and "no one ever woke up one day and decided he or she would be a crooked official".

"It's far more incremental than that and it's more like waking up and realising you are already compromised.

"Favours accepted, coupled with inappropriate associations, a belief you are worth more than you are getting and that no one seems to care about a particular problem and you have the ingredients for corruption," he said.

Mr O'Connor said it was naive to believe that with the growth of organised crime and the methamphetamine (P) epidemic, there would be no attempt to compromise police and other law enforcement officials, particularly customs and corrections officers.

He said some people might realise they were in danger of or had already been compromised.

"If this is the case my strong advice is to get out your situation now. It may mean telling all to your boss and being prepared to face the consequences," Mr O'Connor said.

"It's better though than continuing on and not only bringing your own world down in a resounding crash, but also that of your family and all of your police colleagues."

Mr O'Connor said he may be unduly concerned about something which may never happen but it would be "unworldly" to believe that the entrenchment of organised crime would not create "an environment where corruption could take hold".

- NZPA