Police rocked by porn scandal

Rob Robinson said it was distressing for those who had dedicated themselves to serving the community to know that some had not acted with professionalism and integrity. Picture / Fotopress

The pornography scandal engulfing the police was uncovered during a wide-ranging probe of police culture sparked by a string of damaging controversies last year.

These included accusations that police had mishandled complaints against officers by women, including allegations by Louise Nicholas against a top-ranking officer and two former policemen.

They also included the botched handling of the 111 call by model Iraena Asher, who disappeared at Piha in October.

As part of the probe, investigators conducted a preliminary audit of computer systems in October and November. This uncovered disturbing images.

A group of senior officers on the police executive decided a full audit was necessary to determine the scope of the abuse.

As a result, technicians cloned the entire police email system on a particular day last November.

Effectively, this meant they froze and copied everything on the system that day.

The evidence uncovered in this way found 327 staff who had 5000 sexually explicit images stored on computers.

Those staff with images described by Commissioner Rob Robinson as abhorrent and "shockers" include a superintendent, three inspectors and about 40 women officers or civilian staff.

"These are not mere nudity. They are sexually explicit images of sex acts."

None of the pornographic images involved children, although the commissioner said one case involved bestiality.

No police officers have yet been stood down from duty, pending disciplinary and criminal investigations, but Mr Robinson said yesterday that some might need to consider whether they should stay.

Images held by about 30 staff would be checked by the film censor to see if they were objectionable under the law, which could lead to criminal charges.

Mr Robinson said some of the emails had been sent to police from external sources, and criminal inquiries might be extended to other agencies.

Apart from criminal charges, sanctions that might be levelled against staff include dismissal, reprimands or a form of diversion, where officers are taken into community meetings to be told how their actions have harmed them and the force.

The pornography scandal is the latest blow to the police's reputation.

In the past year a commission of inquiry into police conduct has been launched after allegations over how police investigated complaints of sexual misconduct by officers against women.

Charges have also been laid against one officer and two former officers based on historical accusations made against them, the details of which have been suppressed by the courts.

Despite police again being under the hammer, their minister, George Hawkins, would not be interviewed yesterday.

He remains under intense political pressure for his handling of the portfolio, and yesterday the Government's response was being led by Attorney-General Michael Cullen.

Dr Cullen said the pornography scandal would not help public confidence in the police.

"At a time when the police have been complaining about a lack of resources, for the police to have to admit that some of those resources have been engaged in inappropriate activity is not obviously going to help their case."

Mr Robinson admitted that the pornography haul took up 20 per cent of the police computer storage capacity.

Images included still photographs and movies, and were of a high quality.

"We believe it would have been a significant distractor for some of these staff who could have and should have been doing more productive work to serve their communities."

Mr Robinson said the integrity of the force was paramount, but had been affected by the run of controversies.

"We have taken some significant reputational hits in the past 12 months. It is essential that we address these matters."