Police treatment of women and children 'unlawful' - report

The report also found the senior officer on the night in question failed to provide adequate leadership of his staff. Photo / File

The police treatment of women and children who were ordered from a Mangere home at gunpoint was unlawful and in breach of their rights, the Independent Police Conduct Authority has found.

Today's IPCA report also found the senior officer on the night in question failed to provide adequate leadership of his staff.

The findings relate to the attempted arrest of a man, in breach of his home detention conditions, in Mangere on the evening of November 7, 2013.

Three officers responded to calls to the house in question and a violent confrontation erupted a short time later between family members and the officers.

One of the officers, believing he was threatened with a shotgun and fearful for his life, shot at the father of the man police were attempting to arrest.

He missed and the father fled the scene.

The police armed offenders squad was then called and ordered the occupants, including two women and three young children, to walk away from the property, one by one, at gunpoint.

The men were required to lie face down on the grass, while the women were told to sit in the back of police vehicles, with their children, before being taken to a command area established by police.

The women were offered no explanation about their rights and options.
In today's IPCA report, authority chairman Judge Sir David Carruthers said while the officer was justified in shooting his gun, the treatment of the women and children was in breach of their legal rights.

Judge Carruthers said police had determined the women were not connected to the offending, and as such had no lawful justification for detaining the women for the length of time that they did.

"Police gave very little consideration to the women and children. Police were not proactive in explaining to the women their rights and options."

He added the senior officer at the command area did not adequately exercise leadership and control of the staff and other resources available.

"There were plenty of senior police officers at the command area who, due to their experience, should have ensured the officers were proactive in explaining to the women what their rights were at the command area and later when they were interviewed."

Judge Carruthers said police held a responsibility to those inadvertently caught up in such incidents.

"It is essential that police turn their mind to the practicalities of the duty of care they have towards vulnerable people who are inadvertently caught up in critical incidents such as this."

The authority has recommended police amend their policy to ensure people are well informed on their detention and the reasons for it.

Counties Manukau police said they accepted the IPCA's findings and acknowledged more could have been done to clearly communicate with the two women detained on the night.

District Commander John Tims said scenarios like the Mangere incident posed a significant risk and challenge to police officers.

"In this case officers were threatened with weapons and one was assaulted," he said. "Though we accept we should have been clearer in our communication with the two women after the incident."

He added the lessons learnt would be used in future responses to similar events.

"Moving forward, police will take learnings from this incident on board which will help inform future responses to these events."