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Suspended Assistant Commissioner Clint Rickards has called on his fellow police chiefs to chip in for his legal fight to stay in the force.
Mr Rickards has asked the Police Managers Guild, the union that represents senior officers, for financial assistance as he tries to resolve the outstanding "employment issues" Police National Headquarters referred to when it kept him suspended after he was acquitted of his final sex charges last week.
Mr Rickards, who wants to return as Auckland's district commander, continues to be paid his base salary of $150,000-$159,000 a year.
The guild - which did not pay anything towards Mr Rickards' $500,000 plus legal fees for defending his two criminal trials - said it had asked him for more information about what disciplinary action he was facing before making a decision.
The Herald understands one of the issues is a new claim that Mr Rickards had sex with a woman on the bonnet of a police car in 1983.
Guild president Rob Abbott said Mr Rickards' request had come this week and "we've got no idea officially what he's facing in these employment issues and our rules have certain criteria. Obviously, he's getting that together and we will consider the matter."
Mr Abbott said the guild gave Mr Rickards some "limited assistance" to deal with employment matters when the Louise Nicholas allegations first surfaced publicly in 2004.
He confirmed Mr Rickards asked for further assistance once the allegations became a criminal matter - and although he would not comment further it is understood Mr Rickards was turned down.
Mr Rickards was acquitted of the rape of Louise Nicholas in March last year and of the kidnapping and sexual violation of a second Rotorua woman after a trial last week.
He has said he paid virtually all of his legal fees himself but would not comment when asked if the guild had deserted him. His lawyer, John Haigh, QC, said: "You will have to ask them [the guild] that."
Mr Abbott said the guild had not taken "a political stance" in declining to assist Mr Rickards' criminal defence.
"I guess that would be the easy way to look at it. But we had to go straight down the middle on the criteria and the decisions we made in committee were based simply on whether or not his particular situation fitted in the criteria."
Mr Abbott said the guild's rules meant it would assist a member where the matter "arises directly from their employment rather than if it happens off-duty or in their personal life".
An officer accused of using excessive force during an arrest or of the dishonest use of funds were examples of causes it would support.
