Second officer faces offensive behaviour charge

A second police officer has been charged with exposing himself to a woman and her son while on a night out drinking.

The man was due to appear in the Pukekohe District Court charged with offensive behaviour after being arrested, with a colleague, on New Year's Day.

The man works at Police National Headquarters in Wellington and has been placed on "restricted duties".

His co-defendant, a policeman at Counties/Manukau, appeared in the Pukekohe District Court on January 13 charged with disorderly behaviour.

He is also on restricted duties and is due to reappear later in the month.

The Herald first reported the police officers were arrested after allegedly approaching a woman in a parked car and demanding her name and address.

The woman - whose 11-year-son was in the back of the car - twice refused to give her details and told one of the officers that his fly was down.

At that point the man allegedly exposed himself.

The woman went to a petrol station and asked for help from staff, who called the police.

When uniformed officers asked the two police officers to leave with them quietly, the pair allegedly refused, so the senior sergeant from Pukekohe was called. The two were then arrested and charged.

The pair are also facing an internal police investigation and the Independent Police Complaints Authority has started an inquiry.

Editor's Note (April 2010): Both police officers have had their name suppressed in the Pukekohe District Court.

Therefore nzherald.co.nz has had to remove their names from this story.