Police Commissioner Andrew Coster claims officers only took photos to confirm or rule out offenders. Video / NZ Herald
"Hundreds" of young criminals causing Auckland's youth crime spike are reportedly being aided by police's inability to use voluntary fingerprints, according to the Police Association.
It comes following an investigation finding police are routinely and illegally photographing and filming young people and adults - just one of the findings a bombshell joint inquiry revealing systemic problems with how police take, store and use people's private biometric information.
Police Association president Chris Cahill says a recent order not to use voluntary fingerprints collected voluntarily, reportedly made during the report's development, is hindering police's response to a youth crime spike that's led to a more than 500 per cent increase in ram raids.
"There's a high chance that we have fingerprints hits from ram raids that we are not acting on, very high chance," he told the Herald.
Cahill estimated, based on feedback from officers, there were "hundreds" of youth who weren't being held accountable or supported into a life away from crime.
Cahill's comments reinforced what the Herald had been told by officers in recent weeks.
The report found police had developed a "widespread" and "systemic" unlawful practice of taking duplicate sets of "voluntary" fingerprints and photographs from youths in custody for suspected offending and keeping them for longer than legally allowed.
While Police Commissioner Andrew Coster acknowledged the wider findings from the inquiry, he said they presented a challenge to police in carrying out their duties.
Police Commissioner Andrew Coster speaking to media following the release of joint inquiry's report. Photo / Jed Bradley
Under the Policing Act, officers could collect and store a person's "identifying particulars", including fingerprints, if they were in police custody for committing an offence.
Those fingerprints must be destroyed if police decided not to pursue prosecution or if the fingerprints were no longer needed.
However, as explained by Police Association president Chris Cahill, police formerly had the ability to collect youth fingerprints voluntarily.
To do so, a parent or guardian needed to sign a form acknowledging the prints could be used if their child was apprehended in the future.
Cahill, who said he had facilitated the process dozens of times, said it was commonly used, especially by parents hoping to dissuade their children from committing further offences.
At some point following reporting of the incidents in Wairarapa, police were no longer able to use the fingerprints they had on file to inform their response to previously offending youths, Cahill said.
The practice was discussed in today's report, which said officers considered it "an important tool in reducing youth offending, in that youth are less likely to offend if they know that their photographs and fingerprints are on file and that they will be able to be identified if they commit a crime".
Businesses across Auckland have been hit hard by the crime spike. Photo / Hayden Woodward
However, the report stated no "evaluative material" was provided to support the claim but even if there had been, it was "not a reason for a practice which is clearly not permitted by law" and recommended police seek legislative change.
Cahill acknowledged the taking of voluntary fingerprints was not stated in the Policing Act, but felt that was not grounds to consider the process unlawful.
He explained many young people were not charged for initial offences and therefore, did not meet the threshold to take fingerprints under the wording in the law.
According to Cahill, officers were registering "hundreds" of hits on previously collected fingerprints for youths linked to offending which has contributed to a 16 per cent rise in crime in Auckland in the 12 months to May 2022, compared to the 12 months to May 2021.
Asked for a more specific number, Cahill acknowledged he didn't have access to official numbers but said it was what association members had told him.
He did say the number of hits would be closer to 900 than 200.
"It's a substantial number and I think if you're a victim of a burglary and you knew police knew who the offender was but they weren't acting because of this report, I think you'd be pretty grumpy."
Police Association president Chris Cahill believed Auckland's youth crime spike was being enabled by police being unable to use fingerprint evidence. Photo / NZME
Cahill said officers he'd spoken with were "incredibly frustrated" about the decision, given its ability to limit offending.
On Tuesday, the Government announced a $53 million youth crime package that featured funding to expand a Counties Manukau programme that worked with young ram raiders into West Auckland.
Cahill said the package's progress would be limited if young offenders weren't being identified early before their offending escalated.
"If we're not identifying them and getting in front of them, they're not going to get the advantages of those programmes."
There had been 357 ram raids this year - an offence that had increased about 520 per cent in the first half of 2022, compared with the same period in 2018.
