IPCA rules officer’s decision to set dog on fleeing Hamilton teen justified

The police watchdog has ruled the decision of an officer to set his dog on the arm of a teenage offender for 30 seconds was justified. Photo / John Borren

The decision of a police officer to set his dog on a teenager who was attempting to flee from a car that may have contained a firearm has been deemed justified.

The 15-year-old boy, who required hospital treatment for the bite that lasted 30 seconds, had allegedly been in a stolen vehicle that fired a gun as it sped along a residential Hamilton street.

The decision of the Independent Police Conduct Authority says officers were called to a home just after 4am on June 6 last year. The homeowner showed police footage from his CCTV cameras, which showed the driver of a white station wagon firing a handgun into the air.

Minutes later, the officer heard an approaching car being driven at speed. He recognised it as the station wagon from the footage, travelling between 80km/h and 100km/h on a residential street.

The two officers saw the vehicle, one of them telling the authority he was “99 per cent sure” it was the offending car. They followed at a distance, allowing other units time to travel to the area.

A senior officer made the call for all responding units to be armed.

A pursuit began, and a nearby officer positioned himself behind a power pole armed with road spikes. As he neared, an officer threw a spike strip on the road, which successfully pierced the tyres of the fleeing car.

The pursuit continued before the station wagon stopped on the wrong side of Te Rapa Rd. The five occupants legged it from the scene.

“I’m like, are they going to shoot us,” one officer told the authority of his reaction at the time. Another officer immediately yelled out, warning he would let go of his police dog if the group kept running.

He yelled a second warning, but the youths continued to run, by this point in two groups.

The dog handler found two youths climbing a fence and the dog latched onto the arm of one teen, pulling him to the ground. The dog stayed latched to the teen’s arm for 30 seconds, while his co-offender surrendered.

“We still didn’t know where the firearm is, or any other weapons that they’ve got, so to be safe, the safest thing for police safety and the offender’s safety was that the dog stayed there,” the officer told the authority.

Police took the teen directly to Waikato Hospital for treatment.

Another unit apprehended the other three offenders at gunpoint. One female offender told the authority that during this arrest she was kicked by an officer - an allegation the officers denied. The IPCA concluded the kick did not happen.

A firearm was not located on any of the offenders.

In its assessment, the authority found it was reasonable to pursue the vehicle given the threat a firearm posed.

The use of the police dog was appropriate, given the two warnings given to the offenders and the ineffectiveness of a baton, taser or pepper spray from such a distance.

“[The officer] had reason to believe at least one of the occupants was in possession of a firearm and needed to be apprehended immediately as this posed a risk to the public. Given the circumstances, [the officer] used the most appropriate tactical option available to him.”

In a statement, Hamilton city area commander Inspector Will Loughrin said the judgment of his officers was sound.

“Our staff members made the right tactical decisions in order to bring this incident to a conclusion.

“There were several elements of risk here, including a firearm and a high-speed fleeing driver event, and appropriate procedure was followed to mitigate those risks, keeping the public and our staff safe.”

Ethan Griffiths covers crime and justice stories nationwide for Open Justice. He joined NZME in 2020, previously working as a regional reporter in Whanganui and South Taranaki.