The Independent Police Conduct Authority has found that officers in Auckland used excessive and unjustified force upon two men in 2022. The Authority completed its investigation in September 2023 but was obliged to wait for Police processes before publishing its report.
At about 6.00am on 25 September 2022, five Police officers responded to an incident on Hobson Street, Auckland. Amongst them were Officers A and B. Mr Z and his cousin, Mr X, who were not involved in that incident, were walking past. Mr Z got out his cell phone and started filming.
Officer A, and then Officer B, warned Mr Z not to interfere and then pushed him backwards. When Mr Z followed the officers and continued to film, Officer B arrested him for obstruction. Mr X started filming when his cousin was detained, and Officer A arrested him for the same offence. During their arrest, force was used by the officers. Mr Z's cell phone was smashed, and Mr X's was temporarily lost.
Mr Z and Mr X were later released without charge.
Mr X complained to the Authority, and we undertook an independent investigation. We also forwarded information to Police, who completed their own enquiry which resulted in Officer A being charged with common assault. The charge was withdrawn when Mr X later declined to give evidence. Police then undertook an internal process which resulted in employment sanctions for officers A and B.
We concluded that Officers A and B were not justified in pushing Mr Z or Mr X and that the arrest of the two men was unlawful. We also determined that the force used against the two men during their arrests was also unlawful.
We were not satisfied that officers took adequate care of the phones of Mr Z or Mr X while they were in custody.
We could not determine if the Police van was intentionally driven by Officer A in a manner to cause harm to the occupants which was a further accusation made by Mr X.
In our view, the Police decision to not pursue charges against Mr Z and Mr X was not only appropriate but necessary to avoid Police embarrassment and wasting judicial time and costs.
