WELLINGTON - A constable who failed to call out wharf police in Wellington to investigate reports of a drowning man has escaped disciplinary action, police internal affairs says.
The body of Hema Erueti, aged 22, has never been found. He was seen swimming out from Oriental Bay in August 1998.
The Police Complaints Authority said the wharf police should have been called out. Mr Erueti's family are considering suing the police.
The constable taking the call at police central communications said he would get someone to look into it, but then entered the wrong code.
"It is correct that the dispatcher did not send a car and that he did not ask wharf staff to attend," Judge Ian Borrin from the authority said.
Mr Erueti's brother Andrew said the family were deeply disappointed that no disciplinary action was taken.
- NZPA
No action in drowning saga
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