Ahead of former Deputy Police Commissioner Jevon McSkimming’s sentencing today over possessing objectionable publications, police top-brass have confirmed they have reversed just one policy overseen by the disgraced ex-senior cop.
McSkimming will be sentenced in the Wellington District Court on three charges surrounding the possession of material including having child exploitation and bestiality images on work devices.
The 52-year-old entered a guilty plea early last month.
Since the scandal broke – and then McSkimming leaving his senior role – police have confirmed they had reversed changes McSkimming had earlier instructed staff to make to the firearms vetting process.
McSkimming instructed the firearms vetting changes be made after he was contacted by an acquaintance who told him they would lose their firearms licence, if they got any more driving demerit points.
Police Commissioner Richard Chambers reversed the changes upon learning of McSkimming’s interference.
Chambers said he was of the view “better judgment could have been exercised and a more robust process followed” by McSkimming.
In response to an Official Information Act from the Herald, police said they were satisfied no other policies that McSkimming had oversight of as Deputy Police Commissioner needed reviewing.
“Police currently maintains approximately 650 policies, with this number changing regularly as policies are developed, consolidated, or retired,“ Police Assistant Commissioner Mike Johnson said.
“All policies are subject to routine cyclical reviews to ensure they remain current and aligned with contemporary expectations and standards.
“In Mr McSkimming’s final role as Deputy Commissioner, he oversaw a broad portfolio that encompassed multiple workgroups and functions. Police have not identified any policy requiring review solely because Mr McSkimming held a Deputy Commissioner role.
“Current policy reviews are part of standard governance processes and continuous improvement activities.”
McSkimming resigned from New Zealand Police in May.
Five months earlier he had been stood down on full pay after investigators detected concerning searches on his work device.
Last month, he pleaded guilty to three representative charges of possessing objectionable publications, which included material involving child sexual exploitation and bestiality.
Just a month before being stood down, McSkimming and Chambers were interviewed for the Police Commissioner’s position – which had become vacant following the early resignation of Andrew Coster, who was leaving police to head up the new Social Investment Agency.
Chambers was appointed Police Commissioner in November 2024.
Soon after he was then briefed by a senior detective about an investigation into McSkimming’s alleged conduct, namely a relationship with a non-sworn female staff member.
The terms of reference for the criminal investigation into McSkimming were then confirmed.
In December 2024, investigators detected concerning searches on McSkimming’s work devices, and McSkimming was stood down.
In January 2025, McSkimming’s lawyers advised he was co-operating with the investigation and expected to resume his duties once he was cleared of wrongdoing.
Court documents have revealed when McSkimming was made aware of the police internet investigation, he contacted a colleague to tell them pornography had been discovered on his work laptop.
Police Minister Mark Mitchell announced in May that McSkimming had resigned before potentially being removed from the job.
His lawyer Linda Clark took out an interim injunction preventing media from revealing the nature of the material, and a “super injunction” stopped reporting of the existence of the injunction.
That injunction was lifted, but McSkimming continued to pursue an injunction over the release of the nature of the material.
A hearing was held before Justice Karen Grau in the Wellington High Court.
While awaiting Grau’s reserved decision, McSkimming was arrested in June and charged with eight counts of possessing objectionable material. He was granted interim name suppression before his first appearance in court.
Media were later able to report for the first time the materials found on McSkimming’s work devices were child exploitation and bestiality images.
On November 6, 2025, McSkimming pleaded guilty to three representative charges of possessing objectionable material.
A few days later a damning Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) report into the McSkimming investigation was released.
The IPCA found some of the highest-ranking police officers in New Zealand had previously ignored anonymous allegations that McSkimming was a sexual predator.
Instead of investigating the serious allegations, emails written by Ms Z – the female who had the affair with McSkimming – were used by police as evidence to prosecute her under the Harmful Digital Communications Act last year.
Ms Z had written to police, politicians and the IPCA outlining her complaint against McSkimming.
The IPCA report found “serious deficiencies” in the police response to the complaints – including decisions made by Coster.
“The police response to these complaints was characterised by inaction and an unquestioning acceptance of Mr McSkimming’s narrative of events,” the IPCA said.
Multiple senior staff referred to in the IPCA report have resigned from police. There are currently three employment investigations into employees still in the police.
Since the IPCA report, Coster has resigned as chief executive of the Social Investment Agency.
The summary of facts in the McSkimming court case details thousands of Google searches the 52-year-old made over the course of nearly five years, many seeking AI-generated or cartoon images.
Some of his search terms included references to underage girls, incest, and animals, and words such as “slave”, “abuse” and “extreme”.
After being caught with the illegal material on his devices, McSkimming contacted a colleague and admitted to them that police had found “porn” on his laptop, the summary said.
“He said that he had found a way around the normal police systems to look at porn and that he grew up in a house where pornography was normal.”
McSkimming’s first recorded search took place on July 1, 2020, which was as far back as the police’s retrievable records could go. About a third of the Google searches he made on his work phone were adult or pornographic content searches.
A total of 2945 images McSkimming accessed were assessed by police as objectionable material, and he is estimated to have opened or enlarged about 160 of them. He also took screenshots of some images.
Joseph Los’e joined NZME in 2022 as Kaupapa Māori Editor. Los’e was a chief reporter, news director at the Sunday News newspaper covering crime, justice and sport. He was also editor of the NZ Truth and before joining NZME worked for urban Māori organisation Whānau Waipareira.