Police face calls for an independent audit after it was revealed 30,000 breath tests were “falsely or erroneously recorded”. Photo / Alex Perrotet, RNZ
By Sam Sherwood of RNZ
The Defence Lawyers Association says revelations more than 100 police officers “falsely or erroneously” recorded alcohol breath tests could lead to “far-reaching implications” and calls into question the integrity of their current and past work, including prosecutions they’ve been involved in.
The association said a criminal investigation should be launched after the “unprecedented” news and it supports a “full, independent audit” of historical data.
RNZ earlier revealed about 120 staff were under investigation after 30,000 alcohol breath tests were “falsely or erroneously recorded”.
The results were only discovered after police built a new algorithm to analyse the data, as the devices themselves could not distinguish between legitimate and illegitimate tests.
Acting Deputy Police Commissioner Jill Rogers earlier confirmed none of the staff had been stood down and did not rule out criminal investigations.
Te Matakahi Defence Lawyers Association New Zealand co-chair Elizabeth Hall told RNZ the revelations were “deeply concerning”.
“Te Matakahi is committed to a fair, accurate and humane criminal justice system. The revelation that thousands of records have been falsified by over a hundred police officers strikes directly at undermining the integrity of police conduct and their reliability.
“As other commentators have expressed – it raises systemic questions – not just about individual misconduct, but about oversight, culture and accountability within the police force.”
She said the criminal justice system assumed that officers acted with integrity.
“We know that people who work for the police are only human, and so there will be those officers who do not uphold the values that we expect of them. The scale of what has happened is unprecedented. It points to structural and individual failure.”
The identities of the officers involved should be revealed to the justice system, she said.
“The names of these officers need to be made known in cases they are involved in, where the Court is being asked to rely on their word. Defence lawyers need to be able to appropriately challenge the credibility of any officer who has been implicated in falsifying police records, which is what this is.”
Going forward, prosecutors would need to ensure full disclosure of the identity and circumstances of wrongdoing by a police officer to defence counsel, as was required under the Criminal Disclosure Act.
“Without that transparency, courts cannot properly assess the reliability and credibility of that police officer’s word. Every time a police officer fabricated an EBA [evidential breath analysis] testing procedure they potentially committed an act of fraud. Let’s call it for what it is.”
Hall said the implications were potentially “far-reaching” as the integrity of the past and current work of any officer involved was called into question.
“Defendants convicted based on evidence from these officers need to be able to have the impact of what evidence in their case was reviewed … Current prosecutions involving them will need careful review.”
The association said there should be a criminal investigation, adding that police employees should be held to the same standard as all New Zealand citizens.
Hall said a criminal investigation would be launched if widespread fraud were suspected anywhere else.
“It is essential that the investigation also have independent oversight – we need to ensure transparency. The police need to do some serious work to regain public trust. Anything less risks perpetuating the perception that police are not held to the same standard of accountability as the public.”
Asked on Tuesday what reason there would be for falsifying tests, other than meeting targets, Rogers said police were working to identify the rationale and said it may be that staff “exceeded the numbers that they’ve legitimately done for reasons of making it look like they’re doing work that they haven’t done”.
Hall said that explanation was “troubling” and suggested a culture where performance metrics and internal pressures “have taken precedence over lawful and ethical policing”.
“If officers felt compelled to fabricate results to ‘look productive’, that reflects institutional failings. The fact that so many police officers have done this shows a fundamental problem with how policing is being approached.
“The focus should not be on rationalising the behaviour but on understanding how such practices were allowed to occur, unchecked, across such a wide cohort of officers. It also needs to be asked why the police on the ground are being put in this position – with the emphasis on number crunching and not actual police work.”
On Thursday, RNZ asked police whether they were aware how long staff had been falsifying tests for.
Rogers said police had not previously had the technology to detect this activity and review the data.
“While it is possible this activity has been going on for longer than the past year, police have built the algorithm to ensure the public and our partners can now have confidence in the data being collected.
“We remain confident there are no other road policing data types that could have been manipulated, as all other performance measures require a driver to be engaged to generate an infringement.”
Hall said a retrospective audit was necessary.
“While improved data systems are welcome, algorithms cannot substitute for ethical conduct and strong internal accountability. The association would support a full, independent audit of historical data to determine the true extent of the problem.
“This did not happen in a vacuum, for so many police to have acted in this way it must have been known about widely by police.”
Labour’s police spokeswoman Ginny Andersen said in a statement to RNZ that it was “unacceptable” breath tests were being falsified.
“I am concerned that the Government’s failure to deliver 500 new police has left the frontline stretched and under pressure. It’s good they’re working to fix it now, but it’s worth looking into how widespread the problem is.”
Police Minister Mark Mitchell earlier said he had been briefed on the issue and had been assured police were “taking action and investigating the matter”.
“The Commissioner and I have been very clear that standards and conduct must be maintained at the highest level across the police force.”
– RNZ