Family of Navtej hope 'never again'

Navtej Singh. Photo / Supplied

Family and friends of Navtej Singh say the report will not bring him back but hope it will prevent police making similar mistakes.

But as relatives praised the authority's findings, police dismissed the idea that they had failed in their "duty to protect".

Family spokesman Daljit Singh said: "It was not a single mistake by any one department but a procedural failure. The district commander came to us this morning and apologised to the family. Navtej will not come back with this report. However, it will not happen with anybody else in future."

The New Zealand Sikh Society described the delay in getting to Mr Singh as "a complete disaster".

However, Deputy Commissioner Rob Pope rejected the authority's suggestion that the police failed in their duty of care.

"A regrettable series of events came together to create a delay and ideally we should have got to him sooner. We have apologised to the family for this.

"However, we should not lose sight of the fact that it was Anitelia Chan Kee who pulled the trigger and is now serving a 17-year prison term for Mr Singh's murder."

Mr Pope said police had already made changes after investigating their handling of the case.

"We looked at all aspects of our response and identified several improvements, particularly in regard to the way we take command ofserious incidents and control the response of our staff in the field."

Mr Pope said the extra staff now working in Counties Manukau as a result of a Government initiative were helping ease some of the pressures. Of the 300 promised, 209 were in place and the rest were expected by Christmas.

Staff were working with store owners in the area to reduce the risk of their becoming targets of crime.

Police are now required to make a formal response to the authority's recommendations and Mr Pope said they would "take some time to look at it thoroughly and provide a considered response ... about any other changes we might need to make".

Police Minister Judith Collins released a short statement yesterday saying the report "highlighted an unfortunate sequence of events that took place in the midst of a very tense situation".

"I am satisfied that police have already acted on a number of issues identified in the report and will be considering other changes that have been recommended to ensure that tragic situations such as this are managed better in the future."

Meanwhile, St John said it agreed with the recommendations relating to its service. The report recommended police ensure they are in the same place as St John staff during such emergencies and ensure other emergency services are clearly informed of the location.

It said police should also ensure that inter-agency debriefing takes place when more than one agency has been involved in a critical incident.