Summer Moana Pearl Smith, 32, is a former police constable who has pleaded guilty to charges relating to leaking information to her boyfriend who was member of the Killer Beez gang. Photo / Supplied
A rookie constable leaked police intelligence to her gang member boyfriend shortly after starting her new career, the Herald can reveal.
The case raises serious questions about the vetting of police recruits and highlights the growing threat of corruption posed by organised crime in New Zealand.
Summer Moana Pearl Smith joined the police in March 2022 and was posted to work in Auckland after completing the 20-week recruitment training course at Police College.
However, Smith was already in a secret relationship with a member of the Killer Beez motorcycle gang.
The pair had met on the Tinder dating app before she joined the police.
Knowing her boyfriend’s gang affiliation, Smith sent him the name of someone she described as a “snitch”.
She had arrested someone for minor traffic and theft offences in August 2022.
After transporting him to the police station, Smith sat in on an intelligence-gathering interview conducted by one of her colleagues.
During the interview, the suspect disclosed the addresses of properties in west Auckland that he believed were being used to manufacture drugs.
After the meeting, Smith messaged her Killer Beez boyfriend and disclosed the identity of the “snitch” she had arrested.
“His name’s [redacted] he was giving intel at work … names of some cook houses out west,” Smith wrote in a message.
“Just wanted to make sure you’re not linked in with them or anything.”
The gang member replied that the name didn’t “ring a bell”.
A few months later, Smith leaked more sensitive information to her boyfriend.
In December 2022, Smith took a photo of the gang member’s profile on the National Intelligence Application (NIA), the police computer system.
She also took a photo of a list of all the cars and motorcycles linked to him.
The following month, she sent the screenshots to her boyfriend after he indicated there was a “bit of heat” on him.
She took the risk despite knowing she could lose her job for making unauthorised NIA checks on the gang member.
He told Smith that he would be “extra cautious” and sell the vehicles to “stay out of jail”.
Around that same time, Smith also asked her boyfriend for drugs to party on the weekend.
In a later message, she sent him a photo of a small ziplock bag of cocaine. Smith was at a music festival and shared the Class-A drug with her friends.
Three months later, in April 2023, her boyfriend was arrested with other members and associates of the Killer Beez following a covert police investigation which stopped a 265kg drug shipment.
He was charged with importing methamphetamine, supplying the Class-A drug, and participating in an organised criminal group, and money laundering more than $1 million in cash.
As a result, the police searched his phone and uncovered the messages with Smith.
When confronted by detectives from the National Integrity Unit in September 2023, Smith confessed to everything.
She confirmed that she had met the gang member on Tinder when she moved to Auckland in 2021, before joining the police. They mostly communicated over Instagram and text messages.
They were in a sexual relationship and saw each other about once a month, she said.
Smith never asked him about what he did for a living, or his gang lifestyle, but was aware of his affiliation to the Killer Beez before she went to Police College.
“It’s definitely wrong and um, like yeah, I knew I shouldn’t be doing it,” Smith told the detectives.
Despite knowing that disclosing the name of an informant was wrong, the rookie constable did it because of her feelings for him rather than financial reward.
“I basically fell in love with this f***en gangster dude…I fell for a guy that’s just not the right person.”
She admitted leaking the NIA information too, as the Killer Beez member had indicated there was “bit of heat on him”.
“I did take a screen shot that I showed him, um and that was only because I was sleeping with him,” Smith told the detectives.
“I knew he was a bit of a bad boy … it was definitely stupid. Um, yeah, ah very f***ed up from me and I shouldn’t have done it.”
She resigned the next month and moved to Australia, although the police investigation continued.
On returning to New Zealand last December, Smith was arrested and charged with corrupt use of official information, accessing a computer system for a dishonest purpose and possession of a Class-A drug.
The prosecution was shrouded in suppression orders until Smith, now 32, pleaded guilty at the Manukau District Court earlier this month.
The offences carry a maximum penalty of seven years in prison.
She will be sentenced in March next year. Her defence lawyer, Emma Riddell, declined to comment as the case was still before the court.
In a written statement, Assistant Commissioner Tusha Penny said that Smith never disclosed her casual relationship with a gang member at any point during the recruitment process or training.
All recruits must complete a declaration form which includes an acknowledgement that any untrue statements, or suppressed information, may result in their employment being terminated.
“While we do in-depth probity enquiries of potential recruits’ backgrounds, including their social media, these inappropriate relationships cannot always be identified,” Penny said.
“The integrity of an individual applying to join police is partly relied on to advise of any relationships, or personal circumstances, which may impact their application...the vast majority of people applying are honest and transparent about their personal relationships during the recruiting stages.”
In the case of Summer Smith, Penny said a review concluded that the vetting phase was carried out correctly, with all steps followed.
However, Penny said Smith’s application should have been escalated to the National Selection Panel for further scrutiny in the first instance.
This step should have been taken as her application was rated “complex” because of red flags raised in her background.
“The flags related to her familial gang links but were unrelated to the subsequent relationship,” Penny said.
Police continue to make changes to the recruitment process, Penny said, including the establishment of a dedicated “background enquiries” team.
Potential recruits will now also be required to provide five years of verifiable history.
The National Integrity Unit speaks to every recruit wing as well as on other training courses, Penny said, to help staff identify risks to themselves and others.
Staff are encouraged to talk to their supervisor or a trusted colleague if they feel they may be in a compromising situation.
“We are acutely aware of the risk ‘insider threats’ pose for our staff and organisation,” Penny said.
“This case is a clear reminder that we will not tolerate corruption in any form, and that we need to be constantly vigilant in our commitment to protecting the integrity of the New Zealand Police.”
New Zealand’s reputation as a country largely free from corruption has long been a source of national pride and international credibility.
However, this perception has been undermined by a growing body of evidence, according to a group of experts advising the government on how to tackle organised crime.
New Zealand was naive to the threat and must act urgently to prevent further infiltration of democratic institutions and borders, a ministerial advisory group told Cabinet Minister Casey Costello this year.
“Compromised police officers, immigration officials, and private sector employees in our ports and airports have facilitated drug smuggling, leaked sensitive information, and undermined the integrity of our border system,” according to the group’s report published in June.
“These vulnerabilities are not incidental – organised crime groups actively cultivate them ... if left unchecked, this cycle will erode the integrity of New Zealand’s institutions and undermine our collective security.”
The panel recommended establishing a central authority to manage reporting and investigation of corruption, modernising out-of-date laws, longer prison sentences, and stronger vetting of employees in high-risk industries as part of a national anti-corruption strategy.
Jared Savage covers crime and justice issues, with a particular interest in organised crime. He joined the Herald in 2006 and has won a dozen journalism awards in that time, including twice being named Reporter of the Year. He is also the author of Gangland, Gangster’s Paradise and Underworld.