Former top cop closes door on career

By EUGENE BINGHAM

For one who rose so high, Peter Doone's last day in the public service yesterday was a fizzer.

The former Police Commissioner shared a few quiet farewells with colleagues.

But there were no grand celebrations of his civil service career spanning more than 32 years.

Mr Doone completed a six-month secondment with the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet yesterday, a contract offered to him in January when he was forced to resign as head of the police.

After putting the polishing touches on his report into ways of reducing Maori crime rates, he handed it in to the department chief executive, Dr Mark Prebble, and left. It was an ignominious end for a man drawing a $275,000 taxpayer-funded pay packet.

The 51-year-old negotiated a departure from the top police job after investigations into his behaviour when a squad car stopped a vehicle he was in last November.

The car was being driven without lights by Mr Doone's partner, Robyn Johnstone. The commissioner spoke to the rookie constable who approached the vehicle, and the couple were allowed to drive away without Ms Johnstone being breath-tested.

Under a deal hammered out with Attorney-General Margaret Wilson, Mr Doone received six months' work on his commissioner's salary. He was demoted to the rank of constable and moved from police HQ to the 4th floor of the Reserve Bank building, where he sat with 11 members of the Crime Prevention Unit.

The report handed to Dr Prebble contains recommendations to the Government. It will be forwarded to the cabinet in the next few weeks and released. Until then, exactly what Mr Doone produced remains a secret.

The man himself has declined to be interviewed. Yesterday, colleagues fielded calls on his behalf.

A spokesman for the department said Mr Doone's work had involved talking to Maori communities and reviewing research and initiatives.

"He also brought to bear his many years of experience in this area," said the spokesman.

During his time in the temporary job, he shared the Crime Prevention Unit's secretarial services, but worked largely on his own with the job title of project manager.

Mr Doone is expected to return to the office on Monday to clean out his desk.

He and Ms Johnstone, who has resigned as the Victoria University communications manager, plan to travel to Africa, where it is understood she has family.

Constable Brett Main, whose conversation with Mr Doone brought the commissioner's career to an end, was three days out of Police College when the driving incident occurred.

Today he is stationed at the Wellington suburban station Johnsonville.