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More than 300 police staff have been subject to criminal investigation since the start of 2021.
Data released to Newstalk ZB under the Official Information Act shows 333 employees and constabulary staff have been looked into in that time.
Eighty-nine of those investigations resulted in a criminal charge,and two were referred to Te Pae Oranga.
The police told the Herald they have investigated just over 2% of their workforce since 2021.
They said when a staff member fails to follow their Code of Conduct, matters are appropriately investigated – no matter how senior the staff member is.
“Firstly, this involves an initial assessment of whether the employee’s behaviour could constitute a breach of Police Code of Conduct, policy or values, their employment agreement, and the law.”
“Where there are prima facie criminal concerns, a criminal investigation may be commenced, and this will have oversight from the Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA),” they said.
“A decision to criminally investigate an employee does not mean they are guilty of a criminal offence, simply that there were potential criminal concerns on the information assessed that required investigation.”
The data shows 44 of those being investigated resigned during the process, and one retired.
Of those scrutinised, 131 – or just under 40% – had been employed for more than 10 years.
Forty-four were ranked Sergeant or above.
An overwhelming majority of staff investigated were male – around 88%.
Counties Manukau Police District led the way with the most employees investigated at 47, closely followed by Auckland City with 41, then Waikato at 35.
The IPCA has released information on several criminal cases involving police officers this year.
In September, it was revealed an off-duty officer who engaged in a sex act in a public carpark in Wellington avoided charges, while a Northland policeman was sanctioned after serious allegations of money laundering, possession of cannabis and dishonesty were raised against the officer.
The National Integrity Unit was also announced by the police in 2020, which aimed to help deter, prevent and detect any corruption.
Since it was launched, more than 600 matters have been referred to the unit, with around 100 resulting in further investigation and 14 in prosecution.
New Zealand Police Association president Chris Cahill said the statistics aren't a cause for concern. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Police Minister Mark Mitchell says he’s confident the police have robust processes in place for managing professional conduct of staff.
He said it wasn’t appropriate to comment on the number of staff criminally investigated, but said it highlights the police have very high standards and are willing to hold people to account.
“The overwhelming majority of police staff do an exceptional job and are committed to keeping our communities safe,” Mitchell said.
The number of staff investigated has been slowly increasing over the last three years, from 85 in 2021, to 92 in 2022, and 109 in 2023. There were 47 cases to September this year.
Police Association president Chris Cahill said the statistics aren’t a cause for concern at the moment.
Cahill said they will continue to monitor the rise since 2021 to see if it is a trend.
“We also need to understand how many of those were traffic offences as well, if that was included in the figures,” he said.
Cahill said the most serious incidents are usually attended by more senior staff – which could explain why staff who have been employed for more than a decade are featuring in the statistics.
“In that three-and-a-half-year period, police attended about 4.2 million incidents,” he said.
“And many of those incidents are incidents that have quite a lot of stress involved, they have a lot of confrontation involved in them.”
Jaime Cunningham is a Christchurch-based reporter with a focus on events, social issues and general news. Jaime joined Newstalk ZB in 2023, after working as a sports reporter at the Christchurch Star. She has a Bachelor of Communications degree from the University of Canterbury.
