KEY POINTS:
Margaret Bazley's one-woman commission of inquiry into police conduct will gloss over the egregious sexual misconduct that sparked the inquiry in the first place.
The allegations that a bunch of Rotorua-based police, including Assistant Police Commissioner Clint Rickard, abused their positions by sexually assaulting gullible young women during
their period as young coppers in the mid-1980s will not directly feature in Bazley's forthcoming report.
But it damn well ought to.
The public has a right to know in detail about the police culture that was rife in Rotorua in the 1980s.
That culture, as we now all know, was one where a bunch of small town heavy-hitting cops had their way with young women who say they were too intimated by the uniform to either say no or (in some cases) complain.
But why did it take 20 years and Louise Nicholas' courage in going public with her own allegations of gang rape and sexual violation for this to period to be investigated properly by police?
Which strings were pulled and at what level to keep this gross episode under wraps we will really never know.
We will never know either the level of misjudgments made by these men's superiors. Did they wilfully turn a blind eye to the laddish behaviour of their juniors, or, was it something more sinister?
Did their seniors simply believe the young police bikes got what they deserved for sleeping around in the first place?
What protection was a rising police star offered by those who wanted to get a Maori officer up high in the ranks?
Enough evidence has been produced in the three consecutive trials, which when amalgamated produces a very compelling set of facts that cries out for investigation by an appropriate public inquiry.
Trouble is that once it became clear in May 2005 that Rickard and two former colleagues Brad Shipton and Bob Schollum were likely to face criminal proceedings, the Government directed the commission to soft-pedal its inquiries by taking a more generalist approach.
Clearly there was the potential for conflict of interest given the impending criminal actions. But instead of putting the inquiry on ice until after the court cases were concluded or discharging it altogether, the Government opted to smudge the issues.
Justice Bruce Robertson who had chaired the commission went back to his High Court role, leaving Bazley to continue what looks like a charade. Inquiry hearings have since been held in secret rather than in public. There is not even the ability to access submissions under the Official Information Act. The commissioner has probed into police files, interviewed the Police Commissioner and all manner of things.
But the young complainants like Nicholas who sparked the inquiry in the first place are not part of the action. Frankly they should be.
It's pretty clear from the language that Shipton's brother used to slag off Nicholas this week - as a "maggot-lying bitch" - how the trio saw her.
Nicholas' own complaints were not upheld by a jury which found the trio not guilty on rape and sexual violation charges.
But there is still a major issue as to why her initial complaint was shut down. Was it because she was a bit of a space cadet and had little credibility? Was it because she had made other allegations which did not stand up?
Was it because police feared they could not get a successful action - as indeed turned out to be the case in the resultant trial nearly two decades later? Or would that trial have stood a better chance of success when memories were fresher?
And was Nicholas leaned on by police to drop her original complaint of gang rape and sexual violation?
There's something particularly ghastly in Shipton's behaviour. The allegations the baton which was allegedly used on Nicholas had been displayed on Rotorua police station wall. The fact that a baton or a whisky bottle featured in all three of the separate cases that involved Nicholas and two other women must cut to the heart of police credibility.
It was not until this week, after an Auckland jury found the trio not guilty on the last set of charges, that we learned Shipton and Schollum were already serving time over the rape of a 20 year-old from Mt Maunganui.
Nicholas no doubt feels she was denied justice as rape charges against the trio were not upheld in her case.
But she can be proud that Shipton and Schollum at least have been convicted on rape charges against another young woman who would never have come forward unless the "maggot bitch" had had the guts to go public in the first place.
Justice Ron Young condemned them as "corrupt police officers who treated her like a piece of meat".
These are sort of words that one would expect to see at the top of any inquiry into the 1980s police culture.
But right now it looks more like a whitewash. If the Government has any gumption it will order a new inquiry.
Fran O'Sullivan is going on holiday. Her column returns on March 24.
