Inquiry begins into police handling of complaints against officers

1.00pm

Police today outlined their procedures for dealing with sexual complaints and complaints against other police officers to a commission of inquiry hearing, convened after allegations of sexual offending by police officers.

The hearing today signals the start of 3-1/2 months of hearings that will put police and the way they have handled complaints of sexual abuse by officers during the past 25 years under the spotlight.

The commission will hear how police officers were expected and required to respond when an allegation of sexual assault was made against another police officer.

In January, Rotorua woman Louise Nicholas alleged she was pack-raped and violated with a police baton by three police officers in 1986 when she was aged 18.

Police national planning and policy manager Dave Trappitt said that there had been several different policies and procedures, over the 25 years covered by the commission, relating to how sexual complaints and internal investigations against other police officers were handled.

While policies and procedures were changed several times, officers were alerted to changes through memos, internal publications and updated hard-copy and electronic manuals.

Included in these policies and procedures were specific instructions relating to how rape inquiries and inquiries relating to other police officers should be handled.

While these had been streamlined over the years, instructions relating to the handling of internal inquiries had only changed slightly since 1985.

Internal memoranda from the commissioner of police in the early 1980's specifically instructed police to treat criminal complaints against police as they would other cases.

Police were instructed not to warn complainants of the possible consequences of making a false complaint against a police officer.

They were also instructed to notify police headquarters of all serious criminal complaints against police.

The commissions started today's hearing behind schedule after initial information gathering was delayed by blanket secrecy provisions in the Police Complaints Authority Act that protect the identity of informants.

Two officers alleged to have raped Ms Nicolas, Bob Schollum and Brad Shipton, have since left the police.

The third, Auckland commander and assistant commissioner Clint Rickards, has been stood down on full pay. All three men strongly deny the allegations.

Former Rotorua CIB chief John Dewar is accused of having failed to properly investigate Mrs Nicholas' original complaint.

Following the allegations, another senior police officer, Kelvin Powell, has also been stood down on full pay while police investigate complaints of sexual offences.

He has denied any wrongdoing.

In the commission's first public meeting in March, High Court Judge Justice Bruce Robertson, who heads the inquiry with Dame Margaret Bazley, said he was unsure whether it could report back to the government by its November deadline.

A law change was rushed through Parliament to allow commission staff to see the files.

A commission spokesman said yesterday he could not say when evidence from those alleging their complaints had been mishandled would be heard because it was still being collected.

- NZPA