PM: do police shoot to kill?

By EUGENE BINGHAM and ALISON HORWOOD

WELLINGTON - Prime Minister Helen Clark stepped into the Waitara shooting row yesterday, questioning whether police had a "shoot to kill policy" and speaking out about their poor relationship with Maori in Taranaki.

Her comments came after police for the first time gave their version of what happened last Sunday when Steven Wallace was shot.

Central district commander Superintendent Mark Lammas said the 23-year-old had threatened to kill a police officer and continued to advance on him, brandishing a baseball bat.

Mr Wallace ignored a warning shot before the policeman shot him four times, said Mr Lammas.

After hearing the police version, Helen Clark suggested that a broad inquiry might be required.

"[An inquiry] may need to be done because it's starting to raise issues [such as] what is the protocol for action when the armed offenders people are involved?

"Is it shoot to wound? Is it shoot to kill?

"There's quite a lot of questions that the Government and the public are going to want information about."

Officials from Te Puni Kokiri (the Ministry of Maori Development) yesterday briefed the Prime Minister on survey data showing the sour state of relationships between Maori and police.

"I'm very concerned about ... the underlying bad relations between Maori and police in Taranaki," said Helen Clark. "I believe the incident has to be seen against this background.

"It is serious and we're very concerned about it because you can't have good administration of the law when a section of the community is very alienated."

Her comments drew political flak not only from a parliamentary rival but, apparently, from her own Police Minister, George Hawkins.

She was initially reported as saying police attitudes to Maori "undoubtedly had a bearing" on the shooting, although she later said the comments had been taken slightly out of context.

That report drew an immediate response from Mr Hawkins, who said he would not be commenting on the shooting while the homicide investigation and Police Complaints Authority inquiry were under way.

"I believe it is inappropriate for politicians to interfere, whether by comment on known facts or opinion."

National police spokesman Brian Neeson leaped upon Mr Hawkins' statement as a sign of division. "It's extraordinary that a minister has to tell the Prime Minister to butt out. Her comments are completely inappropriate and unprecedented while the investigation is under way."

Helen Clark denied that her comments would inflame tensions, saying it would be "insensitive" if she did not demonstrate her concern to people in Taranaki.

Mr Lammas stressed that the homicide inquiry was not finished, but according to the police version Mr Wallace was still holding the baseball bat and advancing on the officer when he was shot.

But a nearby witness does not remember any warning shot and still maintains that Mr Wallace was empty-handed when he was shot.

Two days after the funeral, it is still not clear what caused Mr Wallace to lose his temper and vandalise Waitara. There is speculation, which police are not commenting on, that he may have had an argument with his family.