A potentially deadly and unapproved restraint tactic was taught “under the radar” to police cadets for years in what top cops now admit was a lack of oversight of training.
Police leadership say they only became aware of the issue after “dangerous and high-risk” arrests by a sergeant during the anti-vaccine mandate protests at Parliament resulted in a dual employment and criminal probe into the officer’s conduct.
That investigation showed that multiple trainers were believed to have taught the unapproved manoeuvre.
Herald analysis of over a thousand pages of police communications and court documents found the technique continued to be taught to police cadets 15 months after the Parliament protest – despite widespread scrutiny when footage of the arrests spread.
The Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) found the restraint was “dangerous and high-risk” and two of the protesters it was used on sued police and the arresting officer.
The judge in that High Court civil case ruled that the force used was “clearly excessive”, while a forensic expert described the technique as “potentially lethal”.
Police told the Herald they acknowledge that the training issue should have been identified and “ceased earlier” and have implemented two training oversight groups as a result.
Sergeant Yancy Hawkins was second in command on the ground at the anti-mandate protests, which saw thousands of people occupy Parliament’s lawn in the early months of 2022.
The 23-day protest was one of the most “significant policing challenges” in years, according to the IPCA. More than a third of the police staff involved were referred to support services to help deal with the emotional toll of the experience.
Hawkins had served as a police officer for more than two decades in Wellington and had taught defensive tactics at the Royal New Zealand Police College for close to three years before the huge operation at Parliament.
Just days into the occupation on Thursday, February 10, police unsuccessfully attempted to remove those gathered.
In the crowd was 17-year-old Alexander Lawrence, who had travelled from Whakatāne to Wellington with his family earlier that week.
“It was on the Thursday that it became not peaceful ... On the Thursday, I got to the grounds by foot. My family came with me. When I arrived, I noticed that it was different to other days. There were a lot more police there, around 200-400. They were lined up,” Lawrence said in his police statement.
Police asked the protesters to leave over a megaphone, then formed a “skirmish line”, advancing towards the crowd to try to force them out.
Protesters resisted police by linking arms and forming a human chain. Officers then pulled various protesters through the skirmish line and arrested them. Lawrence was one of them.
The teenager was already being held on the ground by two other officers when Hawkins placed both hands on the right side of Lawrence’s head and pushed down in a “press-up stance”, court documents say.
With both of his hands on the side of Lawrence’s face, Hawkins held his own body in a “press-up” position for around five seconds. He dropped to his knees briefly before coming back up. Hawkins stopped after about 10 seconds when a fellow officer tapped him on the shoulder.
Forensic pathologist Dr Judy Melinek told police the manoeuvre Hawkins did on Lawrence’s head could have caused a range of “life-threatening” injuries.
Melinek said the contact risked causing facial injuries, skull injuries and upper neck artery injuries – all of which could lead to death.
The agreed statement of facts from the civil case that Lawrence later launched against police said the teenager experienced blurred vision and pain in his head, neck, back and chest, along with fuzzy hearing in his right ear, after being arrested.
High Court Justice Peter Churchman, after a three-day hearing in March this year, found that the force Hawkins used was a breach of the Bill of Rights Act.
Churchman said Hawkins’ conduct during the incident demeaned the protesters, but not to an extent that it was degrading, and the application of force in all the circumstances was “clearly excessive, but not grossly so”.
The judge awarded Lawrence $7000 and issued a formal recognition that his rights had been breached.
Police launched two investigations into Hawkins in 2023 and, after months of inquiry, closed them without further formal action. A charging panel said the evidence presented did not meet the threshold for a criminal case.
Royal New Zealand Police College training director Superintendent Warwick Morehu told Hawkins in an October 2023 letter: “I note your explanation in which you were of the genuine belief that the head-hold restraint was authorised and, along with other police DT [defensive tactics] trainers, have been teaching this method to recruits.
“It appears that there was a breakdown of formal protocol and procedure, and as such, the technique was implemented ‘under the radar’.”
Detective Senior Sergeant Glen Turner, who works for the police college and was one of the officers investigating Hawkins’ conduct, said in an email to Melinek that the technique used on the protesters was unapproved.
“The position used is not one used or trained in by police. I’ve been in the police 38 years and have never seen this type of restraint being implemented.”
Training of the manoeuvre stopped on May 16, 2023, according to police emails.
Police documents say the unapproved “head-hold restraint” or “press-up/plank manoeuvre” was unofficially introduced to the police college in late 2019 or early 2020.
That was despite police communications seen by the Herald that show instructors were specifically warned to avoid head contact during training in 2019.
The then police college supervisor, Gregory Betham, sent an email to Hawkins and others in May 2019 warning instructors about teaching cadets manoeuvres involving the head.
Betham urged against any contact, direct or indirect, to anyone’s head during training, stating that such an instructor’s behaviour would be “categorised for investigation”.
“The worst-case scenario if nothing changes is permanent damage or potential death to a trainee or staff member, hence this action being put into place to mitigate that,” Betham wrote.
During the police’s internal investigations into Hawkins in 2023, Betham said the absence of a formal process or “governance group” to sign off on new training methods at the police college had likely contributed to the issue.
Morehu’s notes of a meeting with Hawkins said that “[Hawkins] was pleased that the college had put back in place the Training Approval and Quality Board as he had asked about this some time back, as it had stopped.
“Management at the time advised that it wouldn’t happen. He felt this would mitigate a lot of risk.”
Police National Headquarters Inspector Jason Ross said that he was aware of the press-up restraint, but told an officer investigating Hawkins that Police HQ never mandated the method, due to its inherent risks.
“[Ross] also acknowledged that for some time, the formality of all training and lesson plans going through a Training Assurance Approvals Board had been compromised at the [police college],” the investigator said in a summary of his interview with Ross.
Ross is also recorded to have said that the police college has now “reinstated quality control” by forming the Training Assurance Quality Board.
Police college director Sam Keats told the Herald the quality board is responsible for governing all training across police and a separate oversight group was also established in July of this year.
Keats, in responding to the Herald’s questions about the press-up restraint and Hawkins’ conduct, said the technique was used in some other law enforcement jurisdiction.
“The press-up/plank manoeuvre was based on the principle of ‘control the head, control the body’ and ... although the technique was not ratified, it’s important to acknowledge that improvised techniques are sometimes necessary to ensure officer safety.”
Keats said that when a training manager became aware that the manoeuvre was still being taught in May 2023, “they directed that the use of it to cease immediately”.
“I acknowledge that this should have been identified and ceased earlier.”
Keats said all staff who may have been taught the unapproved manoeuvre will have since completed two to three days of updated defensive tactics training.
“Staff who may have been previously taught the press-up/plank manoeuvre have since completed this training and are equipped with the skills and knowledge to operate in accordance with current policy and procedure.
“As an organisation, we prioritise the safety and training of our staff and we welcome scrutiny that allows us to continually improve how we do this.”
On top of the two internal investigations, the IPCA also examined Hawkins’ actions.
It found they were “dangerous and high-risk”.
“The way [Hawkins] immobilised [Lawrence] by taking a wide stance and pressing down on his head in a press-up position, is not a standard police tactic.
“The head control manoeuvre which Sergeant Hawkins applied was dangerous and high-risk,” the IPCA said.
Lawyer Tudor Clee represented three protesters, including Lawrence, in High Court claims against the police.
“It was frankly astonishing that it wasn’t just one person who was saying it was never approved. It was the entire chain of command of the police over a period of a year, accepting that no one had ever approved this manoeuvre.
“The question is how many other times this manoeuvre was done and it’s never even been written down or reported.”
“Ultimately, what he [Lawrence] said to me was the most important thing for him was the fact that the police have implemented a new training programme to ensure that this sort of thing never happens to anyone else again,” Clee said.
Jaime Lyth is a multimedia journalist for the New Zealand Herald, focusing on crime and breaking news. Lyth began working under the NZ Herald masthead in 2021 as a reporter for the Northern Advocate in Whangārei.