Police facing lawsuits totalling $45m

By SCOTT INGLIS

The police face lawsuits seeking $45 million despite resolving others totalling nearly twice that in the past five years.

Of the $80.3 million in civil and staff-related claims resolved since the 1996-97 financial year, the police actually paid out just $2.8 million.

The figures were obtained by the Herald ahead of the latest police annual report, for the June year.

They show that there are 79 public lawsuits totalling $44.5 million and 28 staff-related claims worth just under $320,000 on the Contingent Liability Register.

The register, which updates continuously, is confidential because it contains information that is subject to court suppression orders.

The police national manager of legal services, Superintendent Dave Kerr, said he believed that the figures were reasonable, considering the police force had just under 9000 sworn and non-sworn staff who have contact with the public every day - some which can be confrontational.

"There's always going to be one party that's unhappy with the actions of the police - either the complainant unhappy that we can't find enough evidence ... or the offender who disagrees that we can find enough evidence," he said.

"It's the real nature of the business that we're at risk of contingent liabilities."

Aggrieved members of the public sue the police for many reasons, including alleged wrongful detention, arrest or search, breach of the Bill of Rights - and breach of contract, like the case of Mongrel Mob informant Anthony Hewison, who successfully claimed that the police had failed to hide him.

Mr Kerr said of the unresolved 79 claims still on the books: "Don't assume for a moment that every one of these is a genuine claim because we have all sorts of strange people come out of the woodwork."

The Contingent Liability Register used to be around $80 million about eight years ago but police are now dealing with these cases more aggressively, which is helping to keep the number down.

"We sort them more promptly ... We don't let them sit and lie on the dusty courtroom floors for yonks and then wonder why we struggle to remember what happened when we get into court."

Staff grievances also vary, ranging from police officers fighting to shift offices through to being sacked and their cases being later overturned by the courts.

The figures also show the police legal bill - including civil, employment, extradition and routine legal costs - for the five-year period has so far totalled about $5.8 million.

For this year, it is estimated to reach $1.9 million - three times what it was five years ago.

However, $800,000 of that is a special one-off budget for an ongoing case which has blanket suppression orders and multiple claimants.

The difference is similar to last year's bill of $1,186,360. The total police budget is nearly $1 billion.

High-profile personal grievance cases the police lost this year involve:

* Former Whangamata Sergeant Chris Cartwright, awarded $550,000 by the Employment Court after successfully suing for being bullied by superiors.

* Former police video producer George Brickell, awarded $242,000 for the after-effects of 15 years of filming grisly videos.

* Rex Hallinan, a former constable in Lincoln, Christchurch, and Geoffrey Benge, stationed at Otaki, who sued for lost income through early retirement and the mental and physical consequences of their work - and were awarded almost $500,000.

* Wellington dog handler Chris Moore, who won his job back after the Employment Court found he had been unfairly sacked. Reimbursement for earnings and costs have yet to be sorted out.

The police have appealed against the Hallinan, Benge and Moore decisions.