The Department of Internal Affairs says it was inappropriate for information about disgraced former top cop Jevon McSkimming to be withheld from Police Minister Mark Mitchell.
The Herald revealed on Wednesday that Mitchell’s office had received 36 emails containing allegations against McSkimming since December 2023.
However, Mitchell said the then Police Commissioner Andrew Coster directed police staff in the ministerial office to send the emails directly to his own office and not share them with the minister or his political staff.
“It is not appropriate for departments to withhold information from ministerial staff or Ministers,” Department of Internal Affairs chief executive Paul James said.
“We will be reminding agency Chief Executives of this, as well as reminding our staff of existing policies and guidance on dealing with incoming correspondence.”
James said there was no indication other public sector agencies had been given the same instructions.
It follows a Herald investigation which revealed how the country’s highest ranking police officers ignored complaints that McSkimming was a sexual predator.
Instead of investigating whether the sex claims could be substantiated or not, the emails sent by a young woman were used by police to prosecute her for a harassment campaign against the former top cop.
McSkimming has since admitted to having a sexual relationship with the woman, who was more than 20 years younger than him, which ended in 2018.
While this charge against the woman was eventually dropped, police went on to prosecute her for emails sent to the detective who had initially arrested her and his wife. They have since defended this decision.
McSkimming missed out on the top police commissioner job after the sex claims were inadvertently discovered during the vetting process, and the police belatedly investigated the woman’s allegations at the end of last year.
During that investigation, detectives discovered McSkimming had used his work devices to search for pornography, including bestiality and child sex exploitation material, for at least five years.
The 52-year-old later resigned in disgrace and was later charged with possession of objectionable material. He pleaded guilty last week and will be sentenced next month.
Mitchell has relentlessly defended his staff members who dealt with the emails, saying they were put in an incredibly difficult position and were just doing their job.
Mitchell said he would not have expected the staff who managed the emails to his office containing the allegations against McSkimming with him because they would have never read them.
When the emails arrived in his inbox, a staff member would identify which portfolio they related to and forward them to an appropriate employee. They don’t sit reading through each email, Mitchell said.
“There is a massive amount of correspondence that comes through. It’s quite simply their job to look what portfolio that relates to, not to go through and read every email,” he told the Herald.
“You just physically would not be able to do that, triage it through to the [private secretary] and then deal with it.”
Current Police Commissioner Richard Chambers held a press conference alongside Mitchell and Public Service Minister Judith Collins after a landmark report from the Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) revealed the scale of the scandal.
All three figures were scathing, categorically condemning McSkimming, Coster and the executive staff and processes that allowed the failure to happen. They called the report extremely concerning and disappointing.
“At the centre of this is a woman who has been let down by the former Police executive and the system. I cannot express how frustrated and disappointed I have been since becoming aware of the situation,” Mitchell said.
“The report highlights significant flaws in the decision making, judgement and actions of a group of individuals, including those at the top of the previous Police executive. Their actions have raised serious concerns about integrity and culture within the then executive.”
Chambers, as the current Police Commissioner, apologised to the woman for how the previous police leadership mishandled her original sex allegations. He said he would do his utmost to ensure something like this never happened again, he said.
“It’s an absolute disgrace. It’s lacking in leadership, its lacking integrity,” he told Mike Hosking on Newstalk ZB soon after the report’s release.
Julia Gabel is a Wellington-based political reporter. She joined the Herald in 2020 and has most recently focused on data journalism.