Secret probe of police gun use

By PATRICK GOWER

A top Australian policeman with a reputation as a peacemaker has carried out a secret review of police shooting practices in New Zealand.

The Herald has learned police chiefs in Wellington brought in Victoria's Assistant Commissioner Ray Shuey to work on the review this year.

Mr Shuey earned an international name for his work with the Victoria Police, which has shed a "trigger-happy" reputation for shooting dead far more civilians than any other police force in Australia. From 1982 to 1994 police in Victoria shot dead 32 people.

In 1994, after a public outcry over nine fatal shootings, Mr Shuey organised Project Beacon to overhaul police firearms practices. Since then 10 people have been killed by the Victoria Police.

An important part of the project was training all officers in conflict resolution and negotiation. His success was hailed in 1996, the first year since 1983 that the Victoria Police did not shoot anyone dead.

New Zealand has had 13 fatal police shootings since 1982.

Police in Victoria are all armed with .38-calibre Smith and Wesson pistols while police in New Zealand are not normally armed.

Jon Neilson, a spokesman for New Zealand Police Commissioner Rob Robinson, refused to provide details of Mr Shuey's work here. Even the report's title and its terms of reference are secret.

Mr Neilson said shooting procedure was just one aspect of the review, which covered "safety and tactical options".

Project Beacon in Victoria retrained all its 8000 operational officers.

All recruits are trained under the project's guidelines and officers must complete aspects of it every six months to remain in operational positions.

The week-long programme covers conflict resolution and negotiation, practical training and firearms skills, dealing with the mentally disabled and defensive tactics.

Mr Shuey's findings about New Zealand procedures are expected to be included in a similar staff safety training programme for its 7000 officers which is run by Police National Headquarters and the Police College.

The programme requires all officers to do four days of training each year.

Mr Shuey is on leave and was unavailable for comment yesterday.

But it is known he worked with Auckland-based Detective Superintendent Peter Marshall on the review, reporting directly to Deputy Commissioner Long with 14 recommendations that will be taken to Commissioner Rob Robinson.

The Herald learned of the review after the Ombudsman upheld a complaint about deleted passages in an Official Information Act request for information on Project Lincoln, a police project dealing with non-lethal weapons such as Taser stun guns and pepper spray.

Mr Shuey's review is separate from the upcoming visit by a team of British police to audit the New Zealand Police and the way they investigate crime.

While Victorian police were initially cynical about the Project Beacon training, they became more positive about its take-your-time, safety-first philosophies.

The Project Beacon standard is that "the success of an operation will be primarily judged by the extent to which the use of force is avoided or minimised".

Police in the United States, Hong Kong and Toronto, Canada, have borrowed ideas and expertise from Project Beacon.