Daniel Livingstone. Photo / Supplied via police
A disconnect between Corrections and police became apparent today as officials scrambled to contain the fallout from the escape of sex offender Daniel Livingstone.
Corrections insists it did everything it could when Livingstone cut his ankle bracelet off, and the department doesn't know why police waited so long to inform the public.
Livingstone, who in 2006 raped a 10-year-old girl, sparked a manhunt after escaping from his Upper Hutt residence early yesterday morning.
Livingstone was one of just 238 offenders subject to an extended supervision order (ESO) in New Zealand.
Upper Hutt mayor Wayne Guppy today blasted authorities, saying his community was kept in the dark and no officials bothered telling him about the escape before he read news reports yesterday afternoon.
Four different agencies and companies were involved in monitoring or trying to track down Livingstone.
Private company 3M New Zealand Ltd supplied electronic monitoring under Corrections' oversight.
Corrections acting national commissioner Rachel Leota said the first sign of a problem was when 3M's monitoring centre was alerted to a tamper about 2am yesterday.
3M then called Corrections' electronic monitoring response team and sent a guard from First Security to investigate.
In cases where an offender was still not found or did not respond, 3M again alerted Corrections, which then decided how to address the situation.
"In this case, we advised the police that we wanted them to visit," Ms Leota said.
"Clearly, in Mr Livingstone's situation, he was found to have taken his bracelet off. And he was not at the residence that he should have been."
After initial attempts to locate the offender weren't successful, police took control of the situation, Ms Leota said.
A police superintendent said officers first visited Livingstone's address at 3.50am.
Another five hours passed before police forcibly entered the property, and it was another seven hours after that until the public was alerted to his escape.
Livingstone's escape sparked criticism of the wider electronic monitoring system, especially as he absconded the same day murderer, paedophile and rapist Tony Robertson was sentenced for killing Blessie Gotingco.
Robertson was also subject to an ESO, reliant in part on global positioning system (GPS) tracking.
But Ms Leota said broad criticism of the entire electronic monitoring system was off the mark.
"I would disagree with that. And in this case, it's worked perfectly well. We knew that he had tampered with his bracelet. We sent our appropriate response. The police have decided to take the action that they deemed appropriate."
She said bracelets could be tampered with in several ways, including by vigorous rubbing, and sometimes offenders accidentally set off alarms.
ESOs are post-detention orders for sexual offenders who had reached the end of their sentences but were thought to pose a "very high risk" to the community for re-offending.
If Corrections believed an offender posed such a risk, it could apply to a court for an ESO, to which 238 offenders were currently subject.
Until last year, an ESO could extend for up to 10 years. Now, Leota said such an order could be made to extend indefinitely.
Livingstone, released from jail last year, was on a seven-year ESO. Ms Leota said Corrections applied for a 10-year order, but a court granted the shorter order.
Livingstone had an assigned probation officer, who visited him as recently as Wednesday.
The convicted rapist was also subject to an intensive supervision order.
"We were keeping very close tabs on him," Ms Leota said.
"Nobody wants that situation to occur. What I can tell you is that Corrections did everything we needed to do in order to ensure Mr Livingstone was complying with his conditions. Clearly he's gone an extra level, and personally taken off his bracelet and [had] the determination to breach his conditions."
Ms Leota said 3M and First Security also did what was expected of them. She said the decision on when to publish news of Livingstone's escape was a question for police.
GPS satellite tracking of bracelets was now more widely used than radio frequency tracking, which generally applied to people on community detention, Ms Leota said.
Corrections had applied and been granted a warrant to arrest Livingstone.
Corrections Minister Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga, recovering from last month's Serco scandals, said today he was "deeply concerned" about Livingstone's escape.
He said the incident showed all parts of the justice system had to work together more cohesively.
"Police and Corrections must work together to achieve quicker and more effective response times," Mr Lotu-Iiga said.
"The anklets are not indestructible but an alarm is activated if they are tampered with and that alarm is acted on by Corrections and often police. In Livingstone's case, that occurred far too late."
Ms Leota said protocols existed to alert agencies including Housing New Zealand, and relevant community groups, to incidents such as Livingstone's escape.
But Upper Hutt mayor Wayne Guppy said he'd encountered a "deafening silence" from authorities.
He told NZME News Service councils had a much better understanding of their own communities than Government departments did, and must be kept in the loop more efficiently.
"It's important from the community's point of view. It's important [for] the person who's actually being monitored too, so there can be some support mechanism in place."
He said locals had been "surprised" and "anxious" about Livingstone's escape.
A court judgement from 2006 revealed the cruel and sordid nature of Livingstone's offending against a 10-year-old girl earlier that year.
The judge said a young life had been "ruined" in "a very few moments of brutality".
Livingstone, then 18, was on parole when he abducted, raped and threatened to kill the girl.
Sentencing remarks indicated Livingstone had misogynistic views and took virtually no responsibility for his offending, although he did plead guilty at an early opportunity.
A probation officer assessed his risk of re-offending as high "and his motivation to change as low."
But a Mason Clinic psychiatrist said Livingstone did not have "paedophilia disorder" and was not at an increased risk of recidivism compared with other sex offenders.
Following the psychiatric reports, the Crown chose not to seek a sentence of preventive detention.
Police Minister Michael Woodhouse has also asked for an urgent briefing on the incident, a spokeswoman said.
Police this afternoon addressed questions on why it took as long as it did to enter Livingstone's address.
"He was actively sought as an absconder from the moment that door-knocking at his property failed to gain a response," Superintendent Sam Hoyle said in a statement.
"Officers visited the property where Mr Livingstone was living on two separate occasions at the request of Corrections in the early hours of Thursday morning," he added.
"In these circumstances, there are no specific powers of entry without warrant for a constable to forcibly enter premises when they believe an offender is not there."
Third time around, police forced their way into the house "given the seriousness of the situation," he said.
The ankle bracelet was found inside, confirming Livingstone had absconded.
But Mr Hoyle said active steps to locate him had already been underway for several hours by then.
These included area patrols, area and background inquiries, and visiting an associate's address, Mr Hoyle said.
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