Top policeman cleared of rape given new job

Kelvin Powell. Photo / Sarah Ivey

Waikato's former top policeman, cleared two years ago of an historic rape allegation, has been appointed manager of the Northern Communications Centre.

Superintendent Kelvin Powell, previously district commander of the Waikato Police District, will take up his new role early next month.

When overlooked for the Waikato job in December in favour of Superintendent Alan Boreham, he admitted to being disappointed.

Mr Powell was accused of raping a then-serving policewoman at her 21st birthday party in Rotorua in 1984.

He was suspended when the allegation surfaced at the start of 2004, but reinstated in October 2005, after a jury found him not guilty.

A police spokesman said the Northern Communications Centre provided services to six districts.

The Auckland-based centre covered the area from Cape Reinga in the north to Turangi in the south, served a population of 2.1 million and received more than a million calls a year.

- NZPA