The way in which police ignored rather than investigated allegations about Jevon McSkimming, at time one of the country’s highest-ranking officers, will shake public trust in our authorities and has raised serious questions about police leadership. The Herald looks at who knew what, and when they knew it.
Early 2016: Jevon McSkimming began an affair with the woman who would go on to indirectly expose him for having child sex abuse and bestiality material on his work devices.
April 2016: He was promoted to Assistant Commissioner in April that year, and in June he sent an email in this role to propose the woman, Ms Z, be employed in a casual position in New Zealand Police.
Late 2017-mid 2018: The affair ended in either December 2017, as McSkimming said, or early 2018, as Ms Z said, and her casual employment with police stopped in January 2018. In May that year, McSkimming told his wife about the affair, and said it was at this time Ms Z began sending harassing emails, the Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) report into the matter said.
April: Tania Kura and McSkimming announced as the new statutory Deputy Commissioners. The role of the deputy is the second most powerful in the police, and involves managing demand and maximising policing resources and performance.
May: Police became aware of a comment on a LinkedIn page containing allegations about McSkimming’s conduct. The IPCA were notified of the post and received an explanation from Kura of the “context as she perceived it”, the report said.
Mid 2023: Coster informed IPCA chairman Judge Kenneth Johnston KC that McSkimming had had an affair, shortly after the LinkedIn post came to their attention.
December 2023-January 2024: Ms Z began sending a large number of anonymous emails to McSkimming and others, including the IPCA. The IPCA replied to one of these, telling her how to make a complaint. A case was opened, but later closed after the IPCA received an email requesting as much.
December 2023-onwards: Police Minister Mark Mitchell’s office received 36 emails containing allegations about McSkimming. Mitchell told the Herald this week that he was blocked from seeing these emails on an order from Coster, who directed police staff in Mitchell’s office to refer the emails to Coster’s office, and not to share or discuss them with anyone else.
15 January: The IPCA contacted Officer U, the director of Integrity and Conduct, seeking further information and what actions police were taking about the emails and the allegations within. This was the first time Officer U had heard about the matter.
25 January: Coster emailed Kura asking her to engage with the Fixated Threat Assessment Centre (FTAC), a cross-agency collaboration focused on managing threats from fixated people. Kura emailed FTAC that day to seek advice on the emails.
31 January: Officer O, a detective from FTAC, emailed his supervisor a draft review of his analysis of the emails dating from July 2023, identifying allegations of behaviour that might raise criminal and/or employment concerns.
13 February: Officers N, the manager of Security Intelligence, and O from FATC met with Kura to discuss the report, which included extracts of emails containing allegations, and a recommendation for the matter to be referred to the IPCA and the National Integrity Unit. Kura later briefed Coster on the report.
18 February: Kura sent the report to Officer B, the acting Assistant Commissioner of Investigations, seeking advice on the best way to make the emails stop. He recommended Wellington District Police carry out a criminal investigation into Ms Z. The next day, Officer C, tasked with this criminal investigation, asked Officer B to meet to better understand what outcomes were sought and whether an IPCA complaint had been made or any other investigations begun.
Late February: Officer N from Security Intelligence met Officer B in a lift and reiterated the need to not only investigate Ms Z, but also the wrongdoing by McSkimming alleged in the emails.
March: IPCA texted Officer U (the director of integrity and conduct) and asked who to speak to about the emails. No reply was received. IPCA then emailed Coster, concerned about the number and nature of the emails. A few days later they received a call from Coster’s office with assurance Ms Z’s safety was being taken care of.
Late April: Three reports were made to the police 105 online reporting portal. Officer L from the integrity and conduct department emailed FTAC for advice on the reports, then contacted the team investigating Ms Z asking for details to enter in the Integrity and Conduct database. The same day Officer C - who was running the criminal investigation - emailed Officer L (Integrity and Conduct) and others, saying “I don’t expect there’s a requirement for Integrity and Conduct to be actively involved.” C asked L to call “to confirm this”. Officer M, then acting Director of Integrity and Conduct, phoned the IPCA that same day to ask to meet about the McSkimming matter.
May 3: Officer M met with the IPCA and expressed her concerns with the way police were handling the matter.
May 8: Police arrested and charged Ms Z with offences under the Harmful Digital Communications Act.
May 9: Officer M (Integrity and Conduct) forwarded Officer C’s email about Integrity and Conduct not needing to be involved to Officer B (acting Assistant Commissioner of Investigations), asking him to call her.
May 10-13: Officer B called Officer M and said they had arrested Ms Z. Officer M expressed concern that nobody was treating Ms Z as a complainant, saying it should be a National Integrity Unit matter. Officer M rang the Deputy Commissioner of People, Leadership and Culture after this conversation. Officer B (acting Assistant Commissioner of Investigations) then emailed Kura and Assistant Commissioner A (the offical Assistant Commissioner of Investigations) saying there was a “need for us to have a quick roundtable”.
May 27: Officer B (acting Assistant Commissioner of Investigations) emailed senior investigator Officer D, informing her of a planned investigation into the veracity of the allegations against McSkimming, which would later be dubbed Operation Herb.
June: Officer D was tasked with conducting Operation Herb.
July 11: The Crown indicated to Ms Z’s lawyer that diversion was an option for her criminal charges. Officer B (acting Assistant Commissioner of Investigations) emailed Ms Z’s investigation team to advise that McSkimming only wanted her to receive diversion if she admitted her allegations were false.
July 15: The Crown advised police diversion was no longer an option.
July 26: Coster publicly announced he would be leaving the top job.
August: IPCA emailed Officer M (Integrity and Conduct) asking for the matter to be referred. Officer M forwarded the email to the Deputy Commissioner of People, Leadership and Culture with an expression of concern about the way the matter was being handled. The deputy commissioner responded two days later saying the situation did not seem to be “as it was relayed”.
September 12: Officer D (the senior investigator running the case) filed a memorandum recommending no further action on Operation Herb.
September 16: Coster called Officer M (Integrity and Conduct) and asked if there were any open investigations into McSkimming, and M expressed her knowledge and concern about Officer D’s investigation being conducted outside usual processes and separate from Integrity and Conduct.
September 24: Assistant Commissioner A (Investigations) closed Operation Herb and directed that steps be taken to finalise matters in the relevant databases. This prompted emails about a lack of any record of the investigation in the Integrity and Conduct database. Advertising for Coster’s role began the same day.
October 8: Coster and Ms G, an executive director within police, provided verbal references for McSkimming in the interim Commissioner appointment process. Neither shared relevant information relating to the allegations against him.
October 10: Officer M (Integrity and Conduct) referred the issue to the IPCA and told the Deputy Commissioner of People, Leadership and Culture she had opened an IAPro file, which is a file in a system used for tracking internal affairs and professional standards matters. She shared her view the matter should not be closed yet, despite Assistant Commissioner A’s (Investigations) directive.
October 14: IPCA sent a letter to police informing them that the matter had been made a Category A independent investigation. The Deputy Commissioner of People, Leadership and Culture called Officer M (Integrity and Conduct) and told her Coster was not happy about the referral to the IPCA and the subsequent categorisation.
October 18: IPCA met with Ms Z and recommended to Officer M that the National Integrity Unit conduct the investigation with IPCA oversight.
October 22: Coster wrote to Judge Johnston KC, trying to persuade the IPCA to expedite its investigation.
October 25: Amid various investigations and Commissioner appointment processes, McSkimming makes his last recorded search on his work devices for objectionable material.
October 30: McSkimming was interviewed for the Commissioner position. Coster held a meeting with Kura, the Deputy Commissioner of People, Leadership and Culture the Director, Police Legal Services, Officer M (Integrity and Conduct) and Officer K (National Integrity Unit) at which he tried to direct that an investigation into McSkimming be conducted as quickly as possible so it would not impact on the commissioner selection process.
November 1: The National Integrity Unit did the first forensic interview with Ms Z.
November 4: Coster called another meeting with the same attendees. Coster said he was focused on the issue of “natural justice” for McSkimming. That week, Assistant Commissioner A asked Officer V, a Territorial Detective Superintendent to lead the new criminal investigation into McSkimming.
November 20: Richard Chambers appointed the new Commissioner. Chambers told NZME he was briefed on the matter by a senior detective a mere two days before he took up the top role on November 25.
November 25: Chambers commences Commissioner role, and the terms of reference for the criminal investigation into McSkimming were finalised.
December: Investigators detected concerning searches on McSkimming’s work devices, and he was stood down on full pay.
January: McSkimming’s lawyers advised he was cooperating with the investigation and expected to resume his duties once he was cleared of wrongdoing.
March: McSkimming was made aware of the police internet investigation and contacted a colleague to admit accessing pornography on his work laptop.
May: Police Minister Mark Mitchell announced McSkimming had resigned before potentially being removed from the job. NZME and other media reported he had been found to have potential objectionable material on his work devices. Lawyer Linda Clark took out an interim injunction preventing media from revealing the nature of the material, and a “super injunction” stopping reporting of the existence of the injunction.
May 19: The super injunction was lifted, but McSkimming continued to pursue an injunction over the nature of the material. Justice Karen Grau heard arguments in the High Court at Wellington and reserved her decision.
Late June: While awaiting the injunction decision, McSkimming was arrested and charged with eight counts of possessing objectionable material. He was immediately granted interim name suppression ahead of his first appearance in court. The suppression extended to reporting of the charges he was facing.
July: Justice Grau released her decision lifting the injunction, and media were able to report for the first time the materials found on McSkimming’s work devices were child exploitation and bestiality images.
August: McSkimming did not pursue name suppression and was able to be identified as a prominent New Zealander who had been arrested in June.
November 6: He pleaded guilty to three representative charges of possessing objectionable material.
November 11: Judge Andy Nicholls lifted heavy suppressions on Ms Z’s case, allowing reporting about her emails and the subsequent police response. The IPCA released a report condemning the police’s handling of the matter and the Herald released its investigation into the case.
November 11: Minister for the Public Service revealed that Andrew Coster is on agreed leave. She called the IPCA findings “extremely concerning and disappointing”.
November 12: Chambers said his predecessor had “never spoken to me about it at all” and called the police executive’s conduct “appalling”. He said the entire controversy “shocked” him and impacted the reputation of all police.