Police will be auditing internet usage of the most senior police officers in the country over the last 12 months, starting with the Police Commissioner, RNZ can reveal.
It comes as Commissioner Richard Chambers says he's asked for a "closer look" at the Independent Police Conduct Authority's (IPCA) scathing report released last month to see whether there's anything from a "criminal liability perspective".
Chambers sat down with RNZ on Tuesday to discuss his first-year in the job.
RNZ recently reported that 17 staff are under investigation in relation to "misuse and inappropriate content". Three of the staff are facing criminal investigations.
It follows an audit of staff internet usage sparked by the resignation of former Deputy Police Commissioner Jevon McSkimming, who recently pleaded guilty to possessing objectionable publications, including child sexual exploitation and bestiality over a four-year period.
Asked about the number of staff under investigation, Chambers said it was "disappointing, and it falls well short of expectations".
"We have a code of conduct for a reason. If any of that behaviour is found to be criminal, we'll take action. But those audits came about because I decided that we needed to put in place systems and processes and audits to ensure that we identified any inappropriate behaviour."
Chambers referenced one of the recommendations in the IPCA report, which was to "sustain the good progress" on implementing recommendations from the rapid review into police information security controls and implement a practice of auditing the systems' use by those officers being considered for promotion to the ranks of, at least, superintendent and above as well as staff with security clearances.
Chambers said he was going "one step further".
"As an executive leadership team recently, we decided that actually we're going to step beyond the people that are applying for promotional opportunities, and we're going to have a look anyway.
"So, one of the things that we have decided to do, and I've communicated this out, is that for Deputy Commissioner, Assistant Commissioner, District Commanders and Directors, we are going to have a look at internet access over the last 12 months, because that's the right thing to do. We have to be confident that at the senior levels of the organisation, Superintendent and above that, there's nothing to see here, nothing untoward."
Chambers said police were prioritising the checks.
"So, I've said you can start with me, and then those that are in the process to apply for other leadership roles, which we've had recently, Assistant Commissioner and also District Commander roles advertise so applicants for those senior roles.
"We are running checks now and then I'm hopeful, probably after Christmas, we will get the capacity to run the rest through whether they are sworn superintendent or civilian equivalents, and above. We will run them all through as quickly as we can."
The IPCA concluded that once a decision was made in October 2024 to launch a proper investigation into allegations of sexual offending by McSkimming ,senior officers, including former Commissioner Andrew Coster, "attempted to shape its approach so as to bring it to a rapid and premature conclusion".
They did not find any "collusion", rather a "consistent pattern of behaviour driven by a common mindset and perspective".
This, the IPCA said, were concerns that it could end with "unjustified victimisation of the Deputy Commissioner".
Asked whether there needed to be further investigations into the conduct of the senior staff members, Chambers said he had asked a Detective Superintendent to take a "close look" at the IPCA report and provide advice on whether or not there there was any matter "that needs to be looked at from a criminal liability perspective".
"Anything that's remotely appears to be criminal offending is serious, but it may or may not be the case, but I need to let some of my most senior investigators who are very, very good at what they do, let them do their job and provide advice to me, which I will then take on board," he said.
"It's how close is some of that activity that we know through the investigations and the IPCA report, how close is some of that activity potential judicial processes that's what we'll look at and I'll let my investigators do their job and then provide guidance to me."
