Delays in the police response to the shooting of south Auckland liquor store owner Navtej Singh were unjustifiable and arguably breached the police's duty of care to preserve life, the Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) has found.
Mr Singh was shot in the abdomen during an armed robbery of the Riverton Liquor Store in Manurewa on June 7, 2008.
After Mr Singh's business partner called police, 31 minutes passed before officers entered the store.
An ambulance took a further six minutes to arrive and Mr Singh died in Middlemore Hospital the following day.
An IPCA investigation into the delay followed a complaint from Mr Singh's father, Nahar Singh.
In its report released today, the IPCA found the delay in attending the incident, and the consequent delay in Mr Singh receiving emergency medical treatment, could not be justified and was undesirable.
The delay was not caused by any single failing but a series of procedural and command and control failures, the report said.
Police failed to properly record, analyse and communicate all relevant information from the scene, which meant officers lacked clear information about Mr Singh's condition or the location of the offenders.
There was also a lack of oversight by police northern communications in handing over command and control to an officer in the field. Coordination between police and St John Ambulance was also affected.
Other factors included a shortage of local police units available to respond, a lack of flexibility in using units that were available to respond, and unnecessary diversion of, and incorrect directions to, responding units.
The IPCA found the consequent delay in getting emergency medical attention to Mr Singh was arguably a breach of the police's duty of care to preserve life.
"The police have a basic duty to protect life," said IPCA chairwoman Justice Lowell Goddard.
"Whilst Navtej Singh's injuries may not have been survivable, what is known is that he suffered significant pain and distress, both of which were inevitably heightened by the delays in getting him emergency medical treatment," she said.
"The authority also recognises the distress caused to his family and friends by the delays."
The report contains 16 recommendations, mostly directed at improving communications, command and control, and responses to incidents in which people may have received potentially life-threatening injuries.
The report comes a week after Anitelea Chan-Kee was sentenced in the High Court at Auckland to life imprisonment with a minimum non-parole period of 17 years, after being found guilty of Mr Singh's murder by a jury earlier this year.
He was also sentenced to 10 years for aggravated robbery and three years for another robbery, to be served concurrently.
Five other accused men involved in the robbery - Myron Felise, Tino Felise, Eti Filoa, Walter McCarthy and Jason Naseri - were all found not guilty of murder and manslaughter but have been convicted of aggravated robbery.
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