The Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) has found an allegation of assault against a Central Otago police officer was fairly handled by police.
But the officer who made the IPCA complaint says he is glad he did so and that the case was re-examined.
The officer (Officer A), who cannot be named because of a court suppression order, said the IPCA findings were "not what I expected, but I just want to move on and I’m willing to accept their conclusion".
Officer A, who was serving in Central Otago at the time of the alleged assault but now works in another police district, had been charged with assault after an incident in a police cell in October 2014, when Officer A and a second officer (Officer B) were trying to remove the jacket of a young graffiti tagger.
One of the officers punched the teenager several times. The teenager laid a complaint the following day but could not identify who had punched him. Both officers claimed the other had punched the victim.
More than a week later, the teenager said Officer A had punched him, and in December 2014 Officer A was charged with assault.
However, the charge was eventually dismissed in June last year, after the teenager said in a previous part-hearing he still did not know which officer had punched him, and the Crown offered no further evidence regarding the allegation.
When speaking to the Otago Daily Times last year, Officer A criticised the delays in investigating his case and the alleged dismissal by police of evidence that showed Officer B had a propensity to violence. Those complaints were considered by a judge to be relevant and showed Officer B had a propensity to act in an "overly aggressive and violent manner towards people in custody", Officer A had said in his IPCA complaint.
Officer A further alleged a conflict of interest from a senior Otago Lakes-Central officer meant his case was not handled properly and predetermined the views of two other senior officers, leading to his incorrectly being blamed for the assault.
Officer A said last year he was initially wary of speaking out for fear of being targeted by senior Otago Lakes-Central police, "but feel if I do not, the workplace bullying that I have witnessed may not ever be checked or examined".
But he said this week he was happy to accept the IPCA’s findings and further pleased the IPCA had investigated his complaint itself, independently, as most complaints to the IPCA were handed back to police to investigate with IPCA oversight.
He also said he was certain police culture had improved, and he respected the good work that Central Otago police did.
"At the end of the day, it’s done now ... I felt justified in raising the issues and I don’t regret making the complaint ... I’ve got a lot of respect for the police in Central and hopefully everyone has learnt some lessons from this ... Now I just want to put it behind me and move on."
The IPCA said in its report to Officer A, of which the Otago Daily Times has seen the last page, that police had "properly and fairly investigated" the assault allegation and that it was reasonable for police to charge him with assault based on the available evidence.
Police had also "properly and fairly investigated" the evidence from the four officers regarding Officer B, the IPCA said.
