Recommendations from the Commission of Inquiry into Police Conduct
Current Status and Progress for the Quarter ended 30 June 2008
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Recommendations |
Status |
Progress |
Estimated time to completion
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Police policies and procedures |
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R1 |
New Zealand Police should review and consolidate the numerous policies, instructions, and directives related to investigating complaints of misconduct against police officers, as well as those relating to the investigation of sexual assault allegations. |
Partially Complete |
• NZ Police continue to review and consolidate "all" police Corporate Instruments (all police administrative and operational policies and instructions) • A number of instruments have been reviewed, updated and published to staff and the remainder, are under active review. • A number of obsolete policies have also been cancelled. • All Corporate instruments will be reviewed by 30 June 2009 • The publishing capability for the online library has been re-scheduled for delivery at the end of August 2008. • Corporate Instrument staff continue to prioritise, review and consolidate those instruments related to investigating complaints of misconduct against police officers, as well as those relating to the investigation of sexual assault allegations is a priority (COI Recommendations) • This work will be completed in conjunction with recommendations R2; R3; R10; R11; R16; R33; R39; R40; R52; R54. |
Policies, instructions and directives, relating to this recommendation, have been consolidated and converted to the new online library- completed June 2008. This online library will be published and available to staff on the 25 August 2008.
All instruments will be fully reviewed within 2 years, estimated to complete 30 June 2009. |
R2 |
New Zealand Police should ensure that general instructions are automatically updated when a change is made to an existing policy. |
Completed |
• A new set of standardised instrument templates and instructions have been developed and implemented online • Formal development, consultation and approval processes have been implemented to ensure that general instructions are updated when a change is made to an existing policy • This process will be applied to the Corporate Instrument Document Management site as part of the “Corporate Instruments” initiative noted in recommendation R1. |
Completed 2006 |
R3 |
New Zealand Police should develop a set of policy principles regarding what instructions need to be nationally consistent and where regional flexibility should be allowed. |
Partially completed |
• A set of policy principles for ensuring consistency in national instructions have been developed • The process on regional flexibility has commenced through development and implementation of Memorandum of Understanding templates and instructions • These principles and guidelines will be applied to the Corporate Instrument Document Management site as part of the “Corporate Instruments” initiative noted in recommendation R1. • New policy around local instructions being generalised to encompass the new Police Act. |
National phase completed April 2007. Regional phase expected to be completed in the next quarter. Delay is to take into account the new Police Act.
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R4 |
An enhanced policy capability should be developed within the Office of the Commissioner to provide policy analysis on sound data, drawing upon the experience of front-line staff and upon research from New Zealand and beyond. |
Completed |
• All the necessary appointments are made, the policy team was established in June 2007 and a work plan has been drawn up • As part of the policy process, relevant research and front-line staff will be involved to varying degrees in the development of all operational policy. |
Completed June 2007 |
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Police policies and procedures for complainants |
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R5 |
New Zealand Police should develop an explicit policy to notify the Commissioner of Police when there is a serious complaint made against a Police officer. This policy and its associated procedures should specify who is to notify the police commissioner and within what time frames. |
Partially complete |
• As part of Recommendation 8, a technical solution has been reviewed and a business case is being prepared. This solution may be utilised to improve the current process of notifying the Commissioner of serious complaints. • The Early Warning system in recommendation 47 will also provide a robust and more effective system for reporting.
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Phase 1 relating to the policy completed in June 2007
Phase 2 - Ongoing improvement - the timeline will be determined by Recommendation R47
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R6 |
New Zealand Police should ensure that members of the public are able to access with relative ease information on the complaints process and on their rights if they do make a complaint against a member of the police. |
Underway |
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This recommendation is dependant on the Service First Project's deliver of the Service Charter - estimate December 2008. |
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Recommendations |
Status |
Progress |
Estimated time to completion
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R7 |
New Zealand Police should undertake periodic surveys to determine public awareness of the processes for making a complaint against a member of the police or a police associate. |
Underway |
• NZ Police have contracted Gravitas Research and Strategy Ltd, a research company, to undertake a Citizens' Satisfaction survey on its behalf through the Service First Project. This survey replaces the previous satisfaction research that NZ Police have used as a performance measure over many years and is conducted by telephone. • The questionnaire was tested during February and early March. The survey commenced on 12 March and will continue until June. This will give NZ Police a baseline to compare future results against as an ongoing measure of NZ Police performance and citizens' satisfaction with Police. • The survey uses questions from the Common Measurements Tool. NZ Police is piloting the Common Measurements Tool (CMT) for the State Services Commission. SSC has obtained the CMT under a licensing agreement with the Canadian government. NZ Police and other agencies using the CMT will be able to benchmark results against results for citizens' satisfaction with Canadian public sector organisations. • A question from the CMT is being used to determine whether citizens who had a problem with NZ Police service delivery or NZ Police staff knew what they could do about it in accordance with Recommendation 7. • Participation in the survey is voluntary, and the information provided is confidential. The sample is made up of a random sample of the general population and a smaller targeted sample of people who have called the NZ Police Communications Centre. |
As at the end of June the field work for the first periodic survey has been completed and the results will be reported in the next quarter.
The next quarter will also see the continuation of the ongoing research.
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R8 |
New Zealand Police should develop its database recording the number of complaints against police officers to allow identification of the exact number of complaints and the exact number of complainants for any one officer. |
Underway |
This database exists currently and will form part of an Early Intervention solution. • A prototype of the Early Intervention system (American software solution) has been trialed across three Districts and one Service centre • This system and associated processes will require further development and consultation before national implementation • A business case is currently being prepared to enable the procurement of an appropriate system to meet NZ Police requirements. • This recommendation will be delivered in conjunction with recommendations R47 and R48
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The estimated date to complete in June 2008 is unlikely due to the timeframe required for the procurement process and implementation.
A revised timeline will be provided in the next quarter.
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Adult Sexual Assault Investigation Policy |
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R9 |
New Zealand Police should review the implementation of the Adult Sexual Assault Investigation Policy to ensure that the training and resources necessary for its effective implementation are available and seek dedicated funding from the Government and Parliament if necessary. |
Underway |
• Stock of the NZ Police District implementation of the ASAI Policy is being finalised. This will provide a further monitor of this implementation and promote ways forward for further work. • Continued work around the revision of the ASAI policy within the new NZ Police Manual and the involvement of the ASA Core Reference Group (ASA-CRG), and then wider consultation. • Continued promotion of the Policy by way of the 12 ASA Investigators Courses held in 2007/08. |
Estimated to complete in the next quarter. |
R10 |
New Zealand Police should incorporate the Adult Sexual Assault Investigation Policy in the “Sexual Offences” section of the New Zealand Police Manual of Best Practice for consistency and ease of reference. |
Underway |
• Work has commenced on the new Police Manual structure and framework. Existing material has been placed within the structure for updating and aligning of Adult Sexual Assault Investigation Policy • Adult Sexual Assault Core Reference Group assembled and introduced to Police Manual format. Also the requirement for ASAI Policy to be revised. • New framework for ASAI Policy started and disseminated for consultation and feedback. • Review of the ASAI Policy with the Police Manual has been undertaken. |
Estimated to complete in the next quarter. |
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Communication of policies and training |
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R11 |
New Zealand Police should strengthen its communication and training practices by developing a system for confirming officers have read and understood policies and instructions that affect how they carry out their duties and any changes thereto. |
Underway |
• Requirements have been defined for providing an online facility for NZ Police staff, which will: o Track the delivery of online publications o Track the opening of the documents by staff o Provide a facility for testing staff’s understanding by requiring each staff member to answer a series of questions on-line, from the content of the policy or instruction • These requirements will be incorporated in the document management system as part of the “Corporate Instruments” initiative noted in recommendation R1. • Two technical options to deliver the functionality have been examined but deemed unsuitable. A further solution is now being considered.
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Progressively to June 2009 |
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Recommendations |
Status |
Progress |
Estimated time to completion
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R12 |
New Zealand Police should strengthen its communication and training practices to ensure the technical competencies of officers are updated in line with the new policies and instructions. |
Underway |
As a result of the identification of the key linkages and dependencies within the Commission of Inquiry Programme of work, Training is now in a position to implement any training programmes required as a result of the development of policies and instructions. • Identification of interdependencies between recommendations has also enabled NZ Police to effectively communicate key changes to policies and instructions. • Design and development of mandated ethics training is underway. • Principles of "conflicts of interest" and "report and be protected" will be incorporated in the training.
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Estimated to complete June 2009 |
R13 |
Bearing in mind the mobility of the workforce, New Zealand Police should conduct a review of what training should be mandatory at a national level and what should be left to the discretion of the districts. |
Partially completed |
Nationally mandated training is determined annually, reviewed, prioritised against a set criteria by the Training Governance Committee, and approved by the NZ Police Executive. • The process for determining mandated and discretionary district training has been confirmed by Police Executive Committee (PEC). This process allows for approximately 50% of training hours to be mandated nationally and the remaining 50% left to the discretion of the districts. • Nationally mandated annual and cyclic training is determined by PEC in March or April each year. |
Estimated to complete June 2009 |
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Consistency and transparency in complaint processes |
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R14 |
New Zealand Police should ensure that the practice of providing investigating officers with a reminder of the standards for complaint investigation is applied consistently throughout the country |
Underway |
• The instruction to complaint investigators on the standards required for complaint investigations forms part of a generic template that is forwarded to investigators following receipt of a complaint against police. • Ongoing dialogue continues with the investigations and review team at the Independent Police Complaints Authority in order to better categorise files and investigations and to streamline systems and processes. • The workshop with key senior professional standards managers and policy staff to review national standards and policies has yet to be convened and will now be held in the next quarter. • The technical phase of the national implementation plan has been completed. • The business implementation phase will be completed once the workshop has been convened.
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The estimated completion date will be determined by the outcome of the workshop. |
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Recommendations |
Status |
Progress |
Estimated time to completion
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R15 |
New Zealand Police should improve the process of communicating with complainants about the investigation of their complaint, particularly if there is a decision not to prosecute. Complainants and their support people should be given a) realistic expectations at the start of an investigation about when key milestones are likely to be met b) the opportunity to comment on the choice of investigator c) regular updates on progress, and advance notice if the investigation is likely to be delayed for any reason d) assistance in understanding the reasons for any decision not to prosecute |
Underway |
• The continued implementation of Adult Sexual Assault Investigation policy (R9) by way Adult Sexual Assault Investigation training in Districts and RNZPC as well as Work around the improvement and promotion of Police form POL1060. • Revision and enhancement of Adult Sexual Assault Investigation Policy into the Police Manual by way of Adult Sexual Assault Core Reference Group (ASA-CRG) subject matter experts. The specific suggestions within the recommendation are to be included within the new manual. |
Estimated to complete in the next quarter. |
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Independence of investigations |
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R16 |
New Zealand Police should develop a consistent practice of identifying any independence issues at the outset of an investigation of a complaint involving a police officer or a police associate, to ensure there is a high degree of transparency and consistency. The practice should be supported by an explicit policy on the need for independence in such an investigation. In respect of the handling of conflicts of interest, the policy should, among other things, • identify types and degrees of association • define a conflict of interest provide guidelines and procedures to assist police officers identify and adequately manage conflicts of interest (including in cases where cost or the need to prompt investigation counts against the appointment of an investigator from another section or district) • ensure that the risk of a conflict of interest involving investigation staff is considered at the outset of any investigation involving a police officer or police associate. |
Underway |
• Work on the 'conflict of interest' component of this recommendation continues with draft guidelines prepared for refinement • The workshop with key senior professional standards managers and policy staff to review national standards and policies has yet to be convened and will now be held in the next quarter. • The technical phase of the national implementation plan has been completed. • The business implementation phase will be completed once the workshop has been convened. • This recommendation is linked to recommendations R14 and R20.
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Commence 07/08 and estimated to complete June 2009
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Recommendations |
Status |
Progress |
Estimated time to completion
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R17 |
New Zealand Police should expand the content of its ethics training programme to include identifying and managing conflicts of interest, particularly in respect of complaints involving police officers or police associates. |
Partially completed |
• The original national ethics training package has been revised and incorporates material on conflicts of interest involving complaints against, or observed offending by, members of NZ Police • The revised supervisors' ethics training package includes material on identifying and managing members who may be subject to such conflicts of interest. • Phase 2 is subject to the promulgation of two draft policies: "Report and be Protected" and "Conflicts of Interest". Training will be modified and updated accordingly. • The underlying principles of the draft policies will be included in the National Ethics Training programme with the detail of the content to be added once the policies have been confirmed.
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Phase 1 completed. Phase 2 ongoing |
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Support for sexual assault investigations |
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R18 |
New Zealand Police should ensure that training for the Adult Sexual Assault Investigation Policy is fully implemented across the country, so that the skills of officers involved in sexual assault investigations continue to increase and complainants receive a consistent level of service. |
Underway |
• Ongoing consultation between Training Service Centre and Nat. Coordinator: ASA around oversight and coordination of RNZPC and District Adult Sexual Assault Investigation Courses. • With ongoing roll-out of District and RNZPC ASAI Training courses, 292 investigators were trained in the 2007/08 financial year. • Formation of an ASA Core Reference Group (ASA-CRG), which includes internal and external. ASAI Policy tabled as in need for revision and placement into new Police Manual. |
Estimated to complete June 2009 |
R19 |
New Zealand Police should initiate cooperative action with the relevant Government agencies to seek more consistent Government funding for the support groups involved in assisting the investigation of sexual assault complaints by assisting and supporting complainants. |
Ongoing |
• Continued promotion of Sexual Abuse Assessment and Treatment Service (SAATS) which is promotes a medical/forensic model jointly funded by Police, ACC and Ministry of Health. • Continued work with Doctors for Sexual Abuse Care (DSAC) in providing workforce development training and expertise for creation of critical mass of providers for SAATS implementation. • Continued work with DSAC in seeking consistent and sustainable government funds for ongoing sector expertise and contributions. • Continued work with the Taskforce for Action on Sexual Violence where Crisis Support agencies will look to be better funded via Ministry of Social Development. • Continued work in identifying gaps around NZ where tripartite services are not in place, or are in place and need supporting. |
Estimated to complete June 2009 |
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Recommendations |
Status |
Progress |
Estimated time to completion
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Management assurance |
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R20 |
In relation to investigations of sexual assault complaints against police officers or police associates, New Zealand Police should have in place systems that • verify that actual police practices in investigating complaints comply with the relevant standards and procedures • ensure the consistency of practice across the country, for instance in the supervision of smaller and rural stations • identify the required remedial action where practice fails to comply with relevant standards • monitor police officers' knowledge and understanding of the relevant standards and procedures |
Partially completed |
• The verification of compliance of police practices in investigating complaints, ensuring consistency of practice, identifying remedial action and monitoring of Police understanding of standards and procedures is a process that exists in Police • In relation to the investigation of all complaints against Police, there is a three step review process o First review of practice takes place at District level and a report with recommendations are sent to the national manager professional standards o Second review takes place at Police National Head Quarters by or on behalf of the national manager professional standards o Third review will be completed by the Independent Police Conduct Authority • These reviews check that the relevant standards and procedures have been applied • As a result of the process, police officers’ knowledge is evaluated • In order to ensure consistency and to comply fully with this recommendation, the applicable practice note will be reviewed and updated • A workshop with key senior professional standards managers and policy staff to review national standards and policies has yet to be convened and will now be held in the next quarter. The technical phase of the national implementation plan has been completed. The business implementation phase of the plan will be completed once the workshop has been convened. Ongoing work with the IPCA to develop and agree on categorisation and standards continues. • This recommendation will be reviewed in conjunction with recommendation R16, independence of investigation. |
This estimated to completion date will be subject to the outcome of the workshop. |
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Recommendations |
Status |
Progress |
Estimated time to completion
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Handling of complaints by the Police Complaints Authority |
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R21 |
The [Independent Police Conduct Authority] should improve its accessibility to people who may wish to make a complaint, for instance, by publicising its newly established website and by wider distribution of its information pamphlet. |
Underway |
A planned substantial revamp of the Authority’s website must await final agreement between the Authority and the Police on the mechanics and criteria governing treatment of complaints of varying levels of seriousness. It is intended that such decisions will be reflected in a public information pamphlet on the web and for physical distribution.
Work on the call-centre proposal is well-progressed. The unit will be known as the Service Centre and will be responsible for receiving all complaints, including oral and historical, and managing the processing of the complaints as appropriate (viz investigate itself, direct Police to investigate, conciliate, etc)
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The website revamp is planned to commence in August 2008 subject to agreement with the Police on complaint processing protocols. Staff are currently being recruited and the Service Centre is on track to commence operations on 1 November 2008 or earlier.
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R22 |
The [Independent Police Conduct Authority] should, in conjunction with Police, the Ministry of Justice, and other relevant agencies, develop a communications strategy to increase awareness of the [Independent Police Conduct Authority] and its work. |
Underway |
A draft communications strategy will shortly be available for discussion with stakeholders.
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30 September 2008
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Recommendations |
Status |
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Estimated time to completion
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R23 |
The [Independent Police Conduct Authority] should actively facilitate the reception of complaints by accepting oral statements on the basis that the complainant will confirm the [Independent Police Conduct Authority’s] written record of the complaint. |
Underway |
The Authority receives and actions oral complaints in the same way it processes written complaints
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R24 |
The [Independent Police Conduct Authority] should ensure it has more regular communication with those people whose complaints are under consideration. |
Underway |
More focused effort is being made in regard to more regular contact with complainants. This is resulting in reduced complainant anxiety and frustration levels.
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New performance measures and the installation of a new database are expected to result in improvements to communication with complainants in 2008.
New appointments may be made under the Independent Police Conduct Authority Act 1988 depending on the availability of resources. |
R25 |
The [Independent Police Conduct Authority] should seek feedback from complainants by way of random sampling on their experience of the complaints process. |
Underway |
The Authority has recently had the opportunity to assess the success of the Northern Ireland model in a recent visit to that jurisdiction. Consideration is now underway to determine the most cost-effective way of doing similar in New Zealand
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The Authority will consider the financial and operational implications arising from surveying complainants with a view to implementation in 2008/ 2009
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Recommendations |
Status |
Progress |
Estimated time to completion
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R26 |
The [Independent Police Conduct Authority] should develop strategies for addressing its current backlog of complaints, including seeking additional resources as appropriate. |
Underway |
The Authority is making progress in implementing its initiative to meet this recommendation. The Service Centre will institute new processes to provide more efficient management of new complaints and facilitate the Authority’s ability to dedicate separate efforts to removing the file backlog. The Authority is presently recruiting staff for the new Service Centre. |
The Service Centre will be operational by 1 November 2008, or earlier. Strategies will be in place before 1 November 2008 to ensure the file backlog of old complaint files will be eliminated by 2009/ 2010 year end
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R27 |
The [Independent Police Conduct Authority] should be encouraged to exercise its discretion in favour of accepting historic sexual assault complaints. If there is any doubt about this matter, a further legislative amendment should be included in the Independent Police Complaints Authority Amendment Bill. |
Completed |
The Authority accepts historical sexual assault complaints |
The Independent Police Conduct Amendment Act came into force on 29 November 2007.
Formal policies to be established with Police by May 2008. |
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The Police Complaints Authority and legislative requirements |
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R28 |
The requirement for the police to notify the [Independent Police Conduct Authority] of any complaints received by them “as soon as practicable” (section 15 of the Police Complaints Authority Act 1988) should be amended by adding the words “and in any case no later than 5 working days after receipt of he complaint”, and compliance with this requirement should be monitored by the Professional Standards section of the Office of the Commissioner. |
Completed |
An amendment was included in the Independent Police Conduct Authority Amendment Act 2007. |
The Independent Police Conduct Authority Amendment Act came into force on 29 November 2007.
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R29 |
The discretion in section 29(2)(a) of the Police Complaints Authority Act should be removed so that the [Independent Police Conduct Authority] is required to notify the Attorney-General and Minister of Police if, within a reasonable time the Authority makes a recommendation to the police under section 27(2) or 28(2), the police fail to take action that seems to the [Independent Police Conduct Authority] to be adequate and appropriate. |
Completed |
An amendment was included in the Independent Police Conduct Authority Amendment Act 2007.
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The Independent Police Conduct Authority Amendment Act came into force on 29 November 2007.
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Recommendations |
Status |
Progress |
Estimated time to completion
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R30 |
The Ministry of Justice should review the secrecy provisions in the Police Complaints Authority Act, and make such recommendation as may be appropriate for those provision to be repealed or amended (through the Independent Police Complaints Authority Amendment Bill) to ensure that the Act • encourages the [Independent Police Conduct Authority] to provide a reasonable level of communication with complainants on the progress of complainants; and • does not inappropriately prevent the [Independent Police Conduct Authority] from investigating complaints that may results in criminal or disciplinary proceedings being taken against a member of the police. |
Underway |
Cabinet has agreed to six proposals to enhance the role of the Authority, which will: • allow the Authority to undertake its own investigations of complaints about Police misconduct in defined circumstances • allow the Authority to conduct own motion investigations into serious incidents or incidents of significant public interest • amend the current secrecy and privilege provisions so that information gathered during the Authority’s investigations can be used in subsequent proceedings • give Authority investigators the necessary powers to carry out their enhanced investigatory role. • |