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Operation Pike - West Coast Pike River Mine explosion

31 miners were inside the West Coast, Pike River Mine when an explosion occurred on 19 November 2010. Two injured miners managed to walk out of the coal mine.

It’s believed none of the 29 remaining trapped miners survived a second explosion on 24 November.

Two further explosions followed on 26 November and 28 November.

A Royal Commission on Inquiry into the disaster found that the deaths of the 29 miners were entirely preventable.

Operation Clover - Investigation Overview

Date Published: 
October 2014

Police have completed a thorough multi-agency investigation, Operation Clover, into the activities of a group calling themselves “The Roast Busters”. The detailed 12 month enquiry focused on incidents involving allegations of sexual offending against a number of girls in the Waitemata Police district and wider Auckland area.

This is the redacted Investigation Overview report which summarises the investigation. Police has taken the rare step of releasing the report to provide transparency and assist the public in understanding the complexities involved, plus the steps taken by the Operation Clover team.

Cabinet Paper: Whole-of-Government Action Plan to Reduce the Harms caused by New Zealand Adult Gangs and Transnational Crime Groups

Date Published: 
October 2014

The Whole-of-Government Action Plan to Reduce the Harms caused by New Zealand Adult Gangs and Transnational Crime Groups is a collaborative approach to deal with the harms caused by these groups. It was developed through bringing Government agencies together to gather, share and analyse information on New Zealand adult gang members and prospects (individuals aged 17 years or older).

In June 2014, Cabinet agreed to four actions to reduce the harms caused by New Zealand Adult Gangs and Transnational Crime Groups. Details of the actions are available at Cabinet Paper: Whole-of-Government Action Plan to Reduce the Harms caused by New Zealand Adult Gangs and Transnational Crime Groups (PDF, 190 KB). Also check out the Minister of Police announcement about the action plan. 

In July 2014, there were 3,969 identified patched gang members and prospects belonging to 32 New Zealand adult gangs: 3,411 were identified as patched gang members and 558 as prospects.

Clarification on figures in the Cabinet Paper

To illustrate the wider influence of New Zealand adult gangs in homicide charges an analysis was undertaken of gang involvement in all 2013 homicides. This analysis also included gang involvement in serious violence and Class A and B illicit drug offence charges for the first quarter of 2014. The identified serious violence and Class A and B illicit drug offences are punishable by a period of imprisonment of 10 years or more.

Police did not make it clear enough in information supplied that charges were laid against both gang members and individuals connected to a gang member in the ways described below.

The analysis identified New Zealand adult gang members and prospects, and the individuals who:

  • were charged together with a New Zealand adult gang member/s for the same identified offence.
  • had an identified familial tie with a New Zealand adult gang member/s.
  • had an identified connection to a New Zealand adult gang member/s.

This analysis identified that New Zealand adult gang members and prospects and the individuals connected to these gang members as identified above were responsible for 25 percent of homicide code class charges laid in 2013. There were 154 homicide code class charges laid in 2013, 39 of these charges were laid against New Zealand adult gang members, prospects and individuals connected to these gang members as described above.

For the first quarter of 2014 New Zealand adult gang members and prospects and the individuals connected to these gang members as described above had been charged with:

  • 34 percent of class A/B drug offences, principally methamphetamine (649 charges in total were laid in this quarter, of which 218 charges were laid against New Zealand adult gang members, prospects and connected individuals as listed above)
  • 36 percent of kidnapping and abduction offences (44 charges in total were laid in this quarter, of which 16 charges were laid against New Zealand adult gang members, prospects and connected individuals as listed above)
  • 25 percent of aggravated robbery / robbery offences (284 charges were laid in total in this quarter, of which 72 charges were laid against New Zealand adult gang members, prospects and connected individuals as listed above)
  • 26 percent of grievous assault offences. (506 charges in total were laid in this quarter, of which 130 charges were laid against New Zealand adult gang members, prospects and connected individuals as listed above).

Note: Class A/B drug charges were only analysed/counted for those individuals who had accumulated 5 or more representative Class A/B drug charges.

The development phases of the Whole of Government Action plan has illustrated the significant harm caused by gangs and their criminal offending which the Action plan is designed to reduce.

Correction

  • The first bullet point under Social Sector should read “61% of New Zealand adult gang member customers are registered for child support liability as a Non-Custodial Parent. This compares to 6% of the general population”.

Review of Police and iwi/Māori relationships

Date Published: 
October 2014

This is a summary of the review of Police and iwi/Maori relationships and what can be done together to reduce offending and victimisation. It draws together information from interviews with iwi/Maori stakeholders, police and government agencies,[1] offending and victimisation statistics, workforce and population data, and analysis of research.[2]

This review has been timed to inform Police structure, capacity and partnerships with iwi/Maori as part of delivering Prevention First (PF), Turning of the Tide (T4), the Road Policing Strategy (RPS), the Responsiveness to Maori (RTM) framework and meeting wider Better Public Services targets.

[1] Interviews with 137 people were undertaken in 10 of the 12 Police Districts (all except Southern and Tasman). These areas have comparatively low Maori populations, and the main iwi for the South Island (Ngai Tahu) were included in interviews undertaken in Canterbury.  Purposive sampling was used for initial contacts, guided by local iwi liaison officers, MPES national office and senior Police staff.  Key roles within Police were interviewed (District and Area Commanders, ILOs, Prevention Managers, Victim Managers) as well as a mix of specialist and front-line roles  (family violence,  Neighbourhood Policing Teams, Public Safety Teams). From the initial contacts, snowball sampling was used to recruit other participants. Half of the interviews were with Maori: iwi leaders, kuia, kaumatua, Maori Wardens, Maori social service providers and men participating in a family violence programme. The remainder were with a broad range of Police staff. Two interviews were undertaken with Te Puni Kokiri and Probation staff, and Justice, Probation, Courts and TPK were consulted on the draft. The majority of interviews were in-depth, one-on-one and face-to-face and used a mix of structured and semi-structured questions. 

[2] Independent research has been used to provide an outside perspective:  Te Whaiti and Roguski (1998), Te Puni Kokiri (2002), Marxwell (2005), McKay, (2013), OAG, (2003), Morrison, (2009). Human Rights Commission (2012), IPCA (2013), NZ Police (2012), SSC, the Treasury and the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (2012).

 

 

Annual Report 2014

Date Published: 
October 2014

In this Annual Report you will read what Police planned to do and what we actually did, including how 2013/14 was a year in which recorded crime fell a further 3.2 percent, year-on-year, with 11,621 fewer recorded offences than the year before. The total of 353,564 recorded offences contributed further to the previous year, which was the lowest in more than 30 years. The road toll was at an all time low of 278, the lowest since official records began.

In the 2013/14 year the New Zealand Police maintained a focus on measuring performance against a few key priorities including:

  1. Reducing crime. As crime reduces, the financial, economic and social costs of crime are also reduced. Further and related to (3), people are much more secure and much less anxious if they are not victimised in the first place.
  2. Reducing death and injury on the roads. This is a source of great community distress (and financial and economic cost). Reducing road trauma and harm has benefits to all.
  3. Protecting communities. The communities, and people, that are preyed upon deserve our protection. Repeat victimisation, and the fear and distress it causes needs to be reduced.
  4. Maintaining trust in the Police. This ensures Police will operate by public consent, and is able to fulfil its functions. It is vital Police’s independent powers are balanced by accountability to the public.

By targeting our efforts, New Zealand Police will be better able to deliver the goals we’ve set in our Statement of Intent, and we’ll also support wider government goals, across multiple sectors including Better Public Service Targets. The intention of Annual Report is to provide a report card against what we set out to achieve.

Commission of Inquiry quarterly report - July to September 2014

Date Published: 
October 2014

This report is an update on the progress made in implementing the Police-related recommendations from the 2007 Commission of Inquiry into Police Conduct (COI).  Police is responsible for implementing 47 of the COI’s 60 recommendations.  In line with Cabinet requirements, an update on COI progress is provided every three months.

The report categorises Police’s progress depending upon whether recommendations have been actioned, solutions implemented (with ongoing monitoring), or fully completed.  The intention is to ensure each of the Police-related recommendations are fully embedded, and are having the desired effect, by March 2017.

Crime Statistics for the fiscal year ending 30 June 2014

Date Published: 
October 2014

These documents provide the Summary of Recorded and Resolved Offence Statistics broken down into 12 districts plus one national publication. They were released 1 October 2014 and cover calendar year ending 30 June 2014.

Statistics reported in this document are derived from the Police National Intelligence Application (N.I.A) These Official Crime Statistics present a snapshot of data in N.I.A. relating to offences within a given year, as at the date 14 days following the end of that year.

An incident that is reported to or detected by Police where Police believe an offence is likely to have been committed is counted as a Recorded Offence. A Recorded Offence is considered to be a Resolved Offence by Police when an offender is identified and dealt with (warned, cautioned, prosecuted, etc).