Police News April 05.indd - New Zealand Police Association

New Zealand Police AssociationApril 2005Delays in PCA investigations causing stress for membersBy Steve Plowman, Editor, Police NewsImagine the outcry if a defendant in acriminal case had to wait several yearsbefore a judge or jury determined theirguilt or innocence.Imagine how stressful that would be ifyou were the defendant.Defence lawyers would no doubt bearguing unnecessary delay under the Billof Rights, which states that an accusedperson has the right to be tried without“undue delay”. In several cases, defencelawyers have asked the court to dismisscharges against their client on this basis.Last year, several defence lawyers saidthat they were looking at testing the Billof Rights “undue delay” interpretationfor clients who were facing charges ofmanufacturing methamphetamine butwho had not had their day in court due toESR testing backlogs.But, at the same time, some police officersfacing allegations, which have become thesubject of PCA investigations, have beenwaiting several years to hear whether theywill face disciplinary action.Stressful timePolice officers faced with such accusationsknow only too well that it could costthem their jobs and, not surprisingly, it isa stressful time for them and their familieswhile they await the outcome. Membershave complained to the Associationthat stress is being compounded byunacceptable delays in the investigationprocess.The concept under which the PCA operatesis that it should act independently inperforming its statutory functions andduties. Yet, the reality is that the PCA isunwilling to make a determination onmatters still before other agencies (e.g.criminal or civil court action or a Coroner’sinquest). Some members have expressed aconcern that this makes the PCA look as if itis “riding on the coat tails of other agencies”.The perfect example of such delays is thepolice shooting of Stephen Wallace atWaitara in 2001. The PCA’s determinationon complaints against the police officerinvolved, despite the fact that the officer wasfound not guilty in a private prosecutiontaken by the Wallace family, is still held uppending a Coroner’s inquiry.Overly cautious approachThe Police Association views thisapproach as being overly cautiousand a contributing factor in long andunnecessary delays. The Association isaware of cases dating back several years,which the PCA is yet to report on. Onerelates to an allegation made in 1999.Section 30 of the Police ComplaintsAuthority Act (1988) says that theAuthority must “conduct the investigationwith due expedition”.In his Annual Report, the Authority,Judge Ian Borrin, makes reference to thedifficulty of ensuring what he terms “thetimely disposal of complaints”.Judge Borrin goes on to report that:“As most complaints continue to beinvestigated by the Police in the districtwhere they arose, it is very much inthe hands of the district how quicklythe investigation is carried out.” ThePCA cites the circumstances of thecomplaint and district workloads as beingcomplicating factors in this process.Judge Borrin’s report says that the“volume of work” and “the limitedresources of theAuthority” arefactors, whichcontribute to delaysbeyond the 28 daysagreed betweenthe PCA and theMinistry of Justicewhen the Authoritywas established.Judge Borrin saysother factors areat work too. “If• Ian Borrinfurther investigation or re-investigation isrequired, as is not infrequently the case,then delay occurs.”Time lapsesJudge Borrin concedes that acomplainant’s satisfaction with the timelydisposal of the complaint will be affectedby the time that elapses from the time ofthe complaint until its resolution.The PCA’s investigations are, in part,dependent on the speed at which Policeinvestigations are completed. After afile is completed at district level it isforwarded to the Professional StandardsSection of the Office of the Commissionerfor review before being sent to the PCAfor its final independent review. Policeworkloads can compound this process.For instance, Police News has learnedthat the PCA was for a time unable toprogress its investigations relating toofficers in the Hawke’s Bay due to seniorpolice staff, who would normally dealwith such matters, being assigned to theJack Nicholas homicide inquiry for quitelengthy periods.One of the spinoffs, relating to the presentdelays, is that recommendations from thePCA about improvements that shouldbe made to Police practice or policy,stemming from a PCA investigation, canbe outdated and effectively irrelevantby the time they would normally beimplemented. Police News understandsthat the PCA has recently taken toproviding Police with recommendationsabout changes to practice and policy butonly in cases where the PCA’s actionswould not pre-empt issues, which mayhave to be determined by a court.The PCA’s Annual Report for the yearended 30 June 2004 says that more than30% of cases took in excess of 28 daysto report on. These figures only take intoaccount the delays that occur once aninvestigation is complete.Section 30 (c) of the Act also requires theAuthority to “in every case inform theparties concerned, as soon as reasonablypracticable after the conclusion of theinvestigation, and in such manner asit thinks proper, of the result of theinvestigation”.Delays in minor casesLooking at an example of a PCAinvestigation can give an idea of thereality of the situation, which lies behindthese figures. Police News is aware of aPCA investigation that was carried out asa result of a minor language and use offorce complaint at a disorder incident. Acomplaint was made against an officer inSeptember 2002. An investigation wascompleted and reported back to the PCAby late January 2003. The PCA did not,however, make a determination on thematter until April 2004, at which time itagreed with the recommendation of theinvestigator.During the time the officer was waitingfor the PCA to decide on the veracity ofthe allegations, he had resigned from thePolice, applied to rejoin, and eventuallyreturned to work with the Police.These delays, and the uncertaintythat they produce, are not in the bestinterests of the complainants, Associationmembers or the PCA itself. They areproducing unacceptable stress for thoseinvolved and run the risk of stripping thePCA of its credibility as an independentoversight body.WorkloadThe workload of the PCA has increasedsubstantially over the last decade witha 107% increase in complaints overthat period. Last year it received 3322complaints from 1956 complainantsand accepted 2592 of those for fullinvestigation. Approximately 15% of allcomplaints are upheld. For nearly fiveyears, Judge Borrin has worked alone asthe Authority.Concerns expressed about the perceivedindependence of the Authority in thelate 1990s led to Sir Rodney Gallenconducting a review of the PCA. Hetabled that report in October 2000 andrecommended that the PCA should havesix independent investigators. Cabinetapproved four.Another recommendation includedchanging the name of the Authority to theIndependent Police Complaints Authority(IPCA). This legislation is currently ina bill before Parliament but has beendelayed because of the Commission ofInquiry into Police Conduct. The billproposes an Authority with a Chairmanand two other members.49