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The police conduct watchdog has discovered that officers held a family for too long and that the manner of detention was illegal.
In the early hours of February 9, 2019, police were informed of a firearm robbery at a bar in the eastern Auckland suburb of Pakuranga.
They later learned of an attempted theft of a nearby car.
Shortly afterwards, the Eagle helicopter noticed two men, one of whom had a firearm, and two women in the backyard of a house across the street from the scene of the alleged car theft – they were brothers, a sister and his mother.
The Armed Offenders Brigade (AOS) fanned out and called the four family members out of the house and detained them.
They finally established that the family had not been involved in the robbery; one of the family members told police that he had seen someone run through his backyard and had come out with the firearm to see if anyone was there.
The Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) determined that the police had legal reasons to detain the family, but the length of time they were detained, between approximately one hour and 13 minutes and one hour and 48 minutes, it wasn’t reasonable.
The authority ruled that placing the family in the back of police cars was illegal and that they should have been detained at the scene. He is also concerned about how the mother and daughter are treated.
The authority’s president, Judge Colin Doherty, said the police did not take “immediate and active steps to determine whether the family had been involved in the robbery or not.”
“The delay in doing so and the length of time they were detained was not reasonable. Furthermore, the manner of detention was illegal.
“We were also concerned about the treatment the mother and daughter received. Having been lifted from their beds, they were not dressed properly and were offered nothing to cover themselves with.”
Superintendent Jill Rogers, commander of the Manukau district of counties, said police accepted the IPCA’s findings on this matter and noted that officers were acting lawfully by detaining the occupants during the search warrant.
“We accept the way these people were detained and the timing of this was not ideal and there are lessons to be learned from our staff in the future.
“It is important to note that our staff were acting with the best intentions to keep our community safe. They were responding to information that a person was in possession of a firearm and they had to ensure that there was no risk to the public.
“Our officers explained to these occupants why they were being detained and after the search was completed, an officer who attended to him apologized for any discomfort resulting from AOS attending the property,” said Rogers.