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This story was originally published on RNZ.co.nz and republished with permission.
A national review of photographs taken of youth by the police is called for, after it was revealed that Wairarapa officers had illegally taken photographs of young Maori in the district.
A local review in August found three photos, all of young Maori, in violation of the law and subsequently destroyed.
A mother told RNZ that her 15-year-old son was told that he would be taken to the station if he refused to have his photo taken.
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The news has destroyed the local iwi.
Rangitāne spokesman Mike Kawana said the relationship between Maori and the police was moving in the right direction.
“You know, you think you’ve reached a point where relationships are good and you’re moving forward and then things like this happen. It’s really disappointing,” he said.
He had no doubt that this behavior was happening elsewhere and would like to see a national review of all photographs of youths captured by the police.
REPORT TOMORROW / RNZ
Wairarapa police admitted to illegally taking photos of youth after RNZ alerted them to multiple reports of officers detaining and photographing Maori youth on the street.
“They need to look at themselves very closely and have some kind of way to denounce what is clearly racism. You can’t beat that.”
Wellington Police District Commander Corrie Parnell said the youths captured in the illegal photos matched the description of the suspects identified in a series of car thefts.
He accepted that they were not operating in accordance with the law, but denied that the police were discriminating against Maori on racial grounds.
“It was not an operation in which the staff had the task of photographing randomly,” he said.
“They were acting in good faith and were in fact capturing photographs that they felt were related to the crime.”
Issues arising after police officers prevented youth from taking their photos
Parnell said that all other photographs of young people at that time were correctly captured under Law 214 Oranga Tamariki, which refers to the arrest of a child or young person without a warrant.
He was surprised to hear that whānau RNZ had spoken saying that the behavior dated back years.
A local mother said her 15-year-old son was alone when officers approached and demanded his photo be taken two years ago, and an explanation was never given as to why.
Lawyer Kingi Snelgar said that was unacceptable and that the police were obliged to reveal why they were taking someone’s photo.
“Forcing young people to take pictures without having their rights explained to them and without respecting the law is definitely completely wrong,” he said.
Snelgar did not accept the police statement that this was not an example of racial discrimination and said that it was well documented that Maori were detained by the police far more than non-Maori.
University of Waikato criminologist Dr. Juan Tauri said it was not the first time he had heard of this behavior and backed calls for a national review.
“There needs to be a strong directive from leaders that this type of conduct is not only inappropriate, it is illegal,” he said.
“I don’t believe for a second that they don’t know that what they were doing was actually a violation of people’s rights.”
In a statement, Police Minister Poto Williams said she expected officers to act within the parameters of the law and was disappointed that in these cases this expectation was not met.
He urged everyone with more information on photos who felt they had been taken inappropriately to come forward.
Police have not committed to conducting a national review, but are also urging anyone who feels their rights to speak have been violated.
This story was originally published on RNZ.co.nz and republished with permission.
