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Mana Whanonga Pirihimana Motuhake

Home / Outcomes / 2021 Summaries of Police Investigations

Alleged excessive force during arrest in Hamilton

9 February 2021

The Authority oversaw a Police investigation into a notification where it was alleged that Police used excessive force when arresting a man in Hamilton. An officer told the man he had a warrant for his arrest and the man fled. The officer caught him and a violent struggle ensued where the man kicked the officer in the face, threatened him with an iron bar and tried to strangle his police dog. The officer deployed the dog and the man ran into a house and barricaded himself inside a bathroom. A number of Police officers forced their way into the bathroom, arrested the man and sought medical attention for him.

Eighteen months after the incident the man complained an officer punched him and broke his nose while he was handcuffed in the bathroom. Police determined that there was no evidence to support this allegation and his bleeding nose could have been caused in his earlier struggles with the Police. The Authority agrees with the Police conclusions.

IPCA: 19-0842

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