The Authority oversaw a Police investigation after a woman complained about an officer’s actions at her home in June 2024.
The officer drove onto the family homestead to drop a member of the woman’s whānau home. While there, he spoke to another whānau member. Suddenly, the woman’s then-partner ran out of the house and aggressively confronted the officer. During a heated exchange, the man spat at the officer. The officer pepper sprayed the man and told him he was under arrest. The man ran back inside his house.
The officer paced around the perimeter of the house and radioed for back-up. The woman shadowed the officer’s progress on her porch, and repeatedly told the officer he did not need to come into the house. The officer said that Police would be going inside when his colleagues arrived. However, he decided to enter beforehand pursuant to the Search and Surveillance Act 2012.
As he mounted the porch steps the woman stepped towards him, and they collided. The woman fell down. This angered the woman’s whānau, who confronted the officer. He presented his Taser and used pepper spray to retreat to the bottom of the driveway.
The Police investigation found that the officer was largely justified in his actions. However, while the officer was legally justified in entering the house to arrest the woman’s partner without her consent, he had failed to properly notify her of his identity and intended actions before doing so, as required by the Search and Surveillance Act. This failure made his attempted entry unlawful. The woman was therefore within her rights to stop him from entering and did not obstruct him.
The Authority is satisfied with the Police investigation and agrees with the outcome reached.
IPCA: 24-23370