The Independent Police Conduct Authority has found that the force used by two officers was unjustified following a pursuit on 1 September 2022.
The officers were following a stolen car occupied by three youths in the early hours of the morning. The car, having been spiked, came to a stop on Great South Road in Papakura, Auckland. Two of the youths then exited and lay down on the roadside. The officers told the Authority that they feared the youths would be hit by the stolen car or passing traffic and that they used force to move them to safer positions. The first officer lay on one youth, hauled him to his feet and threw him several meters. The second officer dragged the other youth by the hood of his sweater one to two meters.
The Authority found the first officer was justified in using force to move the youth, but that the manner in which he did so involved an excessive use of force, and that the force used by the second officer was unnecessary as there was no genuine risk to the youth.
Police have accepted the second officer’s use of force as being unjustified and subsequently taken employment action. However, Police considered the first officer’s actions and use of force appropriate.