The Independent Police Conduct Authority has found that Police were justified in using Tasers, a Police dog and head strikes to arrest a man who they believed had ready access to a firearm in Tiniroto, Hawke’s Bay. The man suffered a serious injury but survived.
On 12 December 2024, Police from Gisborne responded to reports that a man had stolen a ute and had what appeared to be a rifle tucked between the centre console and front passenger seat. Police observed the man several times over the next few hours carrying what they suspected was a firearm. Police searched a property he had visited and found ammunition, but no firearm.
The Armed Offenders Squad (AOS) were tasked to arrest the man and found him asleep in the driver’s seat of the stolen ute, with the engine still running. They confronted him, challenging him to show his hands and not move. Two officers tasered him when he did not comply but, despite multiple Taser discharges, the man was able to lean towards the front passenger seat where the officers believed a firearm was located. An officer deployed a Police dog into the ute, but the man fought the dog off. Officers accessed the passenger side of the ute, and one officer delivered seven punches to the man’s head in order to stun him. The man was pulled from the ute but continued to fight against Police. The Police dog re-engaged, allowing officers to pull the man away from the ute and secure him with handcuffs. At that stage, the man suffered a severed artery from the dog bite and was airlifted to hospital. The ute did not contain a firearm.
When we reviewed the Taser footage, we were concerned by two aspects of the incident. Firstly, the man appeared to surrender with both hands raised above the steering wheel immediately before the Police dog was sent into the ute. Secondly, the officers used significant and sustained force to subdue the man.
We showed the footage to several officers who said that it did not represent what they perceived at the time, and at no time did they believe the man was surrendering. They said that, throughout the incident, they believed the man had a firearm and would shoot at them, given the opportunity.
We concluded that all the officers believed they faced a volatile, life-threatening situation, which they were struggling to control. Significant force, particularly head strikes, is not justifiable in any but the most extreme circumstances, but we accept that this was such an occasion.