Māori advocates are outraged the Police Minister's suggesting law changes to allow officers to keep taking photos of people they deem suspicious, and it has set back promises of any transformational change in the justice system.
Chris Hipkins says the pendulum has swung too far in favour of privacy over surveillance and the police association has said that among "those who are found in 'suspicious circumstances', Māori are over-represented".
The comments follow an investigation which found the police were routinely illegally taking photographs and storing thousands of images which should be destroyed.
About half of all the photos were of Māori.
A leading advocate for prison and justice reform, University of Auckland Professor Tracy McIntosh, told Māni Dunlop it sets back positive changes.
