Photo: RNZ / Patrice Allen
News of police bias and structural racism is not surprising to Māori, a criminology expert says.
The independent report 'Understanding Police Delivery', released this week, found "being Māori increased the likelihood of prosecution by 11 percent compared to NZ Europeans when all other variables remain constant".
The report also found "bias" and "structural racism" within the police were part of the reason Māori men were more likely to be stopped and tasered.
Emmy Rākete, a lecturer in criminology at the University of Auckland and spokesperson for People Against Prisons Aotearoa, said there had been more than four decades of reports and studies showing much the same.
"From Moana Jackson's He Whaipaanga Hou report in the 1980s through every decade since then the New Zealand police have been shown that they engage in racist discrimination against Māori, the New Zealand police apologise for engaging in racist discrimination against Māori and the police go straight back to engaging in racist discrimination against Māori," she said.
Until historical wrongs were righted there would not be a solution to the problem, she said.
"Our people don't need any more apologies, our people don't need any more reports, our people need social and economic justice and we need the rangatiratanga that was promised to us in Te Tiriti."
Rākete said the Crown must finally be willing to relinquish power to Māori. She pointed to Māori Wardens as an organisation that could take over some services from the police with the correct funding.
"The police I expect will use this report to argue for more funding and more lenience from Māori people, I expect that they are going to ask us to be patient with them, to support them, to help them learn and grow as an organisation, but we don't need a more educated or more grown police force in this country what we need is less racist policing in Māori communities.
"If the police and the Crown genuinely want to apologise to Māori people they can do it by funding and supporting other services to do the kinds of work that they have been saying for 40 years that they are incapable of doing without murdering our people."
Speaking to Māpuna, the founding chair of the independent report panel Sir Kim Workman said police were open to implementing the recommendations.
So far, police had committed to progressing eight of the report's 40 recommendations over the next six months.
"The challenge of course will be how much will the police be able to do in the current political climate."
He said the biggest takeaway from the report was that the panel, police, frontline officers and communities could work together in a way that would not put the police on the defensive.
"We looked at systemic bias, organisational bias, we didn't focus on interpersonal racism or bias and I think it's been really successful."
Praise and dissatisfaction
One of the evidence reports released this week included an analysis of praise and dissatisfaction feedback received by police. The data was gathered from sources of police feedback from between 1 April and 30 June, 2023.
Of the dissatisfaction reports expressing an inequity or bias issue, almost half came from Māori.
The report found "racism and/or racial profiling was a common theme" in complaints with 13 submissions referring to Māori individuals/whānau and other ethnic group members who felt racially targeted by police due to their skin colour or appearance.
Analysis of the data revealed concerns about abuse of power and targeting of low socioeconomic communities.
One complainant wrote: "The police are personally positioned around our neighbourhood because of a high crime rate. It doesn't make us feel safe having to see you constantly patrolling our streets, looking to target and make trouble for us".
One the other hand, some submissions noted the importance of listening to whānau and positive police interactions on whānau perceptions.
"[Officer's name] sat and listened to all members of our whānau with attention and concern. He didn't rush us; he asked questions about the situation and made me feel he was taking the matter seriously," one Māori woman wrote.
The report found "data indicates that when police showed compassion, kindness, empathy and communicated clearly, they made a difference to those who had suffered a loss".
Police Commissioner Andrew Coster previously said community trust was fundamental to police's ability to do the job.
The research had highlighted areas where police systems could be better and work was underway to do so.
"Too often this conversation has seen police and some communities talking past each other.
"With this research from the independent panel, I believe we have found, possibly for the first time, a way to talk about these issues together and to find ways to lift trust in the future. There is real strength in continuing with this joint approach."
