Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon
Two police officers ruled to have used excessive force in the arrest of a group of children have escaped further punishment and will keep their jobs.
Five youths aged between 10 and 14 were apprehended on 26 September 2022, after police trapped the stolen vehicle they were travelling in.
Footage uploaded to social media by witnesses showed four officers moving in on the blockaded vehicle.
"Officers immediately took hold of the driver and passengers, pulled them out of the car and took them down to the ground to handcuff and arrest them," a report from the Independent Police Conduct Authority released on Tuesday said.
"The driver and one of the rear seat passengers were detained without significant use of force. However, the video footage of the arrests of the front seat passenger and two youths from the rear seat showed officers using significant force."
A 14-year-old who was sitting in the front passenger seat was "partially out of the car when Officer A pulled him the rest of the way out and down onto the road surface".
Footage showed the officer striking him on the back of the head while he was on the ground, before being arrested.
Officers B and D pulled a 10-year-old from the back seat. While D held him down, footage appeared to show Officer B kicking the youth, which the officer denied, saying he "softly pushed out with my right leg to prevent being grabbed".
An 11-year-old was seen getting out of the back seat and immediately crouching down next to the car's rear wheel.
"Officer C appears to grab him by the upper arm and drag him roughly across the road to the kerb where he was handcuffed," the IPCA report said. "It does not appear that Youth X was given the opportunity to get up and walk across to the kerb. He appeared compliant up to the point he was grabbed and there was no reason for Officer C to believe that there was a need to pre-empt resistance from him."
The IPCA said after interviewing the officers and youths involved in the incident, and reviewing witnesses' footage (and some taken by the police Eagle helicopter), they found officers A and B had used unreasonable force during the arrests.
Officer A was charged with common assault, pleaded guilty and was discharged without conviction.
Officer B was not charged. The IPCA said moving the youth away from the car was reasonable, but kicking was "unreasonable in the circumstances and unjustified" under the law.
Officer C's actions were deemed "reasonable in the circumstances". Youth X returned home with "grazes on his hands and a black eye", his mother told the IPCA, but the IPCA said the footage did "not show any actions by Officer C that could have caused a black eye".
The arrests themselves were justified, IPCA said, to prevent the youths committing further crimes. The force used during the arrests of the driver and one of the backseat passengers were deemed reasonable.
The police said they acknowledged the findings and had carried out an employment investigation. Both constables remained members of the force.
"Any situation immediately after fleeing driver incidents are very dynamic and can pose risk to all concerned," Counties Manukau District Commander Superintendent Shanan Gray said.
"Our staff make decisions every day about acting with urgency towards a situation while also keeping the safety of all top of mind."
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