Statement from Deputy Commissioner Wally Haumaha
I want to acknowledge the concerns expressed by Louise Nicholas and others around my comments from 2004 regarding Operation Austin.
It is important to say outright that I take responsibility for those comments, I deeply regret them, and I unreservedly apologise for the hurt and concern they have caused.
That does not reflect my view or the values I bring to the job every day.
In the 14 years since those comments, and particularly through the changes following the 2007 Commission of Inquiry, I have reflected deeply and often on what it means to live the values that New Zealanders rightly expect from their police.
I recently met with Louise to assure her of my commitment to the work the organisation has done as a result of the Commission of Inquiry to improve our culture, and our service to victims of sexual assault.
My previous association with those individuals does not reflect who I am now nor what the NZ Police stands for today.
The culture of NZ Police has changed for the better in recent years as a result of the Inquiry and an ongoing commitment to our values, but there is still more work to do.
My focus is on working tirelessly in NZ Police to build the trust and confidence of our communities.
By going after journalists?
Those with a desire to make police unfriendly and unproductive have been made to pay for crimes against Niki Hager. More of the same will just raise the cost of corruption. So we’ve gone from the top right of the chart where police had a lot of trust down to the bottom left of the chart where every decision is questioned. How many more decisions can be questioned I don’t know but top cops have not much room to manoeuvre. People film them, double check and triple cheap everything they say. Lose of confidence in police has forced the public to become as good at policing than police. Picking the dips in something like this is hard when confidence is low because every transgression can be meet with higher and higher penalties further fuelling the race to the bottom. So having disagreeable people around like Lousie and Hager should not be underestimated.
“…That doess not reflect my view or the values I bring to the job every day.”
There is a reason for the saying, “past is prologue”.
By appointing this guy the Police show what they value – a rapist supporting old boy takes preference over sex victims right to fair trial, or even investigation.
After all the work that has gone into trying to change their culture.
And the penny finally dropped !