The investigation is the latest escalation in a scandal that has exposed deep failures in police culture and oversight, writes Catherine McGregor in today’s extract from The Bulletin.
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Device misuse revelations widen the scandal
About 20 police staff are under investigation for alleged misuse of work-issued devices, including accessing inappropriate content. Acting deputy commissioner Jill Rogers said “employment processes are underway” in several of the cases, while others remained at a preliminary stage. She did not rule out criminal charges, RNZ’s Sam Sherwood reports. The cases were uncovered through new monitoring systems introduced after McSkimming – then deputy commissioner – was found in June to have accessed objectionable material on his police devices, prompting a rapid InfoSec review. Commissioner Richard Chambers has said officers who fall “below expectations and potentially the law” will face consequences.
Vetting failure laid bare
The inadequacies of the vetting process that propelled McSkimming to near the top of the hierarchy were starkly detailed last week by The Post’s Amelia Wade. A Public Service Commission review revealed that past complaints about his conduct – including allegations of assault and unlawful arrest – were either not upheld, withdrawn or resulted in no disciplinary action. The review also found that checks conducted during McSkimming’s appointment process in 2023 failed to follow up on a referee’s account of a “strange relationship with a woman that was almost stalking him”. McSkimming later brushed off questions about the relationship, describing it as having “gone a bit feral”.
Sir Brian Roche, who ordered the review after learning the seriousness of the allegations, called the case a “wake-up call.” Announcing strengthened appointment processes, he said he was “confident that had these measures been in place earlier … it is more likely we would have identified concerns casting doubt on Mr McSkimming’s suitability for the role.”
Calls grow for a formal inquiry
Political debate is now turning toward whether a deeper statutory inquiry is required, reports The Post’s Anna Whyte. Police minister Mark Mitchell has said such an inquiry remains “an option” depending on conversations across government, while noting that the IPCA’s report has already answered many questions.
Others argue the scope of the response must be even wider. In The Spinoff this week, former prime minister Geoffrey Palmer writes that the scandal “goes to the heart of the protection that the rule of law provides for New Zealand’s democratic framework,” and that the Police Act itself must be rewritten as a result. The crisis cannot be remedied by “a discredited senior police elite”, he warns. “It is ministers who must take responsibility for the failures, rectify them and drive the legislation that will be required.”
Justice system failures come into sharper focus
As attention remains fixed on the failures exposed by the McSkimming affair, another historic case is reinforcing concerns about police conduct. Newsroom’s Jonathan Milne reports that two officers will stand trial next year for allegedly attempting to pervert the course of justice over their role in the wrongful conviction of an Auckland man, known as Mr X. In 2013, the officers pointed him out to a victim during a photo-board ID process, then concealed what they had done. The High Court later found the identification “tainted”, its flaws causing a miscarriage of justice that cost Mr X his livelihood, reputation and life savings.
The case was brought to light by the Criminal Cases Review Commission, established in 2020 by former justice minister Andrew Little, now the mayor of Wellington. Little says the Mr X case emphasises the need for police to do a better job at policing themselves: “Everybody now sees we’ve got to have confidence in the police at all levels.”
