Independent Police Complaints Authority Amendment Bill
In committee
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NATHAN GUY (National) : The Independent Police Complaints Authority Amendment Bill is very, very important. Just last weekend I was out with the Levin police until the wee hours, up in Horowhenua, and that gave me a great insight into what actually goes on in the small hours in my community. In particular, I was intrigued by a couple of people in the cells. One had breached bail conditions and the other had had an altercation with his partner. It was interesting to see that a staff member had to go back and forth, checking on these two people in the cells on a very regular basis and recording whether there were any incidents.
With this legislation, incidents such as deaths in police cells or police shootings would be covered by the Independent Police Conduct Authority. The authority will cover things like “misconduct or neglect of duty on the part of any member of the police”, and will “consider whether the relevant practices, policies, and procedures have been complied with.” National fully supports the Committee stage of the bill.
The membership of the police authority will likely be increased to five members but—I think I read somewhere—the quorum might be down to two. National might have a concern about that, and I would be interested in the Minister taking a call to clarify that matter.
It is important that there will still be secrecy around the authority, as that will enable a witness to come along and be frank with the evidence he or she can give. This is covered in Part 1 of the bill.
The other important part of this bill is that it makes sure there is an acceptable code of conduct for the police. The police do a fantastic job in our community in keeping people safe, but at certain times they are under a huge amount of pressure. Ultimate power is left with the police. It is very important that the authority is independent and it is important that we have this amendment going through the Committee stage this evening. National supports the legislation.
I guess that for people in the community, going to the police is the first and often the last call for them when in awkward situations. I think that those people in our community need to be particularly aware that an independent body is looking over them. It is great that we are going to have a current or former judge appointed by the Governor-General to sit over this very important—as the Minister called it—committee.
I would like, if I could, to allow the Minister to take a call at some stage in order to explain the quorum of two, and I look forward to other contributions from people around the Chamber on the very important