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Police code of conduct updated

Author
Josh White,
Publish Date
Thu, 9 Apr 2015, 6:47AM
Photo: NewsPixNZ/NZ Herald
Photo: NewsPixNZ/NZ Herald

Police code of conduct updated

Author
Josh White,
Publish Date
Thu, 9 Apr 2015, 6:47AM

A new code, banning police from corrupt behaviour, is being welcomed by a somewhat bemused opposition.

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The first update to the police code of conduct in seven years has also added sexual misconduct, theft and dishonesty to the list of 'serious' transgressions.

Labour police spokesman Kelvin Davis says such issues should have been in the code of conduct already.

"Corruption should never ever be seen within the police, so it's great that it's there. Better late than never."

But he has serious concerns about transparency within the force, particularly when it comes to official information requests.

"We're not really getting good answers back all the time. We're not getting answers back in the timeframe that we expect and often information is sort-of clouded, redacted, important information is missing."

Greg O'Connor of the Police Association says while it's right those codes are there, officers found in breach would be dealt with by the law.

"Any corrupt behaviour will be dealt with at a much higher level in a code of conduct."

O'Connor sees the code as a set of public-facing guidelines, rather than strict regulations.

"We're very keen to make sure it doesn't become a punitive document. It's about improving behaviours and about making sure that ultimately the public can have trust in the police."

It's the first refresh to the code, since the first code of conduct was introduced in the wake of the Bazley Inquiry in 2008.

 

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