Police say they've made changes, as the way they give out warnings to people is thrown into the spotlight.
The police watchdog, the IPCA, said officers using pre-charge warnings are more likely to let off non-Maori offenders.
The authority said there's a number of issues with the system. Officers use pre-charge warnings at their own discretion.
Police Commissioner Mike Bush conceded to Mike Hosking that there have been disparities in the past.
"Statistically it was of a concern, that's what made us look at it, and this was quite a few years ago."
He said Police had to "get some understanding of why it wasn't being applied equally."
"But once you have those conversations, and really get into it, you get a better understanding."
Mike Bush said he accepts the report from the IPCA.
"We've had a look at the disparity on the way we applied this in terms of ethnic demographic in the early days, and there were some absolute disparities, but we've done a lot of work on that since."
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