Constable Connors of Waikato Fabricates offences,receives counselling- IPCA condones this course of action.

Recently I wrote about the abuse of the *555 system Police failing to investigate filing court action without evidence.

I have now received replies from the Police and the IPCA .  the police had the good sense to admit that they were wrong  but hen went on to   counsel Constable Connors – an action which is less than a slap with a wet dish rag for  what I believe is  a serious  matter concerning the integrity of the police.

I have written an open letter to the minister of police as follows.   I attached the letters  being ,letter from Police reply from the IPCA

From: Grace Haden [mailto:grace@verisure.co.nz]
Sent: Tuesday, 5 October 2010 10:37 a.m.
To: ‘j.collins@ministers.govt.nz’
Cc: ‘john.key@national.org.nz’; ‘clayton.cosgrove@parliament.govt.nz’; ‘keith.locke@parliament.govt.nz’; ‘com@lawcom.govt.nz’; ‘ian@investigatemgazine.com’
Subject: Contable Connors of Waikato Fabricates offences , receives counselling – IPCA condones this course of action.

Open letter to Judith Collins.

Dear Minister

I would  like to   take this opportunity to make you aware that your officers can  tell lies  and  lay false  charges in court against people  without fear of repercussion.

Every day people  are charged and  fined  for things  which they  do unintentionally . The fines  set for these things are  sufficiently high  to  hurt  but sufficiently low to make  challenging the claims uneconomic.

Constables  with Quotas to fill have now taken this concept to a new height  and that is   the total fabrication of offences.

Last January  I received a traffic infringement for an offence which I had not committed  and  the police had no evidence for.

Being a former Police prosecutor ,I brought this  to the attention  of as many supervisors in the police  as possible each time asking for  a review and pointing out  just where their evidence was lacking.

Despite this the police chose to continue the  prosecution,  the fine was $150  and I was tempted to pay it as it was the most economical thing to do, to defend it  I would have had to have  had two trips to  Thames.. One to enter a plea of not  guilty  the other  for a defendant hearing . If it was not  for the fact that I had been a police prosecutor and knew how to  run a defendant hearing  I would have paid it  as the time for putting the case together even without the expense of a lawyer  simply is not worth  it.

I had no fear of losing my licence and  I purely defended it  because  I did not commit the offence.

The initial  not guilty   appearance was generously disposed of    and  when  I appeared in court for the defendant hearing  , I won because there was no evidence of the alleged offence.

The police have now  admitted that  they were wrong , and  say that  not only  should I not have been charged , they should have reviewed the file and withdrawn the charges.

I have taken it to the IPCA   and although this incident has cost me  a lot  there has been little or no  repercussion for the  constable  who  laid a false charge.

When there is no accountability   or repercussions we can only expect  false charges to  continue . Counselling  is hardly  deterrent and the stand taken by  the  district and the IPCA appears to  condone  the action.

The police have a duty to crime prevention   to allow their constables to commit a crime  by  bringing false charges  is in direct conflict with the police  role.

Additionally

The police code of conduct states ( available at the hyperlink)

In the introduction it states

The purpose of this Code is to establish the standards of behaviour expected of all New Zealand Police employees. New Zealand’s police service is often judged by the way its employees represent it. It is therefore necessary to maintain a high standard of personal and professional conduct. The cornerstone of this Code is that all

employees of New Zealand Police will work to the highest ethical standard

the codes include

• Employees are committed and loyal to the vision, values and goals of New Zealand Police. They inspire trust and behave honestly, ethically  and with integrity.
• All employees have a responsibility to act with fairness and impartiality in all dealings with their colleagues and the public, and to be seen to do so, avoiding any potential or perceived conflicts of interest.
• All employees understand that their role is to acknowledge and respond to our diverse society and to treat all people and their property with dignity and respect.

Under the heading Misconduct

• negligence or carelessness in the performance of duty
• treating a person harshly

Under the heading Serious  Misconduct

• knowingly falsifying a document or Police record/s or knowingly making a false declaration or statement, including  an incorrect record of attendance or false explanation of an absence

Why do we than have a code of ethics  which  In my opinion the constable has breached as shown in bold .

I am disappointed that the IPCA  believe that counselling a cop  who deliberately lied  and filed  fabricated  charges, is sufficient  . Laying  a false charge is a criminal offence  one which  done by a police officer is through this action ,  apparently condoned.

The integrity of the police needs to be preserved and those officers  who  mislead and deceive the courts  and the public need to be held accountable.  By allowing  constables to be  counselled for  what I believe is a serious offence  and according to the  code of conduct serious Misconduct ,   undermines the integrity of the police and makes the code of ethics a farce .

I wish to bring this to the attention of the minister, so that  action can be taken which  will enhance the integrity and accountability of the police.

I am a  anti corruption specialist  and believe that  by making people accountable for  their actions  is a step towards a less corrupt  society.

As with other letters I have sent to ministers  I expect that you will just cast this aside and I will never hear again   so I will be posting this on my   blog   https://anticorruptionnz.wordpress.com/

I hope that for  the integrity of the police and the confidence that the  public  that action is taken   with regards to  constables who fabricate charges.  The mere fact that I have gone to the lengths that I have and nothing has been  done  just shows  how  far the police itself condones   this practice as  does the IPCA   which is totally ineffective.

I do hope that you see the seriousness of it

Regards

Grace Haden

Phone (09) 520 1815
mobile 027 286 8239
visit us at  www.verisure.co.nz

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