NEWS > 22 July 2006

Article sourced from

Stuff.co.nz - Wellington,New Z
22 July 2006

This article appeared in the above title/site.
To view it in its entirity click this link.

$5000 payout for former beat p

Two police officers who believe they were forced out of jobs at beat section following a covert criminal investigation have won personal grievance cases against their employer.

Gina Cameron and Vaughan Kyne transferred from the police kiosk in Cathedral Square in October 2004 after their squad was investigated over suspicions they were drinking confiscated alcohol.

The two have since married and remain serving officers in Christchurch.

Each has been awarded $2500 after the Employment Relations Authority ruled they were disadvantaged by an unjustified action by the police. Costs were reserved.

The officers had sought $10,000 each for stress, humiliation, loss of dignity and hurt feelings.

Employment advocate Ian Thompson said the outcome was satisfactory. His clients did not want to comment further.

Another two officers are expected to pursue personal grievances along the same lines.

AdvertisementAdvertisementCanterbury District Commander Superintendent Sandra Manderson has defended the decision to investigate beat section members.

These uniformed officers patrol the inner-city and police liquor bans, but found their own drinking habits under tight scrutiny.

In mid-January 2004 police bosses received an internal complaint that beat section officers were drinking alcohol seized from the public, in breach of the liquor ban.

Manderson launched an investigation into the alleged criminal offending and the adequacy of procedures for dealing with confiscated liquor.

In February that year, without warning staff, two senior police officers searched the kiosk and seized beer, wine and spirits.

The bottles were fingerprinted and compared with prints staff had given as recruits for the purpose of eliminating police officers from a crime scene.

More bottles mysteriously left on the desk of then area controller Acting Inspector Greg Williams � soon after the search � were also fingerprinted and checked for staff prints.

Beat staff were reminded no alcohol was to be stored or consumed on the premises.

When the investigation ended in August 2004, no evidence was found to support the allegations that beat section was consuming confiscated alcohol.

Around that time police began seeking applications from officers wanting to work in beat section.

A draft policy went out to staff, requiring them to rotate around various specialist areas of policing.

Believing their jobs were in jeopardy, and not wanting to risk being allocated positions they did not want, Cameron and Kyne began looking for transfers.

By the time police bosses realised the rotational policy could not be enforced without proper consultation, the pair had already found other jobs.

In her evidence, Cameron said she felt poorly treated by the police during their investigation.

"I was not afforded the same rights as a civilian suspect can expect," she wrote.

Rumours about the investigation flew around the police and officers became the butt of jokes about stealing alcohol.

"While most of these remarks were made in jest I found them hurtful," said Cameron.

"To be labelled a thief was humiliating as it goes against everything that I, being a member of the New Zealand police, stand for."

The officers said they suffered sleep deprivation, loss of concentration, depression and mood swings as a result of the upheaval.

Employment Relations Authority member James Crichton said the pair had no reasonable grounds to object to the police investigating alleged criminal offending.

He also ruled out that the police's draft rotational policy was being introduced as a way to remove staff from beat section.

However, Crichton found the pair had been disadvantaged by the policy's promotion, which had caused them to leave beat section for jobs they enjoyed less.

Manderson said the personal grievance was based on the argument that the allegations against beat section should have been dealt with as an employment issue, rather than a criminal investigation.

The authority had affirmed the decision to treat it as a criminal matter, she said.

Police officers were no different from any other members of the public, said Manderson.

"When allegations of criminal offending by police officers were reported they would always be thoroughly investigated," she said.

"It is vital that the strong integrity and ethics of the New Zealand police be rigorously maintained so that the public's faith in the police remains."

EiP Comments:

* We have no wish to infringe the copyright of any newspaper or periodical. If you feel that we have done so then please contact us with the details and we will remove the article. The articles republished on this site are provided for the purposes of research , private study, criticism , review, and the reporting of current events' We have no wish to infringe the copyright of any newspaper , periodical or other works. If you feel that we have done so then please contact us with the details and where necessary we will remove the work concerned.

Other related articles:

Article sourced from

Stuff.co.nz - Wellington,New Z22 July 2006

$5000 payout for former beat p

EiP Comments:

Stuff.co.nz - Wellington,New Z
22 July 2006