An Auckland District Court custody officer acted “criminally” by subjecting his colleagues to repeated, unwanted, sexually inappropriate behaviour, the police watchdog says.
The Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) released the findings of its investigation on Tuesday. It said its public report, completed in 2020, was delayed until court proceedings had concluded.
The IPCA said three colleagues were subjected to his "inappropriate" and "criminal" behaviour, with 'custody officer A' on the receiving end of most of it.
The police watchdog also said his conduct breached police policy and its code of conduct.
Custody officer A told the IPCA she had worked with 'custody officer B' for just over a year. His inappropriate behaviour began after six months and escalated.
She said "grabbing" her and "other less appropriate behaviour" occurred daily. "More serious behaviour" occurred a few times a week of every month.
The IPCA documented how custody officer A had been bent over a table on one occasion in November 2018 while custody officer B simulated sex.
Similar "humping" and "grabbing" incidents had occurred in a control room, a kitchen, a prison cell and while she was working at a computer in front of others.
He had also pretended to undo his pants on a regular basis.
Many colleagues who witnessed some of the incidents felt he was "joking", so did not report him, the IPCA noted.
Custody officer A told the IPCA she considered using pepper spray on him on one occasion.
"I’ve had instances where I’ve actually run to get back into my court room, to get away from him and close the door," she said.
"It didn’t matter how many times I asked him to stop … it’s like he didn’t even hear."
Other allegations against custody officer B the IPCA investigated included him possibly having gang connections, sending videos of prisoners to other colleagues via Snapchat and simulating sex with two other custody officers.
Custody officer B was stood down while custody officer A’s allegations were investigated. He resigned from the police in September 2020.
Police charged him and he pleaded guilty to two charges of male assaults female.
"It is the authority’s view that the culture of acceptance by custody officer B's colleagues contributed to custody officer B's behaviour being able to continue over a substantial period of time," IPCA chairman Judge Colin Doherty said.
"It is deeply concerning that a number of custody officer B's colleagues witnessed his behaviour and considered it to be humorous and acceptable, rather than serious and potentially criminal, and therefore did not report it to the supervising sergeants."
The IPCA said custody officer B had told it he deliberately hid his behaviour from the supervising sergeants as "he knew they would consider it unacceptable".
Doherty concluded: "We are satisfied the Auckland District Court custody unit culture has improved since the incidents discussed in this report and that police will continue to work on this."
Superintendent Shanan Gray, relieving Auckland City District Commander, said police accepted the IPCA's findings.
"When we were alerted to this behaviour, police notified the IPCA and the custody officer was stood down while we began a thorough investigation into the matter," Gray said.
"Our investigation found a pattern of behaviour that did not meet police values and the custody officer was convicted on two charges of male assaults female."
"We're incredibly disappointed by the behaviour of this individual and as soon as senior police leaders were made aware of the behaviour it was investigated and addressed," he said.
"Our people who were subjected to this behaviour have been well supported throughout the investigation and we have been working on a number of initiatives, aimed at improving the culture within our custody unit.
"This work remains ongoing."
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