A police officer who caused an ankle fracture which later required surgery, to a woman in an Auckland custody unit is no longer working for the police.
In a report released on Tuesday, Chair of the Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA), Judge Colin Doherty, provided a detailed account of the incident which found a team of officers failed to provide the woman with the care she needed following the injury.
Ms X, as the report identifies her, was arrested on Saturday 26 June 2021 for breaching her bail conditions, and was to be held in the custody unit until she attended court the following Monday.
However on the 27th, in an agitated state, she managed to slip out of her cell, past several police officers who had gone in to remove a book from her which she had been using to hit the wall.
One of the officers grabbed her arm as she ran past while another, Officer A, took Ms X to the ground, causing a fracture to her ankle.
According to the IPCA report, "Ms X states that she felt a “crack” in her ankle as she was taken to the ground, and she was in significant pain afterwards."
What followed were differing accounts between the officers involved along with a doctor who said she had no recollection of being called over Ms X's injury, despite two officers declaring they did call her.
According to the report, "Custody Officer A told us that he telephoned Dr G, and says she answered almost immediately. He says he told Dr G that Ms X had been taken to the ground and was complaining her ankle was broken, but it was not swollen. Custody Officer A said that Dr G told him: “give her some Panadol, and I don’t think her ankle will be broken”.
"Contrary to the accounts of Custody Officers A and F, Dr G says she has no recollection of being contacted on the night of 27 June 2021 about an ankle injury. To support her belief, she told us: She had assessed Ms X in person earlier that day, providing advice in relation to her diabetes. If she had been called about Ms X later that night, she would have recalled the name," the report said.
It wasn't until the next shift came on, eight hours later, that Ms X was transferred to hospital by ambulance to receive care.
"We are concerned that the failures in this case could indicate a wider systemic problem with the custody unit. This was not a single error made by one person – it took a team of people to fail to provide Ms X with the care she was so clearly needing," Judge Doherty said.
"We also note that Ms X identifies as a woman. However, in the responses from police staff to this matter, while it is recognised that Ms X identifies as a woman she is frequently referred to as ‘he’ or ‘him’, or by the male name by which she was formerly known. This does raise concerns about the attitude of the police staff towards Ms X, and possibly the culture of the custody unit."
Counties Manukau police respond
Acting Counties Manukau District Commander Superintendent Shanan Gray responded to the IPCA report on Tuesday, saying police accepted the findings.
"Police had been dealing with an agitated detainee in the custody unit who had to be restrained after she slipped past staff and ran out of her cell," he said.
"Police place high expectations on our staff and how they perform their duties, we manage thousands of people that come into our custody, of which we provide a high standard of care.
"In this instance we have fallen short of these expectations and standards.
"As an organisation we are always open to learnings and systems used in our custody units are continuously reviewed to find improvements to better inform police and other key decision makers around the management of detainees."
Gray said Custody Officer A has since left New Zealand Police.
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