A woman who made sex allegations against former top cop Jevon McSkimming was treated in a "confronting, appalling, shocking, and disgusting" way by authorities, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says.
Speaking to Breakfast, the PM agreed with a characterisation by Police Commissioner Richard Chambers that there was a cover-up in the case
It follows the release of an Independent Police Conduct Authority report into how police handled complaints against former acting deputy commissioner McSkimming.
"Yeah, I do," Luxon said when asked if he agreed with Chambers' characterisation of the case as a cover-up. "This is a big hit to integrity and trust for the police.
"It's got to be built back. It is not representative of the 15,000 men and women who work in our police services whatsoever."
Former commissioner Andrew Coster is now on leave from the Social Investment Agency and under an employment process, while the Government has announced it will establish an Inspector General of Police to provide stronger oversight of the organisation.
The IPCA report found a young woman who made complaints against McSkimming had been "let down terribly by police and the system", Luxon said.
"When you take a step back, it's a pretty confronting, appalling, shocking, disgusting treatment of what happened to a young woman there. At the heart of it, there is a young woman who was let down terribly by police and the system."
Luxon's comments follow Police Minister Mark Mitchell's backtrack on comments that there had been a "corrupt police executive" involved in the case. He made the comments last Friday in a Q+A interview, but later withdrew them and said he misspoke.
Police Commissioner says new graduates shouldn’t let the case “distract” them from their important work. (Source: 1News)
The PM said today the measure to introduce a police Inspector General was not just another layer of bureaucracy but "the strongest form of oversight" available.
He said he was "really sorry" the woman had been let down in McSkimming's case.
"She's a brave person coming forward in the way that she has, and I hope that she can see that we are doing everything we can to make sure that this never happens again."
The IPCA investigation into the McSkimming case did not make a determination on whether the allegations made by the woman were true.
The accuser, named only as Ms Z in the report, began a relationship with the senior police officer when she was 21, while he was married and nearly two decades older.
Ms Z made allegations of sexual interaction without consent, threats to use an intimate visual recording, and misuse of a police credit card and police property to further a sexual relationship. Some of the complaints alleged criminal conduct, while others alleged behaviour constituting a potential breach of the police code of conduct.
She ended up being charged with causing harm by posting digital communication against McSkimming. The action was later dropped.
Jevon McSkimming met a woman nearly half his age and, weeks later, got her a job close to his office. (Source: 1News)
When asked if those criticised in the report should lose their jobs, Luxon said there would be "a series of employment matters" to work through.
The IPCA report found that in handling complaints about McSkimming, senior police officers intentionally sought to influence the investigative process.
And although they didn’t find evidence of collusion, they did find senior officers, including the former commissioner, attempted to rush investigations to help McSkimming’s application for commissioner, and failed to recognise the inappropriateness of their actions.
Minister of Police Mark Mitchell speaks to Breakfast about the damning IPCA report into the Jevon McSkimming investigation. (Source: Breakfast)
Responding to the report's release, Chambers was asked if there was a cover-up.
"That’s the way that many will interpret it, and my personal view is that there was a bunch of senior leaders, who have now exited the organisation, who were acting in the self-interest of themselves, frankly, and in particular one individual," he said last week.
"So, people will interpret the report in their own way, but the way I read it, that’s exactly what happened."
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