I made a mistake, Police Commissioner says of historic complaint

After an 18-month battle to get hold of official information, it can now be reported Police Commissioner Richard Chambers had a complaint upheld against him when he was in charge of the Wellington region.

The first attempt by 1News to gain these details via the Official Information Act came in October 2024. At the time, Chambers, and disgraced former Deputy Police Commissioner Jevon McSkimming, were believed to be in the running for police’s top job.

1News had received information that complaints had been laid against both men and sought confirmation of that from Police Headquarters. But police declined to release it, acknowledging public interest but saying they had to maintain employer/employee confidentiality.

Chambers, the OIA release confirms, was found to have wrongly given a warning to a police employee for possessing cannabis when charges should have been brought against them.

McSkimming, it has previously been revealed, was facing a number of serious allegations of sexual harassment. He would also go on to plead guilty to three representative charges of possessing child sexual exploitation and bestiality material.

The complaint eventually revealed against Chambers, who became Police Commissioner in November 2024, was brought internally and was of a much lesser nature.

The information was finally released to 1News following the intervention of the Ombudsman. It showed the complaint was upheld in 2012 when Chambers was relieving as the District Commander Wellington.

Police's chief legal advisor Bill Peoples said: "Unbeknown to Mr Chambers, the warning was in breach of policy".

Chambers subsequently undertook training of the pre-charge warning policy, while the police employee resigned.

In total, six complaints were lodged against Chambers between 1998 and 2020, but just the one was upheld.

Chambers told 1News the decision he made in 2012 was a mistake.

"I thought at the time it was a fair and reasonable decision for that person who subsequently resigned from the police. I then later learnt that in fact I can't authorise a pre-charge warning.

“So it was a learning opportunity for me. Of course, you know, you often learn things through mistakes and for me, you know, that was a learning opportunity."

At the time, those decisions could only be made by a police deputy commissioner and Chambers acknowledges he should have known the policy.

"I felt that for a civilian member of the police, a very small amount of cannabis, which was, I understand, for personal use, I applied what I thought any member of the New Zealand public would be entitled to in a situation like that…

"I thought that it was OK for me to treat that now former member of the police, just like any other member of the public, but no."

Chambers says he didn't know the police employee whose pre-charge warning he signed off, and it was local police who came to him seeking the warning be issued.

The practice has since changed, with members of police now going before a panel if there is a circumstance where they are believed to have broken the law.

Chambers says the incident was not raised during his appointment process to become commissioner, by either him or the selection panel.

Asked if it was unusual for the matter to not be raised, Chambers said: "I'm probably not the person to ask that, but I have confidence in the thoroughness of their process.

“And I think, you know, like I have done here today with you, is you look at the set of circumstances that, for me in this case, resulted in a matter being upheld. I've owned that."

He said he did not know if the Prime Minister or Police Minister were aware of the incident.

The information finally released to 1News also showed 11 complaints were recorded against McSkimming between 1998 and 2024. This included the allegations of sexual offending against a woman known as Ms Z, as detailed in a damning IPCA report last year.

Three of the complaints upheld against him were unrelated, they were:

- In 1998 McSkimming was recorded as a failing to assist and was sent to counselling as result.

- In 2015, McSkimming was caught using his mobile phone while driving. No action was taken against him.

- In 2018, McSkimming was again caught using his mobile while driving. He was given a written traffic warning in this instance.

McSkimming was interviewed for the Police Commissioner role in October 2024 but resigned from the force in May 2025. He was sentenced to home detention in December.