A police recruit has resigned after it was found they showed another recruit pornography while masturbating, and asked them unsolicited sexual questions.
A summary of a police investigation released Thursday by the Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) said the incident took place while both recruits were off-duty in a vehicle on the side of the road late at night in the greater Wellington area.
A complaint was made to police, who decided that a criminal investigation was unnecessary, and instead initiated an employment process.
"We asked police to reconsider and undertake a criminal investigation, as the complaint suggested a criminal offence, but they did not," the IPCA release read.
Police upheld the allegations made against the recruit as "serious misconduct".
The IPCA agreed with this outcome, but wrote to police reaffirming its stance that a criminal investigation should be undertaken.
Police then launched a criminal investigation, overseen by the IPCA, which found "insufficient evidence of criminal offending".
This was despite police identifying a second recruit who also complained the one being investigated had shown them pornographic material.
Once the criminal investigation was complete, another employment process was triggered.
However, the recruit resigned from police before the process ended.
"Nonetheless, Police concluded their investigation and did not uphold the further allegations."
"Contrary to agreed process, police only informed the Authority of the outcome after police finalised matters with the recruit. We were therefore not provided with an opportunity to provide feedback on the proposed police finding."
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