A police staff member accused of kidnapping and sexual offending is among at least 10 staff facing criminal charges following investigations by the police's anti-corruption unit, RNZ has revealed.
By Sam Sherwood of RNZ
Other staff are before the courts charged with firearms trafficking-related offending, drug supply, and another staffer is charged with assault, blackmail, threats and damage.
As of May, there were about 40 staff under investigation by the unit.
The National Integrity Unit (NIU) was established in 2020, with then Police Commissioner Mike Bush saying it had been created to "bolster Police's capability in protecting against the risk of corruption and, where appropriate, investigating corruption within New Zealand Police".
In May, RNZ requested under the Official Information Act the total number of cases investigated by the NIU since it was established, as well as the total number of active cases.
The information - which was initially due back in June - was provided to RNZ on Friday.
In the response, director of integrity and conduct Detective Superintendent Kylie Schaare said the NIU received information from a wide variety of sources, much of it often incomplete or unverified.
"Each piece of information is recorded as a "matter" and undergoes preliminary assessment. A matter may be progressed to a criminal investigation where it can be corroborated or expanded or, it may be closed as having no substance or insufficient merit."
From January 2020 to May 2026, 117 "matters" had progressed to investigations, with no further action taken by the NIU.
"This generally reflects cases where there is no evidence of criminal offending, or there is insufficient evidence for a prosecution.
"However, this does not preclude action being taken by other Police work groups, such as employment investigations or preventative interventions at a district level."
During the same time period, 22 prosecutions have commenced following NIU investigations.
Of those, 12 are no longer before the courts. This includes one staffer being convicted for cocaine supply, corrupt use of official information, and computer access offending. Three staff have been convicted for accessing a computer system for a dishonest purpose.
There were 10 staff before the courts as of May following NIU investigations.
This includes a staffer facing "multiple serious offences" including firearms, violence, kidnapping and sexual offending. One staff member is charged with firearms trafficking-related offending, while another is charged with assault, blackmail, threats and damage.
Other charges faced by other staff include Passport Act offences, drug supply and obtaining by deception.
There were 39 active NIU investigations underway as of 11 May.
RNZ asked Police for further information on the cases before the courts.
A spokesperson replied: "As the matter is before the court, we are unable to provide any further information or comment in relation to the active criminal proceedings."
Sexual misconduct allegations
RNZ earlier requested under the Official Information Act the total number of police staff under investigation, both criminal and employment, as well as how long they had been under investigation for.
Figures released reveal that as of 18 June there were 271 open investigations involving 325 police employees. 109 are listed as an employment process only; the rest involve both employment and criminal matters.
Seven of the investigations had been open for more than 1000 days, including two staff who had been under investigation for 1542 days. Nearly 30 investigations were older than 500 days.
Allegations included perjury, manual use of force, such as striking, kicking or restraining, conflict of interest, drugs/alcohol and disgraceful behaviour.
There were 33 staff under investigation for sexual misconduct. Six of those had been going on for more than 500 days.
In response to questions about the figures, NZ Police acting chief operating officer Leigh MacDonald said allegations of sexual misconduct were taken seriously, regardless of who was involved.
"The message is clear - nobody is above the law or the standards expected of police employees.
"Every member of police's more than 16,000 staff is expected to act with integrity and professionalism and will be held to account where misconduct is established."
Police did not believe the figures indicated a widespread issue across the organisation, MacDonald said.
"The number of staff linked to these allegations represents a very small proportion of the police workforce. At the same time, it is important that people feel able to raise concerns, and that those concerns are listened to and assessed or investigated appropriately."
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