Action on alleged sex cases

All eleven unassigned sex cases in Counties Manukau District have had action taken on them, Commissioner Rob Robinson said today.

Of the eleven files of a sexual nature unassigned in the district, all have had complaints taken and have been the subject of immediate enquiries.

"I am advised that no available evidence has been lost." the Commissioner said.

"In five cases the identity of the offender is not known to the victim and exhibits have been submitted for forensic examination.

"Four cases are historical matters, one dating back to the 1960s. Two of these complainants live outside New Zealand and one of the offences actually occurred in Australia and will be referred to the Australian Police.

"The remaining two cases have unique issues: In one case the victim is a State Ward and this is being treated as a child abuse investigation with other agencies. In the last case, the victim did nominate a suspect but is not currently able to assist the inquiry further as she has been hospitalised for unrelated medical treatment.

"It is unfortunate that the public have been led to believe that Counties Manukau Police have not been dealing in a timely way with major cases.

"Counties Manukau Police have a team of experienced and seasoned investigators with a strong track record in dealing with serious crime as anyone who has followed cases in the media this year will know."

Mr Robinson said that in assuring the public that appropriate police work was being done on serious complaints he also acknowledged that there were significant numbers of unallocated files in the district.

"The number of cases is about 3% of the annual total reported crime in Counties Manukau District and varies month to month.

"Currently there are approximately 1000 criminal complaints in the district not under the management of a designated investigator. These will be the subject of further review by the district management team.

"The so-called unallocated files issue was flagged with me three weeks ago in a face to face meeting with the district management team. No allegations of serious crime cases going unattended were brought to my attention at that time.

The Commissioner said he did not resile from celebrating the fact that New Zealand Police are achieving very good reductions in recorded crime and higher levels of resolved crime. On the other hand he also acknowledged that his staff were working hard and more resources could always be put to good use.

"Every year I put budget bids up to the Government for more resources. Sometimes we win and sometimes we lose. We simply get on and do the best with the resources we are given.

"Debates about appropriate resourcing levels are a healthy sign that the politicians and the public care about their policing services. But it is my job and the job of my managers and staff to be apolitical and to deliver the very best services we can with the resources available," said Mr Robinson.

The Commissioner said that he hoped that as election year wore on the resourcing debate would be an informed one.

"Allegations of the type we have had within the last 24 hours regarding rapes being ignored are unfortunate, not borne out by the facts when these are examined and only serve to unnecessarily alarm the public" said Mr Robinson.

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