Police Association welcomes IPCA confirmation Ngamotu shooting justified

“Confirmation by the Independent Police Conduct Authority, that the Shooting of Adam Morehu at the Ngamotu Golf Course was justified, has been welcomed by the officers involved,” Police Association President Greg O’Connor said today.

“While no officer wants to be involved in the use of lethal force, the fact Mr Morehu shot at police shows that the officers took the only option available to them in the circumstances which confronted them early that morning.”

“Technical criticisms around breaches of policy are an unfortunate detraction from the pertinent aspect of the report, which is that the actions of the officer were justified,” Mr O’Connor said.

“Poor firearms policy saw police vehicles with different combinations of firearm arriving at the scene. It also results in officers having to access locked firearms in an urgent and stressful situation. In this case, it culminated in two officers going into a very dangerous situation armed only with Tasers, a very brave act,” said Mr O’Connor.

“The reality is this was a rapidly evolving situation, where attendance at a very routine burglar alarm activation quickly became a life and death situation, where arriving members had to deal with a scenario where one of their colleagues was trapped and under fire.”

Mr O’Connor went on to say, “The officers should be praised for displaying considerable bravery in the dangerous situation they had been deployed to and which they had no choice but to attend.

The Police Association continues to fully support the officers.

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