On 11 April 2024, a man attended a resolution meeting at the Kaitaia Police Station regarding an incident his son had been involved in. During the meeting, the man became aggressive towards a Police officer. The man left the meeting, and the officer escorted him out of the station.

On their way out of the station, they reached a staircase. The man believed the officer tried to push him down the stairs, and he pushed the officer away from him. In response, the officer tackled the man, and they both fell down the stairs. The man believed he might have been punched, and he sustained a dislocated shoulder as a consequence of the fall.

The officer arrested the man for disorderly behaviour.

Subsequent to the above events, Police decided to charge the man with assaulting the officer.

Following our investigation, the Independent Police Conduct Authority has found that:

• The officer should have arranged for someone else to accompany the man out of the station.
• The officer inadvertently pushed the man at the top of the stairs.
• The officer did not punch the man.
• The man’s arrest for disorderly behaviour was unlawful. Therefore, the force used to effect the arrest was not justified.
• Even if the officer tackled the man in self-defence, the use of force at the top of the stairs was disproportionate and unjustified.
• Police did not appropriately manage the investigating officer’s conflict of interest.
• The decision to charge the man for assault was misguided.
• The investigating officer should not have given the man a summons to appear in court.

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