Police practice and culture comes under the microscope in major study

Gang members have outlined antagonistic and humiliating tactics from police. Photo / George Heard
By RNZ
A massive research project into policing has shown the hierarchical structure of police is stifling discussion around bias and unfair treatment.
The world-first study, involving thousands of hours of research into police practices and community engagement through a fairness and equity lens, is being unveiled this week.
Māori continued to be over-represented in use-of-force incidents and laid more use-of-force complaints than non-Māori, the study showed.
Interviews with gang members outlined antagonistic and humiliating tactics from police, but also pointed to the power of positive interactions with officers as a turning point in people’s lives.
The Understanding Policing Delivery study was the second phase of a deep dive into police bias instigated by the global spotlight on police legitimacy in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020.
The research was conducted by teams from three independent research organisations: Kaupapa Māori-based Ihi Research and Pounamu Consulting, as well as Dunedin-based Donald Beasley Institute.
Phase One – released in August this year – scoured data already held and being collected by police and examined how they could determine whether policing was fair and equitable in communities.
Phase Two built on the initial findings using existing research and interviews to compile over 190,000 words – nearly two PhDs worth of material – more than a year and a half’s work.
Five case studies focused on topics such as police interaction with rainbow and gang communities, wahine Māori, people experiencing mental difficulties and the impact of the use of tasers on individuals.
The remaining half of the project canvassed experiences and responses to police innovations in the areas of organised crime, de-escalation techniques, co-response models and family harm.
The report showed de-escalation amounted to only 8-10 hours of cadets’ training couched within a backdrop of tactical response techniques which included empty-handed control tactics, OC spray, taser use and handcuffing.
“The people that they’re working with have probably only gone through the college two years ahead of them, if you’re lucky, frontline staff are very, very young, very, very inexperienced. It’s the blind leading the blind. So, they weren’t trained well. They don’t know what they’re doing,” a participant said.
Officers said the use and effectiveness of de-escalation techniques depended on the priorities of supervising officers and dissipated without opportunities for refresher training.
“This lack of a consistent approach results in a fragmented and inadequate learning system for supporting and reinforcing de-escalation learning among officers. Participants pointed out the need for support from leadership and a cultural shift within the police force to prioritise de-escalation over more physical and invasive tactics,” researchers wrote.
Another case study painted a disturbing portrait of police’s approach to gang members which they believed was designed to “dehumanise and humiliate rather than detain them”.
Gang members described officers spraying pepper spray on a glove and rubbing it on their face, tipping water over their head when handcuffed, strip searches, aggressive house searches and police making inappropriate comments and laughing during arrests.
In contrast, other participants spoke of downstream benefits that the opportunity for positive interactions with police had on their lives.
“I’ve definitely had good interactions with them. They knew that I was trying to change my life and stuff like that. The last interaction I had with them, I was pepper sprayed and arrested for drunk and disorderly. And then, they gave me that pre-charge warning and gave me the benefit of the doubt. And then, ever since then, I’ve sorted my shit out. Got clean and sober and I’m halfway through an apprenticeship,” the participant said.
Participants expressed concerns that current decisions and policies were exacerbating tensions and fostering resentment towards police and government agencies.
“If the police don’t maintain the relationships they have to the same degree, they are going to go, and they’re not going to come back, man. Because at the moment, we are on a real precipice when it comes to either pulling this back now or getting … not control of the gangs… but turning them into the clubs and kaupapa that they are, or they will become criminal entities.”
The research highlighted problems arising from police’s hierarchical culture as stifling “conversations about bias and unfair treatment”.
Scarce resources forced officers to make value-based judgements over who deserved their time which negatively impacted marginalised communities.
Those choices – against a backdrop of police conduct and compassion fatigue – were seen as affecting community trust.
Researchers pointed towards a need for empathy-driven leadership to compliment the predominant culture of “command and control” leadership and a need to address the root causes of crime.
Researchers said proper funding for training and innovation was needed to allow the force to evolve towards a more humanistic response that was capable of effectively interacting with a diversity of cultures, experiences and perspectives.
“We hope these insights into current policing practices will accelerate transformation across New Zealand Police, as they’re based on deep listening to those impacted by unfair policing, as well as from police themselves,” Professor Khylee Quince, chair of the independent panel overseeing the research, said.
Sir Kim Workman was the founding chair of the project and said the scale of the research and the fact that it was conducted with full co-operation of police had the potential to make the a world leader.
“I would expect that when the government realises the response from all those people that were consulted – both within the police and the external community – they would come to the view that this is a doable research. It’s not going to be esoteric or ideological. It’s something that people can grab hold of and make use of,” Workman said.
However, interviews with recent graduates did highlight issues with commanding and supervising officers tendency to override gains made in training once cadets arrived on the job.
“Often the comment has been made ‘We joined to make a difference and the college, has helped us identify what that difference is and yet, when we go into a service in a police station, we have sergeants ho say, forget that stuff. You do it my way’,” Workman said.
“Almost all police services throughout the world have what I would call a culture of denial, that’s because there’s so much pride in the police and pride in the people who serve in the police, there’s a tendency to resist any external criticism or comment and be defensive about it,” Workman said.
He said the benefits of working towards community engagement without bias had core benefits that even the current fiscally orientated government could see the value of.
“If one starts doing a cost-benefit analysis of operations that require huge expenditure and the use of police personnel against a long-term relational approach then the relational approach is very much less expensive.
“Our expectation, is that [police and the government] will see the recommendations of being of considerable value and and will be willing to apply the research on a daily basis rather than it becomes something that sits on somebody’s mantelpiece and nothing happens.
“I’m just hoping that this time around we won’t revert to an ideology of ‘tough on crime’, of being disrespectful to those who are less fortunate than ourselves and who really understand the underlying issues and the drivers of crime that we need to confront,” Workman said.
Workman said then police commissioner Andrew Coster deserved credit for his courage and vision in embracing the project.
“I think the research will mark him out in history as someone who was exceptional, who withstood a lot of unfair criticism and who held close to his heart the kaupapa that was going to benefit the nation, and I think he should be acknowledged,” Workman said.