Family alarmed by axed SAR role

The axing of a key search and rescue role in a police restructure has stunned a Manawatu family, who fear it will foster the same staffing deficiencies that contributed to their son’s death.

After Geoffrey Mark Hampton died at sea amid a bungled search and rescue operation in 2008, his parents wanted to ensure it didn’t happen to another family.

But those hopes have been undermined by police scrapping its search and rescue (SAR) coordinator role, a job established at the coroner’s recommendation in the wake of Hampton’s death.

The Rongotea man was celebrating his 19th birthday and fishing with his father Alan Hampton and boat owner Duncan Powell when their boat took on water and sank off the Whanganui coast on February 23.

Geoffrey Hampton died in his father’s arms after floating at sea for 12 hours. It was another four hours before the older men were rescued.

Palmerston North coroner Carla na Nagara’s inquest found police failed to follow best practice after only one policeman headed the search, and an alert sent to the 10 other volunteer SAR members failed to raise support.

At her recommendation, police established a SAR district operations manager role. The position included strategic planning and oversight, creation and maintenance of various rescue plans, acquisition and maintenance of equipment, oversight of best practice and training, risk management and creation and maintenance of SAR partnerships.

In a statement, Alan and Jenny Hampton said it was extremely disappointing to learn this role had been dropped.

‘‘The disestablishment of this position simply winds back the clock and sets the scene for history to repeat itself.’’

They said the role was established as the police’s mitigation to their own admitted failings during the rescue.

Central District commander Superintendent Sue Schwalger said the SAR position was transferred to senior sergeant level and now included looking after the armed offenders squads, police negotiating team and police dogs.

‘‘We believe that responding to SAR requirements is best achieved by ensuring this activity is well managed locally.’’

The Hamptons said it was alarming that Schwalger said ‘‘local level’’ was the most appropriate way to manage a SAR response.

The flawed 2008 rescue had exposed a lack of marine SAR training, lack of police responders, inter-agency breakdown through dysfunctional relationships and ‘‘patch protection’’ issues, resulting in lack of response and inappropriate or no procedures being followed.

Some police officers conveyed similar reservations about scrapping the SAR role in submissions on the police restructure, called Project Balance. ‘‘I simply would not be able to remove myself from my CIB workload to attend to the task the co-ordinator role covers, including... looking after a register of available land/sea/or assets, maintaining readiness plans, organising SAR training,’’ one submission said.