Removal of SAR role labelled a step back
A man whose father’s body was never found after a failed search and rescue mission says police need to take coronial recommendations more seriously.
William Kerry Blair, known as Kerry, took his boat out from a remote part of the Marlborough Sounds on March 8, 2014.
The boat was found nine days later, about 200 kilometres off the coast of Taranaki, but his body has never been found, despite a search being held.
His son, Dylan Blair, said he was shocked to discover Central District police were scrapping a SAR co-ordinator role in Manawatu, which was established after a coroner’s recommendation about an earlier failed search and rescue mission.
‘‘It’s taking a step backwards,’’ he said.
The position was established after the death of Geoffrey Mark Hampton, off the coast of Whanganui, in 2008.
The findings were yet to be made public from his father’s inquest, but Blair said he felt the process seemed less about police identifying areas where they could improve and more about trying to save face.
‘‘When it came time for the inquest, it was us versus everybody else.’’
He said he believed recommendations and findings should be about improving the process for the future search and rescue missions throughout the country, instead of trying to shift blame.
Police command and emergency management Inspector Nic Brown said police had been involved in search and rescue since the 1920s.
He said all coronial recommendations were considered by the coordinating authorities and, if applicable, applied to other police districts.
Police co-ordinators were responsible for conducting debriefs and reviews for all category-one events.
Category-one searches were coordinated by police and involved local resources being used for land searches, river, lake and inland waterway searches, and close-toshore marine searches.
Category-two searches were coordinated by the Rescue Coordination Centre New Zealand.
Brown said reviews were held after category-one events.
‘‘These debriefs or reviews happen on a regular basis.’’
In 2015, New Zealand chief coroner Judge Deborah Marshall made a submission to the Coroners Amendment Bill, following a review of the Coroners Act 2006.
In it, Marshall supported the addition of a clause to require mandatory responses to a coroner’s recommendations as it would increase the operational efficiency of the Coroners Act.