Second senior cop critical of officers

A second senior police officer has criticised the actions of police officers who arrested Gregory McPeake.

Inspector Bryan Buck, who has wide experience in managing tactics, dogs and the armed offender’s squad in Canterbury, has told a court that McPeake’s car was safely contained when it was found parked near Napier and there was no need to lead an assault on the car.

Buck’s evidence was provided in the trial of four officers charged with assaulting McPeake with a weapon shortly before he died while being arrested.

The officers, whose names are suppressed, are on trial in Napier District Court accused of assaulting McPeake, 53, in the early hours of March 13 last year. The Crown claims they used excessive force by using Tasers and dogs. The defence argues they acted appropriately given the information they had at the time. There is no suggestion they caused his death.

Buck said there was no evidence of any contingency plan given by commanding officer Glenn Baker in the event McPeake did not get out of the car in response to voice command.

Buck said Baker was not sufficiently experienced to be commanding the situation and called the planning ‘‘entirely deficient’’ and it was ‘‘a total loss of control by the supervising officer’’.

He was also critical of Baker’s decision not to deploy the armed offenders squad.

Under cross examination it was revealed that one of the officers who shot a Taser had never used one before and had never seen one used.

When lawyer Rachael Adams asked Buck if he felt her client could have expected guidance and leadership from senior officers and that she had been let down, he replied ‘‘totally’’.

Buck said the parked car had been effectively ‘‘cordoned and contained’’ by the placing of road spikes at the car park exit, and it was very unlikely McPeake could have driven away.

‘‘Time is your friend. You can negotiate with this person as long as it takes’’, Buck said.

Cordoning and containing was the appropriate action, he said.

The trial, before Judge Phillip Cooper, began last Tuesday and was expected to end today or tomorrow.