Wing 318: Recruits’ behaviour under fire
It was billed as the largest intake of new police recruits in more than a decade – part of an unprecedented recruitment drive to get 1800 new cops on the beat. However, Wing 318, which graduated late last month from the Royal New Zealand Police College, w
Trainee cops drunk while in uniform. Two others investigated for indecent assaults. And the top graduate was the subject of a complaint alleging he accessed a man’s cellphone without permission and intimidated him.
Stuff has learned at least 10 of the 100 police recruits from Wing 318, which trained at the Royal New Zealand Police College near Wellington from June to September, were investigated either criminally or under the code of conduct.
The issues with Wing 318 have raised questions about pressure to meet the Government target of 1800 new officers within three years. Critics are worried the quality of recruits will slip.
Wing 318 was made up of 38 women and 62 men, aged 19 to 50. Two of them failed to graduate at the end of the intensive 16-week training course, which, according to figures provided by police, is in line with the pass rates of the previous seven groups to train at the college.
Top of the class was 21-yearold Tyler Sintes, who last week started work as a constable in Canterbury.
Sintes was the subject of a criminal investigation while at the police college. He was accused of taking a cellphone belonging to his girlfriend’s brother and, without permission, using it to look at messages on the teenager’s Facebook account. It was alleged he later tailgated him in a car, tooting his horn. Both incidents happened in Sintes’ home town of Picton while he was off duty.
In a recent email to the complainant, a senior police officer said there was ‘‘sufficient evidence to suggest a prima facie case for the offences of careless driving and accessing a computer without authority’’, but the legal opinion was that the threshold for prosecution wasn’t met.
In a statement to Stuff last week, police confirmed their investigation into Sintes’ behaviour found ‘‘insufficient grounds to prosecute any allegation made about his conduct as a criminal matter’’.
‘‘Due to minor residual employment matters, police are unable to comment further . . . other than to advise that careful and detailed consideration of his fitness for the role was undertaken before his graduation.’’
Despite the allegations, Sintes, who has not responded to requests for comment, was awarded the Minister’s Award, recognising the top student in Wing 318, at last month’s graduation, which Police Minister Stuart Nash and Police Commissioner Mike Bush attended. He also won the Firearms Award, which recognises the top marksman in the wing.
The victim and some of those close to him do not believe Sintes is fit to be a police officer and want a review of the decision to allow him to graduate.
While the offending might seem minor, an associate of the victim believes the behaviour is ‘‘very concerning’’.
Sintes wasn’t the only recruit from Wing 318 to find him or herself under scrutiny while at the police college.
❚ A male recruit allegedly indecently assaulted a woman while off duty. He is stood down while an investigation into his conduct continues.
❚ A female recruit was investigated for indecently assaulting a man. Police said she was investigated ‘‘thoroughly’’ and ‘‘no evidence of criminal offending’’ was found. No employment investigation was required.
❚ A group of more than half a dozen recruits, including the woman, were drunk in police uniform and made a mess of one of the barracks at the college in July. Police said they were investigated internally ‘‘from a conduct perspective’’ and told that their behaviour was unacceptable. ‘‘[Police] were satisfied the recruits had learnt from this incident and adapted their behaviour accordingly. For that reason, the people involved in this incident graduated.’’ It’s not clear where the recruits were drinking, but police policy does not allow alcohol in any of the college’s accommodation or surrounding grounds.
Stuff has also learned only a small proportion of the applicants were able to swim when accepted into the police college. Police have confirmed this is not a requirement for recruits – training in how to stay safe in the water is offered at the college. They did not have any figures for how many of those in Wing 318 could swim.
On Monday, Superintendent Scott Fraser, the police’s general manager of training, confirmed a recruit from Wing 318 remained stood down, along with three others from different wings, while four separate incidents of alleged misconduct were investigated.
None of the recruits was on duty at the time, and three of the
alleged incidents happened offsite, Fraser said.
‘‘We remain very proud of our constabulary graduates and the quality of New Zealanders being attracted to a career with New Zealand Police.’’
Fraser said there was no data for code of conduct or criminal investigations across various wings, but they were rare.
In May, National’s police spokesman Chris Bishop asked Nash in Parliament whether he could ‘‘guarantee . . . that entry standards and police training will not drop’’ as a result of the recruitment drive. Nash replied: ‘‘Yes.’’ Yesterday, Bishop said: ‘‘On the face of it, you’d have to say that assurance isn’t being met.’’
The MP for Hutt South said the behaviour of those in Wing 318 was ‘‘very concerning’’.
‘‘We’ve been concerned for quite a while that the [recruitment drive] would result in the lowering of standards.
‘‘A degradation of quality recruits . . . will have an impact on the wider force over time . . . and I know current frontline cops are worried about that.’’
Bishop said it should be compulsory for police recruits to be competent swimmers, as New Zealand was an island nation and ‘‘we want all our first responders to be able to swim’’.
In June, Nash celebrated the intake of recruits to the wing, congratulating them on their ‘‘commitment and dedication to get this far’’.
‘‘Our new police recruits are professional and talented before they even begin training. We ask a lot of them and their families and the training course is a demanding time for everyone involved,’’ he said at the time.
In that statement, he emphasised the $300m the Government had set aside for the ‘‘unprecedented recruitment drive’’ to recruit the 1800 new frontline police officers.
Yesterday, Nash said he had previously received advice about recruits being stood down pending investigations into their conduct.
However, he was not given specific details of the allegations or the names of the recruits involved because they were operational police matters.
Nash said he was unaware of the allegations against Sintes when he presented him with the award for top recruit at the graduation.
‘‘Police have assured me that careful and detailed consideration of the recruit’s fitness for the role was undertaken before his graduation, as is the case for all constabulary officers who graduate from the police college.’’
The standard of entry to the college was high and police had assured him they would ‘‘not be lowering the bar’’ to meet the recruitment target.
The Police Association’s annual national conference begins today in Wellington.
Association president Chris Cahill said there was no suggestion the recruitment drive had led to a slip in the standard of recruits. The incident at the police barracks was ‘‘nothing that wouldn’t have happened in university campuses many times’’.
A police spokeswoman last week said: ‘‘We are making excellent, on-time progress toward delivering the growth of 1800 staff.’’