Judge: ‘Police car theft avoidable’
A report has found that a police officer was somewhat responsible for the theft of a police car in Gore, but did not breach any policies.
Independent Police Conduct Authority chairman Judge Colin Doherty said removing the keys from the ignition would have prevented a man from stealing a police car and two Glock guns in August last year.
New Zealand police have since introduced a national instruction that officers are not to leave keys or firearms in vehicles, while Southern District Police has improved the management of its keys, he wrote in his report.
Hori Gemmell, 24, was jailed for three years and one month in March, after being charged with two charges of unlawful possession of a pistol, unlawfully taking a motor vehicle, unlawfully possessing ammunition, two charges of theft for taking police firearms and a reckless driving charge during the incident.
According to report, Gemmell (referred to as Mr X), had driven past two officers in a car that was missing its front grill and number plate before they stopped him in a residential street.
Gemmell reversed, ramming the front of the Police car, and ran onto a residential property with the officers following on foot.
As he ran back onto the street, Gemmell got into the driver’s seat of the patrol car, which still had its keys in the ignition, the report said. The key to the car firearm safe was on the same key ring, allowing him to access the two Glock pistols from the locked box in the patrol car. The incident sparked a manhunt at the time and Gemmell was arrested three days later. Doherty found the officer had been focused on apprehending the offender in a fast-moving situation. ‘‘He inadvertently forgot to remove his keys from the patrol car, which unfortunately enabled the man to steal the car and the pistols locked in it,’’ he said.
At the time of the incident, there was no specific policy requiring officers to remove ignition keys when leaving a Police car unoccupied, Doherty noted.
In conjunction with the Royal New Zealand Police College, police are now developing a training package on vehicle security that will be included as part of the cyclical tactical training for front line officers, he said. A standalone policy will also be developed by Police National Headquarters.