Armed police tactics during raid ‘flawed’
The actions of armed police involved in the Kawerau siege were ‘‘highly flawed’’ the Independent Police Conduct Authority says.
Three armed police officers were shot and wounded by Rhys Warren as they conducted a search on his home near Kawerau on March 9, 2016. A fourth was shot and wounded in the subsequent siege.
The IPCA report said: ‘‘AOS officers should never have entered Warren’s family house and that there was poor general understanding among officers at all levels about how control and command should have operated during different phases of the police response.
‘‘The lack of proper oversight was a strong contributing factor to the flawed tactical decisions,’’ authority chair Judge Colin Doherty said.
Doherty said the officers made a lawful decision to return fire at Warren but should not have put themselves at risk by entering the home.
‘‘They fired to defend themselves and their fellow officers from an imminent threat of death and in order to manage the safe evacuation of wounded officers,’’ he said.
‘‘Better decision-making is likely to have prevented these officers from having to make the decision to use their firearms in the first place.’’
The authority report said the operation was not planned or executed with care. Officers failed to notify communications prior to the search and did not conduct a risk assessment. Nor were police dogs used in the search of Warren’s home. The broken glass resulting from the raid meant police dogs could not be deployed.
The IPCA concluded with a call for an ‘‘urgent review’’ due to significant issues with the control and command of this incident
Assistant Commissioner Districts Bill Searle said police accept the findings of the IPCA and have made operational changes as a result.
A big change is having all dogs equipped with leather boots to allow them to be deployed easily and trials are being conducted to equip dogs with cameras.
Searle said it could have changed the ‘‘whole dynamic’’ of the incident.
‘‘Had he been confronted by a dog, he would have reacted differently,’’ he said.
‘‘I’m not sure what he would have done but it would have changed the whole dynamic.’’
Warren, who represented himself in court, has been sentenced to preventative detention for two counts of attempted murder, three counts of using a firearm against a law enforcement officer and wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
Searle stood by the sentencing. ‘‘Preventative detention is a very serious conviction to have and it is up to the courts to decide how people are sentenced. Despite the issues raised by the IPCA, we note that the person responsible for shooting our staff was Rhys Warren, who has been sentenced in court to preventive detention.’’
Searle said all the recommendations in the report will be adopted.
These changes include a planned action risk assessment that must be completed before any planned action can take place, specifically search warrants.
‘‘There has been a national refresh of AOS training including oversight from Special Tactics Group Commanders,’’ Searle said. ‘‘This has ensured that all squads, including Rotorua and Tauranga AOS, have improved tactical planning, decisionmaking and deployment methods.’’
All four wounded officers have returned to active duty.
‘‘Three have made what I would call a full recovery while one still suffers ongoing effects but is able to perform duties,’’ Searle said.
‘‘Had he been confronted by a dog, he would have reacted differently.’’
Independent Police Conduct Authority report