Pepper spray used on children as young as 10

Children as young as 10 and 12 are being pepper-sprayed by police.

Figures obtained by Stuff show that more than 480 tamariki and rangatahi 17 years old and under were sprayed between 2017 and 2021. Māori made up the bulk of those being sprayed at 68%, followed by Pākehā at 16.8%.

Armon Tamatea (Rongowhakaata, Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki) is a clinical psychologist and a senior lecturer at the University of Waikato. He said being peppersprayed as a 10-year-old would be terrifying in any context.

‘‘Like anything else, it would have an impact on one’s relationship to police and maybe even authority at that age, especially if that is a common thing or if that’s something that the young person has been exposed to quite a bit.’’

There could also be an element of trauma involved, Tamatea said, but that was dependent on a wide range of factors rather than pepper spray alone.

Tamatea suspected pepper spray would be used in situations where there would be a degree of risk to officers or bystanders.

‘‘So the context itself would be pretty traumatising, let alone the pepper spray element of it.’’

He said the number of tamariki and rangatahi being peppersprayed had declined. In 2017, more than 130 children and young people were pepper-sprayed, but by 2021 this had dropped to 82.

‘‘No officer goes out with the intention to use one of our options of force on a youth.’’

Inspector Brent Register Acting director of community partnerships and prevention

The New Zealand Police’s acting director of community partnerships and prevention, Inspector Brent Register, said officers used force on about only 0.2% of those they dealt with.

He said of those who had been pepper-sprayed, about 7% were under the age of 17.

‘‘However, in saying that, no youth being pepper-sprayed is an ideal situation, and no officer goes out with the intention to use one of our options of force on a youth.’’

Register said there were a number of reasons officers might spray a young teenager.

Officers would first try to communicate with the person. But if violence were to escalate, Register said police could move to ‘‘hand defence’’ whether that be handcuffs or physical restraint. If there was a further escalation of aggression, officers could use a baton or pepper spray, followed by a taser and, as a last resort, firearms.

In the case of the 10-year-old, Register said police had to consider the size of the child, their aggression and that they were with an older person who officers were attempting to restrain.

‘‘This 10-year-old then attacked a police officer to try and help their friend or colleague get away,’’ he said. ‘‘So the officer who used the pepper spray had no idea that the person was 10. They were as big, if not bigger, than the officer themselves, and they were spitting in his face at the time.’’

Register did not believe the over-representation of Māori getting pepper-sprayed pointed to racism within the police force.

However, he said, police acknowledged that Māori were over-represented in all aspects of the criminal justice system.

Police had undertaken a major independent research programme with the University of Waikato to examine how policing was delivered and if it was fair and equitable, he said.

This is Public Interest Journalism funded by New Zealand On Air.