Cases of Tasered kids feature in new report

Concerns over excess force against Maori, Pasifika suspects

Three 15-year-olds were stunned with a Taser by police and a 9-year-old had it presented to them in 2018, a new report says.

The 2018 Tactical Options Research report also shows force is used disproportionately against Ma¯ori and Pasifika communities, which a justice adviser says raises further concerns about armed police trials being carried out over the next six months.

Ma¯ori accounted for more than half of all such events in 2018 — more than all other ethnicities combined. Pacific peoples were also overrepresented.

Ma¯ori were nearly nine times more likely than Pa¯keha¯ to experience Taser deployment.

Safe and Effective Justice Advisory Group member Julia Whaipooti said the report was “very concerning” especially given the recent trial of armed police patrolling select “high risk” areas.

“If those rates are to continue, and that trial is fully rolled out, we could be doing interviews about another Ma¯ori person shot by police.”

Whaipooti said while it was encouraging in the past to see police had acknowledged bias and institutional racism, they needed to follow that with actions.

As police were more prevalent in Ma¯ori areas, they were more likely to engage with Ma¯ori, and therefore Ma¯ori were statistically more likely to be involved in situations involving police force, fuelling further distrust of police, she said.

The most recent Police Citizens’ Satisfaction Survey found 79 per cent of people surveyed had full or “quite a lot of” trust and confidence in police. This dropped to 70 per cent for Ma¯ori.

Whaipooti, who is also a senior adviser in the Office of the Children’s Commissioner, said the use of Tasers on youths was concerning.

Twice a 9-year-old was presented with a Taser in 2018. The police report noted each time the child had been “behaving violently, suffering a mental health episode, and threatening police and family members with a weapon” — once with a knife, another time an axe.

Three different 15-year-olds also experienced Taser discharges, while the oldest person was 66.

Whaipooti said police were increasingly acting as “expensive social workers”, and resources needed to be shifted towards community initiatives.

“I understand there are instances where young people are rarked up, but using force to de-escalate these situations involving young people, who are most likely brown, is unacceptable,” Whaipooti said.

Superintendent Andrew Sissons, national manager for response and operations, said their purpose was public safety, which sometimes meant using force.

“Police recognise use of force is a significant power granted to us, so our use of force is always proportional to a person’s threatening, violent and/or lifeendangering behaviour.”

Sissons said Ma¯ori were overrepresented across the criminal justice system, which was reflected in the tactical options reporting.

Overall, the 4398 events where tactical options were used was a 3 per cent decrease since 2017, coming from 3.6 million interactions.