Are cops doing enough to find outlaw dad?
He’s wanted for bank robbery, vehicle theft, attempted breaking and entering and unlawful possession of firearms, but Tom Phillips remains out of reach, hiding somewhere in Waikato with his three kids. Are police doing enough to find him?
He’s arguably New Zealand’s most wanted man – as elusive as a shadow – but there’s no police reward for the capture of Tom Phillips. It’s been more than two years since Phillips disappeared with his three primary school-aged children – Jayda, Maverick and Ember – and since then he’s allegedly robbed a bank, stolen a quad bike and tried to break into a superette, apparently with one of his children as accomplice.
During the bank robbery in Te Kuiti in May last year, shots were fired at a supermarket worker and $50 notes flew down the street.
Phillips faces up to 14 years’ imprisonment if he is convicted of the aggravated robbery and aggravated wounding charges he faces.
Yet police have been reluctant to reach into their reward toolbox.
Chris Budge questions that.
The former military and civilian police officer, who now works as a private investigator, wonders why police are prepared to offer huge rewards of up to $100,000 in murder cold cases, but not in a case involving the welfare of children.
“Offering $100,000 rewards in ... cold case murders should not be prioritised over the abduction of three children, involving an alleged armed robber,” says Budge, who has volunteered his time to help find the family.
“They are doing the same thing and it’s not working. They need to think laterally, out of the box, involve non-police staff, vet some volunteers and involve them.
“They need to step up and do significantly better.”
Stuff sent a series of questions to police about their handling of the case, including the lack of a reward, most of which went unanswered.
In a statement, acting Detective Inspector Andrew Saunders says police continue to employ “a range of investigative techniques” in the hunt for Phillips and his children.
“All available tools and resources are considered, and decisions to deploy these are based on credible information to hand and not cost.”
Jubilee Dawson, maternal half-sister of the children, says a $10,000 reward raised by her family, partly through a Givealittle fundraiser, remains on the table, but she wants police to come to the party.
“They could have put a reward out by now,” Dawson says. “They said they don’t
want to put a reward out because they said it sets a precedent, but the one they’re setting at the moment is, you can take off with your kids and they’re not gonna do anything about it.”
She believes police treated the case as a custody issue for far too long.
“I want them to treat it as if the kids are being held hostage – because in my opinion, they are.”
Police reject the suggestion they’ve been slow to act, pointing to a range of methods they’ve used to date, such as going out and about in the Marokopa area on quad bikes, dropping coloured fliers in letterboxes in the district and using drones to search bush areas.
Using the Official Information Act,
Stuff asked police for the total cost of the operation to date, as well as details of aerial searches.
Police say they are unable to provide costings prior to August, 2023, as an internal order number was not set up until then.
Since that date, $16,893 has been spent, excluding staff costs.
This includes two fixed wing aircraft flights, one on December 6, 2022, and the other on August 11, 2023, with approximately five hours’ flight time.
It’s unclear what sparked the flights, but there were sightings of Phillips in the Hamilton and Kawhia areas – including in disguise in Bunnings stores – on August 2 last year.
Additionally, police say, the Auckland-based police Eagle helicopter has been used twice – on August 4 last year and again on October 19 – with a flight time of about four-and-a-half hours.
This was costed at $16,942, bringing the total cost to $33,835, excluding staffing.
Budge says the fact an internal order number and project code wasn’t set up until August last year – more than 18 months after Phillips disappeared – is “lacking”.
It indicates that police only started treating it as a criminal matter after Phillips became a suspect for the bank robbery, he says.
(Saunders says in his statement the setting up of the order number was to “better support the ongoing operation” and is “normal business practice”.)
Budge says aerial searches are a “great tool” in dense bush areas or for immediate incident response.
“In this matter, I think the lack of aerial investment is an economic constraint.”
But even if an aircraft spotted something of interest, Budge says, land-based resources are needed to immediately respond, and he questions whether they’re being made available.
In May, 2022 he tipped police off about a sighting of Phillips at a property where he later stole a ute, but it’s unclear if police ever visited the property.
Police have repeatedly said they believe Phillips is being helped by one or more people, but if that is the case, Budge says, “where is the ‘intelligence-led policing’ they spouted several years ago?”.
The fact that it had started as a breach of a parenting order and been allowed to escalate to an alleged bank robbery and other crimes “does not feel like a co-ordinated fugitive capture plan”.
Budge says there needs to be an external review of the investigation to “challenge and ask questions”, and better resourcing given to the operation.
Saunders reveals that police are actually running two separate investigations – the search for Phillips and the children, and a criminal investigation into Phillips’ alleged offending.
“This investigation is frequently reviewed and we are comfortable with the direction of the operation,” he says in his statement.
“Our plea to the public remains the same – if you have credible information that could assist us in locating Tom Phillips and his children, please come forward to let us know.”
Saunders says police “acknowledge the deep concern for the children felt by many across Waikato and the country” and the focus is their safe return “We believe Phillips is being assisted by others, and we urge those people to do the right thing by the children and come forward.”
Dawson questions whether police have been proactive enough. She believes they are reluctant to push Phillips too far.
“I assume they don’t want to push him and get him cornered and have him do something that harms the kids, or if one of the kids was involved in armed robbery, I don’t think they want to corner them either.”
But waiting for Phillips to give himself up is “not good enough”, she says.
She believes police have taken a cautious approach because of the child custody aspect.
“If he wasn’t the father, they would have done a lot more. I think they are deliberately minimising it.”
Dawson says reports of Phillips’ bush skills have been exaggerated.
“I don’t think he’s that great of a bushman. I think anyone unhinged enough with nothing to lose can run away from the police, especially if somebody is helping him, which I hope they are because ... otherwise I can’t see how the kids’ health would be that great.”