Police Association welcomes IPCA report on child abuse

The Police Association today welcomed the Independent Police Conduct Authority’s report into backlogs in investigation of child abuse files.

“This is an area that has been of concern to members working in the child abuse area for some time. The Police Association drew attention to the problem in 2006, and we welcome the IPCA’s focus on it,” Police Association Vice-President Stuart Mills said.

“Clearly sufficient resources were not allocated to child abuse investigations in the past. There was pressure on to get results in volume crime areas like burglaries and theft ex car. Those were strategic targets, performance was measured against the targets, and resources tended to follow. This meant that in a few areas - but by no means across the board - CIB staff were left stretched too thin across other types of crime including child abuse.

“We believe this was largely because, historically, some high-level decision-makers didn’t fully appreciate what's required to do 'business as usual' policing, like child abuse investigations, properly. Child abuse investigations are difficult, complex and time consuming,” Mr Mills said.

“However, it is important to be clear this did not mean children were being left in unsafe places to suffer more abuse. Care and protection issues were dealt with promptly. It was the follow-up and investigation of more historic matters that sometimes simply couldn't reach the top of the priority queue, because of the constant barrage of new, urgent serious crime cases like homicides, rapes, and aggravated robberies.

“Again, this was not the case across the board, and in many places extremely good, effective, professional service was delivered,” Mr Mills said.

“Let's not forget also that it was child abuse investigators themselves who brought this issue to light, because of their concern that they were not getting the support they needed to deliver the service they wanted to deliver. It has taken a lot of courage to do that, knowing it would invite an enormous amount of scrutiny and potentially criticism, and that speaks volumes for their commitment to the job and concern for the victims of this sort of crime.

“It is also important to note Police had begun to address these issues before the IPCA began its inquiry. Changes in Wellington District, which covers the Wairarapa, are a clear example. Wellington now has a dedicated, ring-fenced team of specialists, and we are confident the unmanageable workload pressures which led to our concerns in 2006 have, in this district, been dealt with. We believe Police are committed to addressing the problems identified,” Mr Mills said.