Police have apologised after unlawfully detaining and photographing a carload of people who'd just been to a Northland 'fight night' event organised by a gang member.
Police set up a checkpoint down the road from the daytime event in Ruakākā, Whangārei, held on November 16, 2019. In addition to breath-testing drivers and checking their vehicles for roadworthiness, police asked a number of people suspected of attending the event or having gang associations to pull over so they could "record intelligence information about the occupants", including having their photographs taken.
Around 30 officers were involved in the operation, which ran from the start of the event at 10am until it ended mid-afternoon. The 'fight night' itself "went off without incident", according to a report from the Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA), released on Tuesday nearly a year-and-a-half later.
The IPCA began an investigation into the operation after receiving a complaint from a woman - referred to as Ms Z in the report - whose vehicle was stopped in the middle of the road at 12:14pm.
"Ms Z says when she was asked to pull over, she questioned why, and was told police needed to complete more checks and they were holding up traffic, although there were no cars behind her."
The officer holding her licence walked away, Ms Z said, so she felt she had little choice but to pull over. Police told the IPCA her partner was wearing clothes like "the Head Hunters would wear", triggering their interest. Ms Z said she wasn't told specifically why she'd been pulled over.
"At the side of the road police took photographs of her drivers' licence and her partner, who was in the passenger seat, with her in the background," the IPCA said, noting this happened to "most people" who attended the event.
"Police intended to enter all the photographs into the police computer and use them for potential intelligence purposes," the report concluded. "Photographing so many people was far too broad and not rationally or reasonably connected to a law enforcement purpose. Accordingly, we find that police were not collecting the photographs for a lawful purpose."
While the checkpoint itself was legal, police went too far in pulling people over and taking photographs, the IPCA said, citing the Land Transport Act and the Bill of Rights Act, the latter which states "everyone has the right not to be arbitrarily arrested or detained".
"Section 111 of the Land Transport Act 1998 was used as a pretext for intelligence gathering, which was a disingenuous and unlawful use of the section," said IPCA chair Judge Colin Doherty, noting principles one ('purpose of collection') and three ('what to tell an individual') of the Privacy Act had been breached.
Ms Z also complained the police were targeting Māori specifically. The IPCA said it found no evidence of this, saying they were "targeted because they were believed to be possible gang members or associates, not because they were Māori".
Police said they accepted the IPCA's findings, and have "identified a number of learnings".
"We have provided additional communication and advice to our staff to ensure they understand their obligations under these Acts when carrying out checkpoint operations," said Supt Tony Hill, Northland district commander.
"I would also like to acknowledge however that the intent of the staff was positive and their aim was to gather intelligence around members of organised crime groups."
Police apologised to Ms Z, and said they've destroyed the photographs taken of her and the occupants of her vehicle.
