Significant IPCA Reports
Child abuse cases: In 2011, the IPCA released a report on the outcome of its Inquiry into Police handling of child abuse cases which began in August 2009. This followed a Police report in 2008 which found widespread failings in management of child abuse cases in the Wairarapa District. Those failings included poor case management and workload management, poor supervision, and a lack of accountability and responsibility. Submissions were sought, and the Authority conducted an audit of child abuse cases throughout New Zealand, investigating individual complaints about Police responses to child abuse allegations.
The IPCA Chairman, Justice Lowell Goddard, said the scale of the inquiry had been unprecedented for the Authority and concluded "there were serious failures in the Police investigation of child abuse, which must never be repeated". The IPCA made 34 recommendations. The Police responded positively, and Commissioner Howard Broad established a Child Protection Implementation Project Team that has since led substantial changes to Police policies, practices, and procedures.
Deaths in police custody: In June 2012 the IPCA released a comprehensive report on deaths in police custody between 2000 and 2010 (see above). The report revealed there had been 27 such deaths in the last ten years and raised serious concerns about inadequate risk assessment procedures used by police.
Treatment of teenagers in police cells: In October 2012, the Authority issued a report on the treatment of teenagers held in police cells following reports in January 2012 about two young girls who were detained and strip-searched by Upper Hutt police. The IPCA launched a wider investigation which found that the number of youths being held in police cells has more than doubled since 2009. It said that "youths in crisis are being locked up in police cells and denied their human rights." Police practices that "are, or risk being, inconsistent with accepted human rights" include: being held in solitary confinement; having cell lights on 24 hours a day; family members being prevented access; and not being allowed to see the doctor when they have medical or mental health problems. The IPCA made 24 recommendations into how police can improve the detention and treatment of young people in custody.
Read more about this topic: Independent Police Conduct Authority
Famous quotes containing the words significant and/or reports:
“Play permits the child to resolve in symbolic form unsolved problems of the past and to cope directly or symbolically with present concerns. It is also his most significant tool for preparing himself for the future and its tasks.”
—Bruno Bettelheim (20th century)
“I think a Person who is thus terrifyed [sic] with the Imagination of Ghosts and Spectres much more reasonable, than one who contrary to the Reports of all Historians sacred and profane, ancient and modern, and to the Traditions of all Nations, thinks the Appearance of Spirits fabulous and groundless.”
—Joseph Addison (1672–1719)