In the last financial year the Police Association spent well over half a million dollars helping members of Police who face disciplinary action, sometimes in the form of a Police internal tribunal or Court charge.

Application for Legal Assistance is available to all Association members for any disciplinary charge, which arises out of their work or role within the Police, whether they are sworn or non-sworn members of Police.

The Police Complaints Authority received well over 3000 thousand complaints against Police in its 2003/2004 reporting year. These numbers mean that members of Police face a better than one in three chance of being the subject of a complaint to the Authority. While most complaints to the PCA are not upheld, they do cause stress and can have negative impacts on a member’s work and career.

About one-third of Legal Assistance each year is for members facing charges in open court. Of these cases usually more than 80% result in no conviction or no penalty against the member of Police charged. By contrast the Police’s own statistic for prosecutions of members of the general public show that they are unsuccessful in defended hearings in only 33% of cases.

Court charges against members of Police are frequently given front-page media publicity. The 1998 case against five Gisborne Police officers being a very well known example of the high degree of attention such cases attract.

The nature of policing means members of Police, both sworn and non-sworn, are more susceptible to misconduct and neglect of duty allegations than other employees. Police hold special powers, which can often involve confrontational encounters with members of the public. Policing also demands high standards of conduct and the behaviour of members of Police is a matter of considerable public interest.

The Police Association has no wish to help anyone to avoid justice or appropriate disciplinary action, however we believe our members are entitle to the same rights, privileges and fair treatment as the community they serve is.

For more information on your legal rights and what to do if you are asked to attend an interview that could be related to a complaint or disciplinary matter Click here and see the Industrial section  in our “Members Only” area of the website

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There are three ways in which members may be investigated, and each has different status, processes, and potential consequences. These are the:

• Criminal Justice system

• Internal Police Disciplinary System 
  (this includes aspects of the performance management process)

• Police Complaints Authority

In practice any or all of these procedures often overlap, or it may be unclear which is being pursued. In all cases you should contact your local Association Representative. If you cannot make contact locally and need help contact your local Field Officer or call the Association National Office.