Independent Police Conduct Authority report finds deficiencies in police management of Parliament protest

Photo: Angus Dreaver / RNZ

The Independent Police Conduct Authority review of the police management of the 2022 Parliament protest has highlighted multiple issues.

The review acknowledged the “unprecedented and challenging nature of the event.”

The Authority found that police Intelligence staff provided very good information about the developing protest environment and communicated it to a wide range of Police decision-makers in advance of the protest, which commenced on 8 February 2022. 

However, in response to that information, police did not sufficiently consider the particular risks posed by this event, especially in the light of disruption reported from similar recent convoys in Australia and Canada.

They should have consulted Wellington City Council well before the arrival of the convoy about whether there was a need for a traffic management plan, and prepared and disseminated a detailed operation plan.

However, doing that would not necessarily have resulted in any additional action (for example, the closing of roads around Parliament). Nor would it necessarily have changed the path of the protest the report stated.

10 February operation

After several hundred protesters had set up tents and structures on Parliament grounds and Victoria University’s Pipitea campus on 8 February 2022, the Speaker closed Parliament grounds and the protesters became trespassers. 

Police made the decision on the night of 9 February to take action the next day to end the occupation.

The Authority has found that, while this decision was made following a discussion between the Commissioner, the Speaker, the Deputy Prime Minister and the Attorney General, there was no undue political interference and the Commissioner reached his own independent view on the matter.

During the Police operation on 10 February, officers tried to remove protesters from Parliament grounds, arresting 108 people in the process.

Police failed in their attempt and withdrew at about 4.40pm. The Authority has found that:

• Police were unprepared (in terms of planning, resourcing, staff, and equipment) for the operation and did not clearly communicate to staff what was intended.

• Police initially failed to provide all protesters with the required warnings, in the manner required by the Trespass Act 1980, that they must leave the Parliament grounds.

• The degree of force used to effect the arrests was generally reasonable, but the arrest process and recording of evidence was deficient. Many charges against protesters were later withdrawn for this reason.

• Police were unprepared to physically deal with so many arrests and people in custody, which meant they were unable to comply with all legal and policy requirements governing the treatment of detainees in custody.

• The decision to end the operation should have been made earlier in the day when it was apparent that it would not achieve its objective.

Although the operation was unlikely to succeed, that does not mean it was unjustified.

It demonstrated that Police were confronted with a difficult situation and that easy options to end the occupation at that time were not available.

It therefore bought Police time to plan for the eventual (and successful) operation on 2 March.

Containing the protest 11 February – 1 March

From 11 February 2022, Police aimed to contain the protest and maintain law and order while planning for a larger operation to end the illegal occupation. This was the right approach the report said.

It was a major logistical exercise to bring the occupation to an end, and Police had neither the capacity nor the capability to do that quickly; they needed time to plan and to marshal the required resources.

However, the demands of day-to-day policing and staff shortages from COVID-19 made it difficult for Wellington District Police to do the necessary planning, although they received assistance from 15 February when a national operation was established at Police National Headquarters. The Authority has found that a more flexible process for providing support to District should have been in place.

During this time Police were working on developing a strategy for removing protesters’ vehicles that were blocking the streets around Parliament and restoring traffic flow. They did not have the capacity to do this on their own, and their attempts to obtain support from tow operators were largely unsuccessful. They managed to tow only a few vehicles over this period as a result.

But Police did successfully use concrete bollards to contain and then shrink the occupation footprint, which contributed to the success of the 2 March operation.

2 March operation

Police began their final operation to end the occupation on the morning of 2 March 2022.

They encountered strong resistance from the protest group, and during the afternoon some protesters started fires among the tents.

Substantial and sustained violence was directed at police.

This included throwing a Molotov cocktail, bricks, paving stones, fireworks, poles, bottles, a knife and other projectiles.

By late in the day the protest had degenerated into a riot. At about 6pm a car was used to attack a Police line on Lambton Quay.

The report said in the face of this extreme provocation, while there were some isolated incidents of potentially excessive reactive force by Police, they generally acted professionally and with remarkable restraint.

The Authority found that all the tactics Police used to defend both themselves and others on 2 March were justified in the circumstances.

"These included skirmish lines, shields, pushing and striking, pepper spray, batons, weapons of opportunity (fire extinguishers, fire hoses and paving bricks), sponge rounds and deflating vehicle tyres. Police were also justified in carrying firearms (though none were used on the day).

“The Authority has therefore found that the Police operation on 2 March 2022 to clear the grounds of Parliament, the Victoria University campus, the Cathedral and the surrounding streets was conducted professionally and successfully.”

However, the Authority did identify a number of deficiencies:

• While Police’s decision not to allow officers to wear hard body armour from the start of the operation was reasonably open to them, it should have been accompanied by a communication to staff about when and how that decision could be varied in the light of changing circumstances. Because it was not, a number of officers were exposed to unnecessary risk when objects were thrown at them. By at least mid-morning, all officers should have had access to the protective equipment to the extent it was available.

• Police did not have a sufficient inventory of hard body armour.

• Newly graduated officers who were used to boost numbers for the operation had not been adequately prepared or equipped for a role in the operation.

• It was undesirable that recruits who had not yet graduated from the Police College were also required to attend Parliament towards the conclusion of the operation to help secure the ground Police had reclaimed. The need for this arose because of inadequate prior planning.

• Although Police had identified problems with their mass arrest process on 10 February and tried to address them, issues with evidence collection remained and resulted in the withdrawal of some charges laid in respect of protester actions on 2 March.

• With the exception of a Vehicle Extraction Plan, Police lacked a detailed plan for dealing with property left behind on the Parliament grounds and the surrounding streets and properties.

The protest and occupation exposed the ineffectiveness of some current laws. The Authority identified a number of areas where the current law is not fit-for-purpose for the mass public disorder situation that confronted Police on 10 February and on 2 March. These include:

• the law of trespass;

• the law governing how arrests may be lawfully effected; and

• the law governing how property left behind by trespassers should be handled.

The Authority has made a number of recommendations to help Police improve public order policing, which are attached. These include that Police:

• propose to Government that there be a multi-agency review of the laws governing a public order event such as this;

• urgently purchase more hard body armour;

• develop their operating model for public order policing as a matter of priority, and ensure that it addresses the lessons learned from this event; and

• develop standard operating procedures for policing the Parliamentary precincts, including scenario planning with partner agencies.

The Authority received 1,905 complaints, over 85% from people who were not physically present at the protest. The vast majority of issues raised by these complaints are addressed in this report.

“We are completing independent investigations of 19 complaints and will report the outcome to each complainant. We will also provide a summary of our findings on these matters on our website when all investigations have been completed.”

Andrew Coster expressed gratitude for the support received during the occupation, acknowledging its significant impact on local residents, businesses, schools, and commuters.

He commended the police force's “professionalism and restraint in the face of an exceptionally challenging and sometimes volatile environment.”

“In the face of that, almost all police officers involved exercised professionalism and restraint in their dealings with the protesters. It is highly commendable that Police were able to end the illegal occupation of Parliament grounds with as few injuries and as little damage to property as they did.”

Commissioner Coster said “our people showed great courage and professionalism, given what they faced on that final day.

“This was an unprecedented event and it will be regarded as one of the most significant policing challenges in decades. Despite that, the Authority found we did many things right, particularly the overall use of force being appropriate in the circumstances.”

He emphasised the careful deployment of staff during the occupation to maximize safety, stating “we agree that, ideally, more officers would have had been fully equipped with specialist protective equipment. At the time of the operation we had exhausted all options to do so, including utilising partner agencies.”

The Commissioner assured that the final report's recommendations would be incorporated into the ongoing work programme, with the police force committed to tracking the implementation of these recommendations over time.