Among its findings were that after allowing for all other relevant factors, such as previous criminal history, age and gang membership, Māori were still 11% more likely to be charged with an offence than a Pākehā person in the same situation.
Māori were also over-represented in Taser events, in the six-month period examined by the UPD panel, making up 42% of the tasered.
More than half of those tasered during the six months were mentally distressed, unwell, attempting self-harm or suicide.
This information was part of what has been described as world-leading research, a three-year project which allowed external researchers unrestricted access to police operations and information to examine systemic bias.
The project looked at who police stop and speak to and how police engage with them, and decision-making around the use of force and the laying of charges.
Police Commissioner Andrew Coster commissioned the project in 2020 when internationally confidence in the police was under scrutiny following the George Floyd killing, and the "Black Lives Matter" movement. Here, there was also concern about fairness and equity being expressed in the Waitangi Tribunal Justice System Inquiry and Abuse in Care Inquiry.
The panel of researchers and community advocates, chaired initially by criminal justice advocate Sir Kim Workman and later Professor Khylee Quince, Dean of Law at AUT, also engaged with a 30-strong operational advisory group of frontline officers throughout the country.
It could have been a recipe for disaster — critics of the police squaring off against police themselves.
Participants acknowledge it was not easy at the start, but as relationships developed, they came to appreciate they had a common purpose and could work constructively.
The researchers were free to raise issues during the course of the project, and they have expressed concern about the introduction of a new camera-less Taser, and the police attitude to the Independent Police Complaints Authority and Privacy Commissioner’s report on the taking and retention of photographs of young people outside formal criminal investigations.
So far the project, which will report further later this year, has come up with 40 recommendations, eight of which the police have already taken on board, including better collection of prosecution data, how they respond to mental health callouts and improving de-escalation training.
As encouraging and innovative as the project’s collaborative approach sounds, there will be trepidation about whether, in the current political climate, and with the impending departure of Comm Coster, the momentum will be lost.
Police Minister Mark Mitchell, who might have been wise not to comment before he had fully digested the report, has been quoted as saying he did not accept bias in policing and was concerned about people "pointing the finger and blaming the police".
He gave the impression that because this report was commissioned under a previous government it was no longer relevant because "we’re very focused on public safety".
He is missing the point. Public safety is very much part of this project’s work.
As the police say on their website, when public confidence and trust in police is high, "it enables us to be more effective at keeping communities safe".
More people are likely to come forward with quality intelligence, report crime and be likely to engage constructively with police.
Prof Quince told The Detail podcast New Zealanders really value fairness and equity and points out the current government has put emphasis on not giving people preferential treatment.
What the project was seeking was for there to be no difference in the treatment people received from the police — "whether you are a Māori woman calling for the 15th time for a family violence incident in Flaxmere or whether you are calling from Remuera for a burglary in your garage, you should be treated with the same respect and same professionalism".
It is hard to argue with that.
