A police review into its handling of the 15 March terror attacks has praised its response, but says they did not have enough staff to deal with the number of inquiries from the family members of those killed and injured.
Photo: RNZ / Simon Rogers
The review found the police response on the day was exemplary but improvements could be made to processes and systems for future responses.
It made 76 recommendations which police will consider for future incident management.
It said Family Liaison and Ethnic Liaison officers were mobilised quickly but there were not enough of them to respond to the volume, and urgency, of the requests for information.
The review was undertaken by an independent panel made up of Nick Kaldas, a retired Deputy Police Commissioner from the New South Wales Police, former Solicitor General Michael Heron QC, and Victoria University Centre for Lifelong Learning director Jeff Ashford.
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The review said the needs of the families and communities put considerable pressure on the resources of under-staffed Ethnic Liaison (ELO) and Family Liaison Offices (FLO), and the frustrations of communities in having their religious and cultural needs met led to tension.
"A more diverse and culturally competent New Zealand Police workforce would have reduced pressure on ELO and FLO staff," the review said, "and mitigated concerns of the families that their needs were not being understood".
It said the volume and urgency of requests from families and communities for information about their loved ones was not foreseen by police.
The review said the information fed between the Police and the Coroner to families is critical, but that in the immediate aftermath of the shooting the requirements of the disaster victim identification process meant that people's identities could not be formally confirmed until several days later.
In a bid to reduce the families' frustration, the police did make use of community knowledge to put together a provisional list which could be released "without undermining the legal obligations of the Coroner".
The review said inviting an imam to open briefings with a prayer also helped to reassured families that the police were working closely with community leaders.
One of the review's 76 recommendations is that consideration should be given to letting people text emergency services rather than ring.
The review said people could now only do this if they were hearing impaired and had registered in advance.
It said if there was an active shooter, incident victims would not want to make a noise while hidden so being able to text rather than ring could be crucial.
Sniper course
An international sniper training course was on in Christchurch on the day of the 15 March mosque attack, and some attendees went to the scene while armed even though senior police leadership were unaware of it, the report found.
Members of police, New Zealand Defence Force, and overseas staff from Hong Kong and Australia were at the sniper training course in Christchurch on the day.
The review said Canterbury District leadership was unaware that the event was on and that it was attended by international staff.
It said the highly-trained staff at the training course deployed themselves to the incident, and some non-New Zealand police staff carried weapons for their own protection.
The review said their primary activity at the Deans Ave scene was providing first aid.
"The advanced first aid training utilised by these staff directly saved lives, and feedback from medical staff acknowledged that it was tremendously impactful in the care of victims."
However the review said because they did not have police uniforms on there was some confusion over their identity, particularly for the public.
It said police agreed that in future operations, clear New Zealand police identification for all deployed staff was essential, or buddying with New Zealand-identified staff.