Police racism evidence 'hard to hear', officers say

A senior police officer says a report highlighting bias towards Māori was hard to read but the organisation is committed to "transformative" change.

A new report found Māori men were more likely to be stopped, tasered, and prosecuted by police due to "bias" and "structural racism".

Superintendent Scott Gemmell told Morning Report officers all wanted to do the best they could to serve the community, he said they were up for the challenge of making improvements.

"So that all of our communities in New Zealand can receive the same service, that they can have trust in us and that they can have confidence in the service that we can deliver.

"It's been very difficult to hear and read some of the reports as they come through but I'm really I'm really proud of our staff who have been involved in this journey," he said.

While some improvements had been made there was "still a lot more to do".

Training and curriculum at the Police College had been changed, as had de-escalation training and the taser and use-of-force protocols, Gemmell said.

"There are other things that will take time, things around our data quality, the system that sits in behind collating and the storage and the deletion of data when it's no longer required."

Implementation of the recommendations would continue throughout 2025, he said.

"We're looking at a transformative change for our organisation where we can rectify some of these inequities."

Julia Whaipooti, from Te Kāhui Tika Tangata/ The Human Rights Commission, told Morning Report police willingness to be open was an important step.

"The evidence (in the report) is before us, no point denying that.

"The fact that this report has come to light, that they've opened up their own data, is an intention to change so what follows next is important."

There were also collective community changes that needed to happen, she said.