Police 'came down hard': Waitangi Tribunal declines urgency for police prosecution claim

Tuesday, 17 September 2019

Tim Aperehama Morrison is taking a claim in the Waitangi Tribunal about how police discretion to prosecute affects Māori.

Tim Aperehama Morrison is pursuing his dream of being a doctor at 52, but wonders what he could have achieved if police had treated him differently.

After a youth marked by run-ins with the law, Morrison, a second-year medicine student at the University of Otago, said his age was not remarkable but what he has had to overcome.

Morrison has used his experience to lodge a claim with the Waitangi Tribunal that all Māori are disadvantaged when it comes to police discretion on who to prosecute. In a June decision, the tribunal decided there was merit in the claim but declined to hear it under urgency.

Police exercise the discretion to prosecute Māori significantly more than non-Māori, the claim alleges.

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Roimata Smail, a lawyer acting for Morrison, says the justice system inquiry should be prioritised.

Morrison was 14 when he was first arrested. It was a burglary involving less than $100. He had a rough, abusive childhood in Māngere, but says police never saw him as a child, a victim of domestic abuse, or a citizen they were tasked to protect.

In the seven years that followed, Morrison accrued 40 convictions, spent time in prison and fell in with gang members. He described the impact of policing minor offences as cumulative, with each new conviction only adding to the penalties that followed.

'I don't remember ever getting a warning or diversion or anything,' Morrison said in an affidavit. 'I have criminal convictions for littering, insulting language and being in a bar. Even the most minor things, police were always there to come down on me hard.'

In 2013, when he was studying paramedicine, Morrison was acquitted of manslaughter. He believes police should never have charged him, and says while he was clearly innocent, being charged led people to think he was guilty and caused him unnecessary hardship.

Māori make up about 16 per cent of the population, but make up 38 per cent of people proceeded against by police, 42 per cent of adults convicted and 57 per cent of adults sentenced to prison, according to figures from Te Uepū Hāpai i te Ora, the Safe and Effective Justice Advisory Group .

'A consistent message throughout our conversations has been that racism is embedded in every part of the criminal justice system,' a report from the group said.

Youth statistics are even more disproportionate.

Māori are over-represented at every stage of the criminal justice system, leading to negative stereotypes being entrenched.

In 2018, 1620 children and young people aged 10 to 16 had charges against them finalised in court. Of these, 1026 were Māori, more than all other ethnicities combined.

Māori are also less likely to receive pre-charge warnings, police have acknowledged.

INQUIRY MAY BE YEARS AWAY

In the June decision declining urgency, Judge Patrick Savage said the Crown accepted there was merit in the claim, but that it should be heard at a kaupapa inquiry level (kaupapa inquiries deal with nationally significant issues affecting Māori).

'The broader picture suggests a justice system which may not be fit for purpose and may well not be Treaty-compliant in a number of respects,' Savage said.

Roimata Smail, a lawyer acting for Morrison, said she planned to make submissions to the tribunal asking that a planned justice system kaupapa inquiry be prioritised, and that Morrison's claim be heard as part of a first section focusing on the criminal justice system.

NZ's justice system may not be Treaty-compliant and not fit for purpose.

The justice kaupapa inquiry has not been scheduled, a Ministry of Justice spokeswoman confirmed. This means it will likely be years away.

For Morrison, the decision not to hear the claim under urgency means more young Māori will continue to be affected by police decision-making around prosecution.

Police Deputy Commissioner Andy Coster said while the tribunal declined to hear the claim under urgency, this would not stop police continuing its work 'in this important area', and police would engage constructively with the claim when it was heard.

Police were committed to ensuring all people were treated fairly, and were 'actively working to mitigate unconscious bias, including through education and awareness, and by examining our policies and processes'.

'This is also supported by our drive to have a more diverse workforce that reflects the communities we serve.'

IMAGINE WHAT COULD BE ACCOMPLISHED

While he waits for his claim to be heard, Morrison is focusing on his studies.

He made the decision to study medicine after going on a job as a paramedic for St John. A woman died, and while he did all he could, Morrison said he wanted to be in a position where people under his care had the best possible chance for a favourable outcome.

His studies are going well, but Morrison believes he could have accomplished much more if police had taken a different approach 'when they came across me as a 14-year-old playing up'.

'Spread the net further. Imagine what Māori could achieve potentially if they didn't have to overcome all that other stuff, and then imagine how much this country would benefit from it.'