Officers watched as man drowned in Waikato River during police search
Thursday, 12 March 2020
Three police officers didn't do all they should have to rescue a man who subsequently drowned in the Waikato River, the Independent Police Conduct Authority says.
Police were searching for the 36-year-old man on April 27, 2018 after a violent assault on his partner earlier in Bader.
He was seen running towards a park bordering the Waikato River at about 11.08pm and a police dog handler tracked him to the river's edge, where the dog indicated he had gone into the water.
The Waikato police boat and Eagle helicopter were called to assist in the search alongside a police boat crewed by three officers, with two trained to operate the boat.
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A Fire and Emergency New Zealand officer joined them on board, operating a thermal imaging camera to assist with night vision.
The Acting Inspector managing the search told the boat crew not to bring the man on board without first making a plan for doing so.
The officers on the boat took this to mean their role was limited to assisting with the search for him and did not plan for rescuing him from the water if needed.
At about 12.25am the helicopter crew spotted him in the water, alongside a steep cliff, with no way out of the river.
The officer skippering the boat took the boat to a position about 15 metres downstream from the man.
This was too far away to deploy rescue equipment, but he kept the distance because of the danger they believed he presented.
Eagle footage showed the man began moving into the river towards the police boat but was caught in a strong current, which pulled him into a small whirlpool.
He disappeared underneath the water and was not seen alive again.
The IPCA found the officers were not adequately trained or sufficiently experienced to manage a rescue operation.
It found the officers on the boat were overly focussed on earlier warnings and instructions from senior officers, instead of making their own risk assessments and planning for the possibility of finding him in the water.
They also said the skipper did not show the leadership needed as the search operation developed into a rescue and placed the boat in a position that made retrieving the man from the water impossible.
Authority Chair Judge Colin Doherty said while the officers were not under a legal duty to protect the man from injury when he disappeared underwater, a moral obligation to help him arose from the nature of the operation.
'Officers did nothing to help him when it was most needed.'
Police Districts Assistant Commissioner Lauano Sue Schwalger said staff responding to the search had reason to believe the man may have had a firearm.
'While the man was located in the water by the Eagle helicopter, staff on the water were unable to reach the man and sadly the man drowned before police were able to intervene when he was pulled into a strong current.'
She said the situation their staff found themselves in demonstrated the complexities and challenges of policing.
'The public have high expectations of police officers and in this situation our staff were operating in a very challenging and dangerous environment.
'Conditions were challenging for staff given how dark it was and noise from the boat and the helicopter above meant they could not hear the man in the water.
'Nor were they aware that he was in any difficulty.
'Our staff made decisions with the best intentions in a high pressure environment on the day, however as shown in this instance the situation can change quickly.'
She said this was an outcome no one wanted and they offered their sympathies to the friends and whānau of the man who sadly died.
There has subsequently been a review of the water rescue training processes in Waikato.