Personal Experience: NZ Police Uninterested In Dealing With Assault Incidents

By Raymond O’Brien.

It has recently been reported that the times for Police to respond to incidents have blown out over the last 5 years (in Auckland) from 26 minutes on average to somewhere around 1 hour and 49 minutes.

Police management has come back saying that the ‘median’ response time has only increased marginally in that time, and everything is ok.

Move along people, nothing to see here.

In my personal experience, police response time for assault can be infinite. They never attend.

Toward the end of 2020, I was assaulted. A young male attacked me repeatedly in an attempt to steal my phone. In those attempts, he injured my arm. A passerby (ex-police) witnessed the incident and provided me with his details, agreeing to be a corroborating witness. I also managed to get a photo of the offender’s vehicle number plate.

I called 111. The operator answered and I provided the details of the assault. I was still standing on the side of the road in the location it had occurred. Upon completing my recitation of events, I enquired as to how long it would be before the police would attend.

To this day I continue to be angered by the response:

“Staff won’t be attending. I have sent out the details and number plate. Can you please go to one of the three police stations that are open after 8 pm in greater Auckland?”

I was incredulous. “Police won’t attend an assault?”

“No.”

I was closest to the Central Police station (the other two open after 8 pm are, apparently, North Shore and Manukau). I drove there.

After knocking on the door for about 20 minutes or more, finally, someone came and opened the door and asked what I wanted.

Finally talked my way in. An officer took my statement and photographed my arm, and I was sent on my way. While it looked impressive the cut was not too deep, so I attended to it on my return home, and then sought private medical treatment the next morning to minimise the risk of infection.

A few days later I was contacted by police and told that the perpetrator had indeed been found. I was then asked what I would like to happen.

Really?

My response – I had been repeatedly assaulted. He should be charged and taken to court. The police officer concerned thanked me, informed me that police were also considering granting some form of community diversion and said he’d get back to me.

A week or so went by and I was again contacted. The same officer informed me that my assailant was being granted community diversion, a discretion that police seem to have given themselves. I was told that I would be contacted by whoever was conducting the diversion process and would be offered to be included.

Three or four weeks went by and I had heard nothing from the police or anyone else regarding the diversion process. I contacted the police, and the officer said he would enquire.

So, a year and a half have passed and I have not been contacted to be involved in the diversion process nor to be told if there was in fact any process undertaken or what the result was.

I know I am not alone in having no police attend an assault. Since this experience, I have spoken with others that have had the same, or worse, the experience of being assaulted and having police being entirely uninterested.

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