Council member's email war against police Eagle helicopter

Tuesday, 18 September 2018

An Auckland local board member is at war with the police Eagle helicopter, sending 151 complaints in the span of six months, some in the middle of the night. (Video first published in 2018)

An Auckland politician sent more than 150 irate emails and profanity-laced videos to the police over the Eagle helicopter, documents have revealed.

Ōrākei local board member and Remuera resident Troy Churton lodged the complaints, about the helicopter flying over his central Auckland home, over the span of six months.

Stuff, under the Official Information Act, has obtained more than 70 emails and dozens of videos Churton sent police.

Some of the emails were from his personal email address, while others bore his local board signature.

Ōrākei Local Board member Troy Churton sent numerous videos to the police about the helicopter.

* Eagle helicopter a noisy but necessary 'bird's eye view'

* Difficult Gary: still an unreasonable complainant**

The Police Eagle helicopter flies to and from its Mechanics Bay base in central Auckland.

On one day in June, Churton laid 12 individual complaints – the first at 3.18am and the last at 10.25pm.

In the videos, some taken in the early hours of the morning, Churton stands outside filming the Eagle helicopter flying past his house.

'This is just absolutely f…ing unacceptable, another one coming back,' he said in one.

'Coming from the south, heading to Mechanics Bay. No excuse,' he said in another.

In another, he said: '4.30 in the morning for f… sake'.

Posts published on the Remuera Residents Association's social media and web pages claimed police flew over their affluent suburb to get to 'the 75% of their attendances that are south Auckland located'.

Auckland Council, Auckland Airport, politicians and police staff were copied in on the emails, which Churton labelled a 'nuisance audit'.

In one email sent from his council email address, Churton said 'I have also been a victim of massive increase in numbers of helicopter traffic now using the airspace above my home off Orakei Road'.

In another he told police it had become 'almost deliberate.

'This chopper flying low and arcing to go close over our property as filmed. Please advise what this Eagle is doing 7.33pm over Remuera tonight.'

Another email appeared to read like a poem: 'I've had choppers back and forth overhead since 9pm/One recently very low/I can still hear them in the near distance/Who/How/To complain,' he wrote.

Churton referred to his emails as a 'nuisance audit' that had been 'advised by our counsel for potential legal action'.

He told Stuff the reports were 'my own part-time, proactive efforts on the behalf of many locals.

'As I said from the start, I am fully supportive of the police and the efforts they make to keep our communities safe.'

'In order to get an objective audit of flying frequency and times, the simplest record especially between 9pm and 6am was to file details from my personal email account, which is why they were headed 'nuisance audit' with the time of the flight, and not headed complaint.'

He declined to comment further.

Ōrākei Local Board chairman Kit Parkinson said he did not support Churton's view, and should use his private email address when laying complaints.

Parkinson said he understood that every time Churton raised a complaint, police had to follow a full protocol.

'That involves many officers and many hours. This time would and could be spent on proactive policing which would be better for our community than complaint tracking.

'I am pretty clear on this; that I fully support the police helicopter operating, they do a great job protecting the citizens of Auckland, they need to be supported in carrying out their duties.'

Epsom MP David Seymour was copied in on many of the emails.

He said he had sought a meeting with police on the basis of 'correspondence he's had with constituents'.

However, he said most people in Epsom and Remuera understood police had to operate a helicopter as it was an important crime fighting tool.

Auckland Council local board services general manager Louise Mason said local board members were free to share their own personal opinions, but should make it clear it was a personal view.

'In this instance, the member made it clear via social media that he was not representing the views of the Ōrākei Local Board when he called the police.

'However, given the volume of calls made on this particular issue, our staff have raised this issue as a matter for discussion between the member concerned and the Ōrākei Local Board chair.

Earlier this year, Churton was connected to a post published on the Remuera Residents Association's social media and web pages saying police were flying over the affluent suburb to get to 'the 75 per cent of their attendances that are south Auckland located'.

At the time, Churton said the figure came from personal observation and 'constituent referral exchanges'.

A police spokesman said the Eagle helicopter's deployment to the Counties Manukau area counted for about 43.6 per cent of total deployments, since the unit switched to a 24/7 operation in October 2017 from its Mechanics Bay base.