Police officers with head, chest injuries, and bone fractures after clearing Parliament occupation

Thursday, 3 March 2022

On day 23 of the anti-mandate occupation, police moved in to clear tents and remove protesters from Parliament grounds and Molesworth Street.

Forty police officers involved in the dismantling of the Parliamentary occupation suffered injuries, including eight being hospitalised, some with head and chest injuries and bone fractures.

In total, 86 police staff suffered minor to moderate injuries over the 23-day occupation.

Assistant Commissioner Richard Chambers said all officers hospitalised as a result of Wednesday’s 18-hour operation had now been discharged, and others not hospitalised suffered bumps, bruises, and lacerations.

The events on Wednesday which saw an operation of more than 500 police staff bring an end to the 23-day occupation, resulted in a riot that spilled onto the streets surrounding Parliament. Rioters threw objects such as pieces of wood, bricks, rocks, poles, and paving stones, at police.

It’s not yet known how many protesters were injured or hospitalised. A Wellington Free Ambulance spokesperson said a summary of people treated would be made available in coming days.

Some police officers suffered “significant” injuries during the operation to clear the Parliament occupation.

* Police respond 'affirmatively' as occupation grows more aggressive

* Three anti-vaccine mandate protesters arrested, charged with obstruction

In an email to staff, Wellington District Commander Corrie Parnell said the protest turned occupation, had been one of the most complex and prolonged policing operations in recent history and in his career.

A police officer with his leg in a splint was taken away on a gurney.

A protester sprays a fire extinguisher at police on Molesworth St.

“In all my policing career, I have never experienced the electric atmosphere that was present late last night and into this morning - radiating from our staff was high morale and a real sense of pride with what was achieved,” he said in the email. Staff were provided KFC, McDonalds, and a barbecue as a thank-you.

Police Association president Chris Cahill says FPOs will not be the panacea they’re being sold as.

Police Association president Chris Cahill said none of the injured officers was likely to suffer long-term damage.

The most serious injuries caused to officers had been by the remaining 50-70 rioters who were “completely out of control”, Cahill said.

The occupation at Parliament is a reminder that the country still has a long way to go in addressing online hate and misinformation, which have the potential to lead to violent incidents.

“We all saw the behaviour was just completely unacceptable, it was no form of protests whatsoever, assaultive sort of behaviour, just thuggery really.

Multiple fires were lit as police cleared the occupation site.

“I think the members of the public realise that actually the legitimate, for want of a better phrase, protesters, had left, and you were left certainly by the end [with] a core fringe of thugs, and they were spoiling for a fight.”

All eight police officers hospitalised have now been discharged.

In the 24 hours after the police operation, which began at 6am on Wednesday, officers would’ve been operating on adrenaline, Cahill said, and support would be provided to help them deal with the long-term impacts the events may have mentally.

“We've got a lot of new officers that joined in the last three odd years. A lot of them, and most officers in fairness, have come along and are looking at the police's social agenda around family, mental health, and what they can do in those spaces, and so to be thrown into this thing perhaps was quite confronting.”

At least two dozen staff on the frontline had graduated from police college on Monday. The operation on Wednesday would’ve been their second day at work as a police officer, Cahill said.

“They were obviously very keen to be out and about and doing police work.” He didn’t think they would have expected what they would have been confronted with the next day.

“Police gave them extra public order policing training before they graduated. So in fact some of them had more training than the more experienced officers who might not have done that training for many years,” he said.

Cahill praised police for their level of professionalism in scenes he believed would’ve been confrontational for any New Zealander to watch.

“I've had nothing but positive feedback from the community, multiple emails, and messages coming in thanking police for their response.”

Social media dialogue would play a role in the days and weeks to come, including “confronting images” of police actions, which could warrant further investigation. But they needed to be looked at in context.

“We were dealing with an incredibly violent situation, and it wasn't a case where police were ever going to be able to deal with this with a softly-softly approach. So some of those images are the reality of what police were faced with.”

Cahill defended the timing of the police’s response, which allowed protesters to become heavily entrenched over 23 days.

“The approach police took did see numbers dwindle appreciably, and to a much more manageable level by the time they took the action they did,” he said.

Police’s reluctance to use force, and attempt to negotiate, was a change in approach from previous events in history, such as the Springbok Tour, which Cahill said he supported.