'Extreme risk': Police borrowed firefighter helmets at riotous end of occupation

Thursday, 20 April 2023

• The Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) received nearly 2000 complaints following the Parliament occupation and its riotous end in early 2022.

• The investigation found police showed remarkable restraint, but there were flaws.

• The plan to clear protesters was inadequate.

• Police officers feared for their life on the final day.

• Police staff were not adequately equipped to deal with the occupation’s violent end and were initially told not to wear hard body armour.

• The IPCA found most police force was justified.

Police officers borrowed helmets from firefighters in the thick of an operation to end a 23-day occupation of Parliament, which the police watchdog has now labelled “incomplete and inadequate”.

The Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) has released its report scrutinising the police response to the occupation around Parliament from February 8 to March 2, after receiving more than 1900 complaints. It showed police were ill-equipped, including not having enough hard armour for all, especially during the riot that ended the occupation on March 2.

Police Association Vice-President Paul Ormerod​ said officers there that day reported an “unprecedented” level of violence. A lack of tactical equipment put them at “extreme risk”, he said.

There were 150 officers injured during the 23-day operation but that number would have been much lower if they had the proper equipment. Some were still suffering long term injuries, he said.

**READ MORE:

* Year-long $3.5m review into police conduct at Parliament occupation imminent

* Jacinda Ardern interviewed for investigation into police conduct during Parliament protest

* $3.5 million Parliament occupation investigation won't get all the answers, National says

**

Police staff ended up borrowing helmets from firefighters on the day while on-the-ground commanders sent out to local tactical shops for helmets, he said.

IPCA chairperson Judge Colin Doherty said that while overall police conduct was remarkably restrained, the plan to clear the protesters on March 2 was “incomplete and inadequate”.

The report revealed almost all the officers spoken to said they seriously feared for their safety during the riot. One officer said they were terrified when the fires started and another said they were certain they were going to die when the occupiers started throwing bricks.

“It kind of felt like I was at war, to be honest,” an unnamed officer said. “I thought to myself, ‘We’re dead’.”

Doherty found the plan had not properly addressed clearing the grounds, how police would hold the ground they had already reclaimed, how the protesters' property would be managed, and how evidence would be collected.

Most officers felt they had not been adequately equipped with protective gear.

Police were initially informed they could not wear hard body armour, such as shields and long batons for the operation due to concerns that fully armoured police would aggravate the protesters and negatively affect the public’s perception of police.

However, as the operation became more violent, many police were concerned. One officer said the equipment part of the operation had been “absolutely shambolic” and another said it was lucky an officer didn’t get killed.

Officers burst into laughter when they were told before the operation they wouldn’t be given helmets, pepper spray, or tasers, despite being told safety being a priority, the report says.

“Staff were not adequately equipped to respond to the threat posed by protesters. This was foreseeable and avoidable.”

Eighty-two police officers were treated for injuries, with six taken to an emergency department for serious injuries, including fractured bones, head and chest injuries, and a suspected spinal injury.

The IPCA received more 250 complaints about police’s use of force when dealing with protesters – the majority from people who had seen the incidents on television or social media.

However, the IPCA found the use of force on March 2 justified for the most part, including use of weapons such as fire hoses had been justified, despite the Professional Firefighters’ Union previously calling their use on the protesters “unacceptable”.

The use of sponge rounds was what many police believed helped them regain control of the situation and remove the last of the protesters, the report said.

“The decision was made by someone to deploy sponge rounds and I thought, ‘That’s probably the single best decision made of the day’,” an officer said.

Seven complaints from people alleging police used unjustified or unreasonable force on them personally are being investigated independently.

The IPCA also found that, despite intelligence provided, police had failed to properly consider the size of the convoy as it approached Wellington.

Wellington City Council should have been consulted well before their arrival about whether traffic management plan needed to be put in place, which could have prevented vehicles reaching the city centre.

“The estimation of the number of vehicles reported to be headed for the Wellington City Centre was fairly reliable and readily verifiable information, and certainly warranted consideration for what response was required to manage it.”

The failure of an earlier operation on February 10 to remove protesters from the grounds had been unlikely to succeed as there was no “properly articulated and communicated” plan, meaning police were unprepared for the resistance they encountered.

While many Wellington police officers were of the view the February operation had been the result of “strong political pressure,” with some implying this had intruded on police independence, the IPCA found the commissioner’s decision for police to undergo the operation was his own.

Other findings

• Protesters cut power to hydraulic bollards, allowing access for vehicles.

• Greater Wellington Regional Council confirmed sewage was emptied into drains at occupation site.

• Police had serious concerns about the health and safety of about 30 children at the site. Some protesters were seen with shields and weapons.

• Sharpened sticks and other weapons were found.