Police commissioner admits he ‘made a mistake’ after historical complaint comes to light

Thursday, 9 April 2026

Police Commissioner Richard Chambers has accepted he “made a mistake” when he gave a civilian police employee a pre-charge warning for their possession of cannabis in 2012.

At the time, Chambers was an Inspector and relieving as the Wellington District Commander. The employee to whom he gave the warning resigned from police shortly afterwards.

An internal complaint was made and upheld against Chambers in the same year, as the employee should have been charged rather than given a warning, 1News reported.

The news site had sought information regarding complaints against Chambers via the Official Information Act in 2024, but police declined to release it, citing confidentiality. The information about the historical complaint was only obtained after the Ombudsman intervened to allow the details to be shared.

Between 1998 and 2020, six complaints were lodged against Chambers, but only the complaint relating to the cannabis warning was upheld, 1News reported. Chambers later became police commissioner in late 2024.

On Wednesday, Chambers told Stuff in a statement he thought his decision to authorise a pre-charge warning was “a fair and reasonable decision in the circumstances, given the staff member was a civilian and off-duty at the time and the situation met the usual criteria for a pre-charge warning”.

“However,” he continued, “I subsequently learned the use of the warning was in breach of Police policy relating to the use of pre-charge warning for Police staff, whether they were sworn or non-sworn.

“At the time, it was for a Deputy Commissioner to decide what action to take in such circumstances when it involved Police staff.

“Ultimately, the IPCA concluded that my actions were not contrary to law, however it was a breach of internal policy.

“I made a mistake and undertook training on the relevant policies. Such policies are important, and I should have known about it.”