Police to conduct reassurance review into top cop’s handling of information since he began talking to Labour
Tuesday, 9 June 2026
The police commissioner says he needs reassurance that a top cop now standing for Labour has handled sensitive information properly while discussing his candidacy with the party.
He has launched a review to gain that reassurance, set to look at whether any information Naidoo was privy to while engaging with the Labour Party was handled appropriately.
It’s understood the review has not been launched because of any suspicion or complaint about information being poorly handled, but as a reassurance exercise.
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Labour leader Chris Hipkins has responded with surprise, saying nothing sensitive had been disclosed to Labour from the candidate.
Superintendent Rakesh Naidoo will be on pre-planned leave from Wednesday while the police work out how long he has to take off work ahead of standing for Labour at the election in November.
The top cop’s candidacy and high list-placing was announced on Monday and immediately caused controversy, with both the police minister and Police Commissioner Richard Chambers expressing displeasure about not being made aware of his political intentions sooner.
His spot of 13 makes him essentially guaranteed to become a Labour MP following the election.
Chambers said the review would cover the period since Naidoo began engaging with the Labour Party, which Hipkins has indicated has been some months.
“That review will include meetings he was involved in as a senior Police leader, the information he was privy to by virtue of his position, and whether anything was shared with any third party that should not have been shared,” Chambers said.
“As a senior police officer, Superintendent Naidoo was privy to sensitive information and I need to be reassured information he has been privy to through the course of his duties has been handled properly.
“If anything of concern comes out of that, it will be assessed against the Police Code of Conduct.
Hipkins: ‘Very surprised’
Hipkins said Naidoo was a man of “utmost integrity” and he was surprised that Chambers was publicly entertaining the notion he was not.
“He has not disclosed any sensitive police information to the Labour Party and I’m very surprised to see the Police Commissioner publicly entertaining any suggestion he has without any evidence whatsoever,” Hipkins said.
“As I indicated when we announced his candidacy, the Labour Party is committed to preserving the political neutrality of the police force and will support their decisions on how to manage Rakesh’s transition accordingly. I would, however, expect any engagement to be in good-faith - not through the media.”
Chambers said Naidoo would be on pre-planned leave for some weeks from tomorrow, and he expected that whatever arrangement about how long he would have to take off work before the election would be finalised before the leave finished.
“Police is now in discussions with him about the period of leave he will be expected to take ahead of the election. I expect that issue to be resolved by the time Rakesh returns from his break in two to three weeks time.”
Chambers said he was not concerned that Naidoo had contacted his supervisor instead of him when notifying the police of his candidacy.
“While the Police Code requires staff of Rakesh’s rank to advise the commissioner of an intention to stand for office, I was satisfied with the decision Rakesh made to advise his supervisor, given he did so with the expectation it would be passed onto me without delay.”
Hipkins said on Monday that he was confident Naidoo had acted with integrity.
He suggested the party had been in preliminary discussion with Naidoo for some months but he had only firmly decided to put his name forwards last week, which was when he told his employer.
“His appointment was only confirmed on Sunday, and it was appropriate that the police minister was informed under the ‘no surprises’ convention. I look forward to welcoming Mr Naidoo to the Labour team after the election.“
Police Minister Mark Mitchell has expressed disappointment at the timing.
“I am particularly disappointed that Mr Naidoo was recently included in sensitive briefings in relation to public safety and government policy and has been attending events with me as recently as yesterday afternoon,” Mitchell said.
“In my view it is critical that the public can have confidence that police are politically neutral. The respectful and right thing to do would have been for Mr Naidoo to be transparent and disclose his intentions from the outset.“