A comprehensive report released on Wednesday has revealed pervasive racial biases within New Zealand’s police force, particularly against Māori, the Indigenous people of New Zealand. According to the first phase of the Understanding Policing Delivery (UPD) research programme, law enforcement is significantly more likely to stop, use force on, and prosecute Māori compared to NZ Europeans for identical offenses.
The independent report, highlighting systemic issues, found that police were 11 percent more likely to prosecute Māori for the same crimes, 54 percent of taser deployments involved individuals experiencing mental distress, and there was an undue focus on the legality rather than the public trust implications of photographing children. The panel has urged the police to suspend the use of ethnicity data until its accuracy can be guaranteed.
The Treaty of Waitangi, New Zealand’s founding document, featured prominently in the report’s interim recommendations. The call is to align policing practices with the Treaty’s principles and to ensure a robust commitment to Māori values and rights. Moreover, the report advises that police reduce their involvement in mental health crisis responses in favor of an inter-agency approach.
Academic and activist perspectives underscore the longstanding issue of racial discrimination within the justice system. Criminologist and spokesperson for People Against Prisons Aotearoa, Emmy Rākete, contextualized the findings within decades of documented Māori overrepresentation, referencing historical reports such as Moana Jackson’s He Whaipaanga Hou from 1987.
Launched in 2020, the UPD aims to quantify and address biases within New Zealand policing. Phase two of the programme, expected later this year, will further engage communities affected by these biases, particularly focusing on groups like Māori women who have faced domestic violence and takatāpui, Māori who identify with diverse genders and sexualities.
For the detailed findings and recommendations of the report, visit JURIST News.