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An off-duty police officer tailgated a driver, gave him the finger, and later used the police database to obtain the man’s private contact details after a merging dispute on Cobham Drive, Hamilton, the Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) has found.
According to the IPCA report, the incident happened at about 3pm on 24 July 2024, when Mr Z and Officer A were travelling in separate lanes.
Mr Z, driving in the right-hand lane, attempted to “merge like a zip” ahead of Officer A, whose vehicle was slightly in front and close behind the car ahead. Mr Z attempted to enter the merged lane but was blocked by Officer A’s vehicle.
Officer A was forced to brake to avoid a collision, sounded his horn and gave Mr Z the finger. The IPCA says the officer then tailgated Mr Z for some time until the pair were separated by traffic. He also wrote down Mr Z’s vehicle registration.
The next day, while on duty, Officer A sought advice from a senior colleague about the incident. The senior officer advised him to look up the registration and make an “educational call”. Acting on that advice, Officer A accessed the police database, obtained Mr Z’s contact details, and phoned him. The call became heated, with Mr Z alleging Officer A threatened him with legal action.
Mr Z complained, prompting an employment investigation overseen by the IPCA. The Authority also conducted an independent review into whether Officer A correctly managed a conflict of interest and whether his database use was authorised.
IPCA findings
The Authority found that while Officer A did not act dishonestly under section 249 of the Crimes Act because he genuinely believed he was authorised to access the information, he did obtain a benefit by accessing contact details he was not otherwise entitled to.
It found he failed to recognise an obvious conflict of interest arising from his personal involvement in the road incident and showed a “distinct lack of understanding” of expectations around impartiality.
The IPCA said Officer A should not have been the officer contacting Mr Z and that he avoided a technical breach of Police policy only because he discussed the situation with a senior officer and believed he had permission to look up the information.
The Authority also criticised the senior officer involved, saying the advice he gave was not soundly based and demonstrated poor judgement.
‘Not acceptable’ – Police respond
In a statement today, Police said they accept the findings.
Acting Waikato District Commander, Acting Superintendent Will Loughrin, said the behaviour fell short of what the public expects.
“In this instance Officer A has been given advice by a senior officer and proceeded to access the police database inappropriately.
“While it is common practice for Police to contact people about their driving, the circumstances that have led to this are not acceptable.
“We understand Officer A believed he was justified in accessing the database in this instance, in the interests of providing education to the other driver. However, the circumstances of this incident and follow-on behaviour falls short of what we expect from our staff.”
Loughrin said an employment process had been completed.
“I am satisfied that Officer A now has a full understanding of how to identify a conflict of interest.
“Correct process has also been discussed with the senior officer to prevent this sort of occurrence happening again.”
