Police accountability for the investigation and prosecution of sexual offending: What the Roastbusters investigation revealed

Abstract

The recent Roast Busters investigation exposed serious flaws in the processes of New Zealand Police, specifically in relation to the investigation and prosecution of sexual offending. Sexual violence complaints in New Zealand are rarely made and when they are, it is of upmost importance that police respond to and investigate the allegations sensitively and comprehensively. This reinforces the need for strong police accountability. Police accountability is limited by the important principle of police independence, which is designed to ensure that the police are not improperly influenced by political motivations. This paper uses Bovens’ framework of accountability to assess the key mechanisms that hold the police to account for their investigative and prosecutorial decisions making. This paper examines internal investigation procedures, ministerial accountability, the courts, the Independent Police Conduct Authority and the media. The paper recommends improvements be made to increase accountability of the police. The key recommendations of the paper are that the courts be more willing to consider judicial review of prosecutorial decisions and the Independent Police Conduct Authority be given the power to investigate of its own motion.