Police acknowledge the Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) report on the death of Allen Ball at Hāwera Police Station on 1 June 2019.
Mr Ball was taken into custody shortly before midnight on 31 May 2019 after allegedly assaulting his partner and threatening to self-harm.
He had been drinking heavily but repeatedly told Police he had not taken any other substances.
After about two and a half hours in custody, during which time Police conducted a number of checks, Mr Ball’s health was found to have deteriorated.
Officers performed CPR and called an ambulance; however, he died a short time later.
Cause of death was found to be extremely high levels of codeine and tramadol in his system, as well as alcohol toxicity.
The IPCA report released today includes findings relating to the actions of the officers involved and the training provided to staff in areas where there are no dedicated custody officers.
Assistant Commissioner Tusha Penny says Police recognise the loss Mr Ball’s family and friends have suffered.
“The management of people in our care is something we take very seriously – they are often vulnerable and require a high level of monitoring and support,” she says.
“Every year across the country Police take thousands of people into custody and they are more often than not held without incident. Unfortunately, that was not the case with Mr Ball.”
Since his death, Police have made changes to improve the safety of those in custody. This includes the establishment of a permanent team at Police National Headquarters whose responsibilities include continuously improving staff training and upgrading the critical equipment and resources of our custody suites.
Changes have also been made to the Electronic Custody Module (ECM) and National Intelligence Application alerts to improve the risk assessment for monitoring those in Police care.
Assistant Commissioner Penny says Police continually strive to improve for the safety of all New Zealanders.
“In major metropolitan areas such as Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch we have introduced custody management suites which are managed by Authorised Officers who specialise in caring for people in our custody,” she says.
“The introduction of these custody suites has seen improved outcomes for people in custody and we are investigating how best to replicate this across the country.
“It’s vital we learn from this tragedy and do everything we can to help prevent further loss of life.”
As an employment investigation is ongoing, Police is not in a position to comment on the findings specifically relating to the officers involved.
