Just two letters of apology, but how many corrupt police officers?
A week ago LF reported on the arrest and charging of central Otago man Christopher Wardill who police allege breached the name suppression order of Central Otago policeman Senior constable John Clarke who has admitted to covertly video recording a naked teenage girl showering using his police issue iPhone. LF has subsequently learnt that Mr Wardill appeared in the Alexandra district court on 31st December 2014. Bail was not opposed by the police prosecutor and the accused was released to appear again on the 19th January 2015. What is unusual about this case is that the accused’s case is to be heard two days before the corrupt cops sentencing which is scheduled for the 21st January.
LF has also been advised that police have also charged Mr Wardill with a second alleged breach which Waitemata police had written to him about earlier in December 2014, a matter that the accused Mr Christopher Wardill thought would go no further as he had already received a police warning.
Chris Wardill of Alexandra Central Otago the latest Kiwi to be charged by police with breaching a sex offenders name surpression order, this time the offender was a bent cop
The Central Otago police have come under increasing pressure over the past three months. LF’s attention was again drawn to this particular police district back in 2013 when drunken female police officer Jenny McNee was caught red handed on CCTV racially abusing Queenstown taxi driver Ganesh Paramanathan and threatening to use her position as a police officer to harm the victim. This particular cop had also committed a technical assault over which police failed to charge or prosecute, despite the irrefutable video evidence it took police in excess of six months to investigate McNee’s offending.
“fuck off to India, you come here and get all the Kiwi jobs. Eat your fucking curry and fuck off to India. This is a Kiwi job.” – New Zealand Police officer Jenny McNee (November 3rd, 2013)
Local Otago police spin doctor Vivienne Pullar, any relation to Bronwyn Pullar?
There was also the early case of wrongly convicted teenager Shane Cribb. Young Mr Cribb had been falsely accused by another bent central Otago cop Neil Ford, Both Ford and his alleged accomplice perjured themselves at Cribb’s 2008 trial and it took a family friend in excess of three years to prove the teenagers innocence and have the two cops responsible charged. Whilst both cops, senior sergeant Neil Ford and Constable Dairne Olwen Cassidy were later convicted, Cassidy recieving home detention and Ford a prison sentence, it was an up hill battle to get justice.
Police in the Cribb case failed to act until the evidence collected by Steve Potter, a Cribb family friend, and the media pressure forced them to. When television current affairs show Close Up later interviewed Superintendent Bob Burns, southern district commander, he attempted to spin the polices failure to act, a systemic problem with the New Zealand police, especially when its one of their own thats the criminal;
“To an extent we have learnt from some of these investigations and we have changed some of the processes and policies locally to ensure that something like this will never happen again in the southern district.” – Superintendent Bob Burns, southern district commander
source: http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/4176617/Police-defend-perjury-investigation
Superintendent Bob Burns, southern district commander
It would seem that District Commander Bob Burns may have indulged in a little wishful thinking back in 2010, although it’s actually far more likely that he was, as senior cops are prone to, simply talking shit. The result of Superintendent Burns “behind the scenes” changes obviously seem to have been completely ineffective.
Since then there has also been the case of three Central Otago police officers who had clearly harassed and arguably conspired to falsely accuse another two teenage locals with offences that they had not in fact committed. The Otago Daily Times reported on a subsequent written apology police sent the boys and their families late last year. The Otago Daily Times (ODT) article however raises more questions than the police appear to have been willing to provide answers for.
We’re Sorry – Police
11th December 2014
Two Central Otago teenagers have received letters of apology from the district’s highest-ranking police officer for the unacceptable actions of some police officers earlier this year.
The one and a-half page letters, which were written and hand-delivered by Central Otago sub-area supervisor Senior Sergeant Ian Kerrisk last month, relate to a series of incidents – where the teenagers were falsely accused of committing petty crimes, and the subsequent unprofessional treatment and alleged harassment of the teenagers – over a period of time several months ago.
Source: http://www.odt.co.nz/regions/central-otago/326865/were-sorry-police#sthash.3Jgsvz7S.dpuf
The police failure to answer a series of questions that the newspaper (see article above) put in writing raised the distinct possibility that the police and their media liaison officer Vivienne Pullar where ducking for cover. It also raised the possibility that police command where concealing more police offending and that a third police officer who had played a role in the harassing of the boys concerned was being protected, LF suspect because of his seniority.
Senior Sergeant Ian Kerrisk, the cop responsible for charging Chris Wardill – What is it that Kerrisk is hiding?
The story was also carried by National Papers, both Fairfax and the New Zealand Herald, although as always there was no real depth to the information either presented. However it was the Otago Daily Times (ODT) article that contained information that should be of concern to all New Zealanders.
The article in question also raises the prospect that police have endeavoured to keep senior constable John Clarke’s name out of the papers because of his involvement in additional offending.
November 28: Snr Sgt Kerrisk hand-delivered both letters to one of the teenager’s homes. The letters specifically mentioned the teenager’s house being searched by officers, the alleged threatening of one of the teenagers and a police search of one of the teenager’s bags without their consent, and named and apologised for the officers involved in those incidents, Officers ”Y” and ”Z”. The letter also said both of those officers had recently left the police force, and therefore no internal action could be taken.
The letter does not name Officer ”X” who made the initial accusation and is still serving as a police officer in Central Otago. The News asked police why that officer was not named in the letter of apology, but police did not respond. – Otago Daily Times – 11th December 2014.
The journalist had in fact emailed the local police spin doctor with a whole raft of very good questions:
The News emailed a series of questions to police about the incidents.
They included whether the departure of the two officers from the police force had anything to do with the incidents mentioned in Snr Sgt Kerrisk’s letter; if another officer – who made the initial accusation, without any evidence, that the boys had done the petty crime – faced any disciplinary action; whether another two teenagers eventually found to have been responsible for the petty crime had been dealt with through the police system; whether any other complaints had been received about the officers mentioned in the letter of apology from police; and if the involvement of several police officers in the alleged misconduct and harassment showed a negative culture existed among Central Otago police.
Of course as always the spin doctor, Vivienne Pullar failed to answer the questions directly.
The first question LF would like an answer to is pretty straight forward – just how many Central Otago cops have “recently”, all to conveniently, left the police force?
Has there been a mass exodus? The answer is probably not, that one of the cops, either “Y” or “Z” who was responsible for harassing and attempting to falsely accuse these two teenage boys, fitting them up so to speak on crimes that they had not committed was more likely than not senior Sergeant John Clarke, the very same cop that is now awaiting sentencing for covertly filming a teenage girl in the shower using his POLICE issue iPhone.
Team LF, as do the New Zealand Police, often monitor social media, especially when allegations of police corruption and abuse occurs. Regular readers will be aware that we were able to find Mr Wardill as the man who police had charged with breaching Clarke’s name suppression as a result of that routine undertaking. We were also however able to find another person of interest who, despite the Facebook page in question not naming senior constable Clarke as the sex offender in question, was clearly aware that Clarke was the “ex-cop” awaiting sentence:
November 28: Snr Sgt Kerrisk hand-delivered both letters to one of the teenager’s homes. The letters specifically mentioned the teenager’s house being searched by officers, the alleged threatening of one of the teenagers and a police search of one of the teenager’s bags without their consent, and named and apologised for the officers involved in those incidents, Officers ”Y” and ”Z”. The letter also said both of those officers had recently left the police force, and therefore no internal action could be taken.
Source: http://www.odt.co.nz/regions/central-otago/326865/were-sorry-police
Now whether or not young Tyler van den Yssel is one of the boys who has just received an apology from police is not known, we certainly have not contacted him for comment just in case the cops are of a mind to give him a hard time, and frankly its just not that important.
What is important however is that Mr van den Yssel also appears to have been harassed and unlawfully searched as a teenager. The allegation obviously being, without naming Clarke directly (in breach of the suppression order), that senior constable John Clarke was involved in very similar, if not the same, behaviour as the two cops now referred to only as “Y” and “Z”.
That fact combined with the statistical likelihood of the Central Otago police having recently lost more than two officers being extremely low would suggest that senior sergeant John Clarke was in fact one of the officers, either “Y” or “Z”, referred to in the letter of apology Senior Sergeant Ian Kerrisk had sent the two teenage victims of police malfeasance.
Sergeant Dave Greaves, is he the mysterious officer “X”, the cop that the police are refusing to name? Greaves obviously has a history of accusations against him – including assault in custody, malfeasance and other forms of police brutality and thuggery
This then would explain the polices extraordinary zeal in attempting to keep the name of the bathroom video pervert, Senior constable Clarke, out of the newspapers. His boss, Senior Sergent Ian Kerrisk knows full well that there are probably other victims out there (Mr Tyler van den Yssel above being but one) who have perhaps, out of fear, not come forward to date.
Or perhaps worse, these unknown victims have in fact made complaints in the past, also highly likely, and then those complaints simply disappeared, buried by bent cops the likes of convicted police perjurer Neil Ford or his co-convicted constable. Of course Kerrisk would also be well aware that once cops like Clarke have been sacked and charged then Pandora’s box is also highly likely to spring open and so begins the flood of historic complaints that had long since been thought dealt with, or perhaps more accurately put – buried.
Central Otago police districts convicted police perjurer, Senior constable Neil Robert Ford – just how many complaints against his fellow cops did Neil Ford bury before he was eventually caught? Ford was of course convicted of exactly the same behaviour, falsely accusing another Central Otago teenager – that boy, Shane Cribb, was wrongly convicted on the strength of Fords false testimony.
Another allegedly bent cop whose name has floated around in cyberspace is that of Sergeant David (Dave) Greaves. The allegations that have been put forward are serious and include claims of jail house beatings having been dished out by Greaves, so is he the mysterious as yet ‘un-named’ officer “X”?
The list of likely suspects cannot be that large, Central Otago is a relatively small police district and would not have that many cops who fit the bill, especially when the mysterious officer “X” is undoubtedly a cop of a rank higher than constable. So who is it:
Detective Senior Sergeant Colin Blackie
Sergeant Dave Greaves
Senior Constable Darren Cox
Senior Constable Garry Milford
Detective Sergeant Derek Shaw
Senior Sergeant Jason McCoy
Undoubtedly there are a few more names that could be added to that list of candidates so LF would like to hear from anyone who nows more about this story and the cops that are likely involved.
Theres also another side to this story, that being that the two teenage boys should now start looking at a civil action against the crown. LF believes that the odds are extremely high that Senior Sergeant Ian Kerrisk has not been completely honest with the two teenage boys or their parents, of course no doubt Kerrisk’s hands will have been tied by orders he’s received from the commissioner’s Wellington office.
Centre; Senior Constable John Clarke, yet another sex offender with name suppression – the bent cop that Christopher Wardill named.
Just what are the odds that two of the three cops involved in this case of police malfeasance coincidentally just happened to leave the police force before the good sergeant Kerrisk was given cause to investigate the complaint, after the families prolonged efforts to obtain justice for their sons? Not that fucking long we would have thought.
On the other hand the possibility that one of the senior constables involved might also just have happened to get pinged for his “Hitchcock shower scene” in the midst of it all might have just have led the good sergeant to realise that it would only have been a matter of time before the shit hit the fan and the two boys and their family would find out, after all its a very small community.
Thus, Hey Presto we have the polices decision to attempt to spin both cases separately, as “unrelated”, to mitigate the potential for a more serious problem, the likely massive damages claim and another very messy public backlash .
Sergeant Kerrisk, in his letter of apology, speaks of the families right to have the IPCA investigate the matter, of course he is correct, that is an option that’s still available – but on the other hand Kerrisk also knows and trusts that the IPCA will just refer the complaint back to the police for investigation and then on to the extremely corrupt ex cop Pieter Roozendaal, head of IPCA investigations, where he would undoubtedly be in an excellent position to base his “findings” and the IPCA’s report on the polices own investigation. The result? A complete and utter waste of time and effort for the two young victims.
Pictured (from left) Detective Senior Sergeant Colin Blackie, Sergeant Dave Greaves (head down, does he know he’s being photographed?), Senior Constable Darren Cox, Constable Lance Davies, Constable Phil Beckwith, Senior Constable Garry Milford and Detective Sergeant Derek Shaw of Alexandra police. Right: Senior Sergeant Jason McCoy of Oamaru. Photos by Lynda van Kempen and Andrew Ashton.
Senior Sergeant Kerrisk however notably fails to advise the boys and their families that they also have the option of seeking legal redress through the civil Court, the very real option of suing the New Zealand police force and “the Crown”. A civil tort that would undoubtedly elicit far more valuable information during the process of discovery than any whitewash IPCA report or FOI request would likely yield.
New Zealander’s need to start being far more aggressive around the issue of police malfeasance and corruption. They need to start looking as a group to fund civil actions such as this that set clear precedents. Collectively providing the necessary financial support the two boys and their families may well need should it be decided that a law suit against the New Zealand police and the officers responsible is warranted.
It is only through such civil litigation and the ongoing threat of well-funded and seriously expensive civil claims that the police will eventually get the message, being forced by economic necessity to start genuinely addressing the criminal behaviour of the corrupt cops. Politicians have had their chance to sort out the ongoing problems for well over two decades without result. Politicians are the ones who have a certain lack of spine, almost all having avoided a full royal commission, such as the extremely successful Australian examples, the Fitzgerald Inquiry and Wood Royal Commission into police corruption
The police have clearly been up to no good, undoubtedly up shit creek without a paddle in this case, otherwise these young men would almost certainly not have received an apology from Senior Sergeant Kerrisk. Something smells very rotten with these two cases, the police obviously being extremely nervous about the potential for contagion, with possible links back to the 2008 Neil Ford case. LF suspects that the perversion of Clarke’s shower stall videos and the harassment case are almost certainly linked, in that the same cop’s had been responsible for both sets of offending, and are likely guilty of more.
If that is the case then the police have clearly deliberately engineered the so-called apology and the name suppression and then refused to reveal further details so as to avoid the truth surfacing and another public outcry, such as the Roast Busters scandal. It must also be remembered that in the case of Neil Fords perjury, even when it was proven and Shane Cribb had finally been exonerated, Cribb did not receive one of these very tidy little apologies from the Central Otago police;
Name cleared but still no apology
VINDICATED: Shane Cribb, his dog Mana, and his support person Steve Potter who helped to clear his name of a driving charge.
Shane Cribb waited three years to have his name cleared following a wrongful conviction.
It took just three minutes to get that, but he’s still waiting for an apology.
Yesterday Mr Cribb, 20, of Alexandra, after a three-year battle with the justice system, had the driving charge against him dismissed in the Alexandra District Court.
Source: http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/culture/496185 [The Southland Times (Invercargill, NZL), June 19, 2008]
As aforesaid these two cases, the sudden and very convenient departure of the two cops responsible and the name suppressions of another two cops and the police silence around the identity of the third, officers X”,” Y” and “Z”, it all smells of another Central Otago police coverup, no different to the way police behaved when Shane Cribb’s saviour, Steve Potter, started uncovering the dirt;
Police defend perjury investigation
The head of southern district police has defended the time it took for police to investigate an Otago police officer who lied to a court about his role in a road crash five years ago.
Source; http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/4176617/Police-defend-perjury-investigation
Obtaining the name of the third cop involved, officer “X”, who police seem determined to conceal is no doubt very important in getting to the bottom of these two cases and the coverup that is almost certainly unfolding. It seems to us that officer “X” is very much a part of the cancer that needs to be excised.
The letter does not name Officer ”X” who made the initial accusation and is still serving as a police officer in Central Otago. The News asked police why that officer was not named in the letter of apology, but police did not respond.
Source: http://www.odt.co.nz/regions/central-otago/326865/were-sorry-police
It is also worth noting that Central Otago has a dedicated police prosecutor, LF have noted his involvement before in relation to the senior constable Clarke case, he is ex Auckland based cop, Sergeant Ian Collin, so why then is Senior Sergeant Kerrisk personally handling the prosecution of Mr Christopher Wardill?
In fact why was it that Kerrisk has also warned Wardill off telling anyone about what was happening to him. Warning Wardill not to post anything online? Who does Senior Sergeant Kerrisk think he is, where does he think he is? Stalinist Russia perhaps, or Hitler’s Germany?
spotted on Victoria Police Corruption’s facebook page
Perhaps Kerrisk does not want a large gathering of supporters at Mr Wardill’s next court appearance on the 19th of this month, or another crowd at the appearance of John Clarke, who is due to be sentenced two days later on the 21st January?
Senior Sergeant Kerrisk had absolutely no business telling Wardill who he could tell or for that matter who he can associate with, but like most bent cops Kerrisk obviously believes otherwise.
Local Mayor Tony Lepper is also aware that the police have a few issues, not the least of which is the public opinion. Lepper however is trying to play down the issue – our advice to Mr Lepper is that he should start doing the job he was elected to, and start supporting his local constituents not the local bent cops, otherwise Lepper runs the risk of becoming more than a leper in name alone.
Local Mayor Tony Lepper runs the risk of becoming one if he continues to assist police by playing down the police corruption.
Update: So is constable “X”? Why not read “Has “Middle Earth” become a dumping ground for New Zealand’s most toxic cops?” and find out.
Further reading;
http://www.odt.co.nz/regions/central-otago/326918/central-mayor-says-police-losing-respect
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/64053463/central-otago-police-apologise-to-teens
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/63112432/Another-southern-police-officer-investigated
http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/officer-guilty-perjury-3723818
http://www.odt.co.nz/regions/central-otago/228425/police-remember-fallen-colleagues
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/10731312/Police-officer-filmed-girl-in-shower
http://forejustice.org/db/Cribb–Shane-.html
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/4176617/Police-defend-perjury-investigation
Related Stories
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11370588
http://www.stuff.co.nz/manawatu-standard/news/64266842/Name-suppression-insulting-says-judge
http://nzpca.co.nz/pieter-roozendaal-corrupt-or-very-corrupt/
21 Comments
The sad/disturbing thing about the Ford/Cribb case is that Steve Potter’s wife is now missing presumed dead.
Hey bent central otago cops come see me I have some photos of a 14 year boy who was Locked in the Cromwell cells when I go to pick him up he came out with a black eye cuts to his face.The cop who was charged walked now he is wanking on poor me its a load of shit when they put that uniform on they think that gives them the rite to treat people like shit its wrong and it has to stop. Get hold of me if you want to see the photos and have a chat. Cheers PB
That’s very rotten behaviour from the officer who suppose to applied the law by the book not as they wish. Hopefully their thugs behaviour will a thing of the past and the superiors should be a bit observant of the corruption of their dodgy officers.
Hi LF,
While I worked as a travel agent I met David at the end of last year with a female companion and they were moving permanently to the U.K. So this guy isn’t even in the country anymore-so he actually has run away.
Hi Alyssa, Thanks for the info, we’ll get some of our UK team onto locating bent ex-cop Dave Greave’s
Keep up the good work team!
I know only to well how the police in New Zealand work . The police in the west coast of the South Island . I had many experiences with one town with police and the way they single out different people and pull them in for everything they can .these people couldn’t even walk down the street without certain police pulling them up for no reason , it’s about time these police are made accountable for these actions . They go on about gangs in New Zealand , well the police are worse than the gangs because the twist the law to suit themselves and to make themselves look good . And as for making complaints about them ,it’s a joke
Disgraceful behaviour of the CO police had been happening for years, any young person having lived or still living there will have stories of examples of brutality, corruption, targeting & making sexist/ racist comments. Not to mention the officer involved in a relationship with an 18 year old.
Respect has to be earned, its any wonder they have difficulty gaining respect from the local youth when you dont have to be well informed to hear what goes on.
The worst part is we pay these officers to keep our communities safe… Is that whats going on….?
Hi Cra,
Judging by the emails we have been recieving it would seem that you are one amongst hundreds of Central Otago locals who share this sentiment. Do you have a specific case or details that you would like to share with team LF and the public? This can of course also be done in total confidence with your anonymity assured. If so, you can contact us by simply emailing one of the team at laudafinem@bigpond.com and one of us will be in touch over the next week.
Kind Regards
The Team @ Lauda Finem
Oh I have no doubts at all that he is corrupt he got caught by another officer having sex on police time in his police car with a woman that is not his wife and I have heard rumours before he left about beatings etc. I’ve lived in alex my whole life and with it being so small everyone hears everything. Good on you for trying to expose these crooks that are meant to be respected in the community. They are all corrupt no doubts about it.-
Hello again Jessie, thanks for the info. If you do happen to find out anything more please let us know – just use the email address posted elsewhere in this comments section.
Kind Regards
The Team @ Lauda Finem
Well it might have been 15 months ago then but he up and left town with his wife and kids, no one really knows where he went but he has resigned and no longer resides in alex after being ashamed after the whole town found out about what he did
Given the timing that puts Greaves at the centre of these accusations as well. He may not be the mysterious officer X but based on additional information LF have only just recieved Dave Greaves was seriously corrupt.
In fact Greaves was likely transferred to Central Otago in the first place because of offending he’d committed whilst stationed in a medium sized coastal city in the North Island.
Officer X could not be greaves as you state officer X is still in the police force. Greaves left alexandra about two years ago after having an affair on police time with the cops receptionist. Last I heard he had bought a dairy/supermarket oamaru ways
Hi Jessie, so Dave Greave’s left two years ago? Really? We don’t actually state that Greaves is officer “X”, we ask the question. hence the ? after the sentence. However we do have Greaves appearing in Newspaper archives as late as late 2013, only 15 months ago, after he recieved his promotion to sergeant.
For example on Friday the 27 September Sergeant Dave Greave’s was photographed in uniform whilst attending a memorial day for police officers slain in the course of duty –
http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/274981/slain-police-officers-remembered
“Dave Greaves, of Alexandra, was promoted to sergeant to fill the position left when Ian Kerrisk was promoted to senior sergeant and Central Otago sub-area supervisor mid-way through last year. Constable Rhys Tait, formerly of Dunedin, has replaced Const Graves”
Source: http://www.odt.co.nz/regions/central-otago/197634/change-lifestyle-new-sole-charge-officer
However if he has since left the police as you claim, whilst it was certainly not two years ago, then given the timing and his close association with Kerrisk he could equally be either office “Y” or “Z”.
As we have said it is important to identify who officer “X” is, so if you have that information please feel free to let us know. The only Dave Greaves we have residing in the Oamaru/Timaru areas lives in Fairfield. Nor are there any Companies Office or other Government records that one would normally expect to find around the ownership of a small business such as a “Dairy” (Kiwi for Corner Convenience Store) or supermarket
Well done LF on your investigative reporting. You are doing NZ’ders an absolute huge favour.
I could share a situation or two about Alex police from a few years ago like paying victims (of serious beatings from cops friends) cash to keep it out of court. And accusing a certain person of doing burn outs and smashing letter boxes when it never happened. Cop (who still works in alexandra) was asked to prove it but said he didn’t have to
Hello Sarah, dates, times, and the names of the officers responsible for this behaviour would assist anyone trying to put a stop to the corruption.
Email us with that information Sarah and you will be helping to bring an end to police corruption in Central Otago, remaining silent is little more than granting tacit approval of the police’s terrorising of the victims. Paying off victims so as to avoid prosecution is a serious criminal offence and will only ever harm future victims of the corruption.
yeah,the only corrupt police are the ones who get caught
my head felt like bumps all over it after beating in patrol car and here is the link to my visible injuries of the day I was abducted by dave greaves and his monkey boy https://www.facebook.com/chris.wardill.3/media_set?set=a.196019093795671.52076.100001627455074&type=3
Chris, Don’t use the comments section to communicate with LF. We have not posted some of your comments as they seem to contain very personal information.
If you would like to send us material then do so using the email address – laudafinem@bigpond.com
If you would like an LF team member to contact you to discuss your bad experiences with the Otago police then please email LF your contact details using the email address above and a team member will contact you.
Kind Regards
The Team @ Lauda Finem