Disgraced former police superintendent Alec Waugh was working for disgraced former deputy speak Ian Revell at Parliament. Mr Waugh resigned as Wanganui police chief last year after pleading guilty to 10 fraud charges.

He was the highest-ranking police officer to be convicted in a New Zealand court. Mr Revell hired Mr Waugh as a researcher in his parliament office late last year to give him a second chance. Following Mr Revell's resignation, Mr Waugh was given his notice and will lose his job if the next deputy speaker decides not to keep him on. Yesterday, Mr Revell declined to comment publicly on Mr Waugh's employment. Mr Revell, a former policeman, had known Mr Waugh professionally for several years. [Press 2/3/99]

Wednesday, 26 January 2000

He will stay on, however, on his full $275,000 salary working for Prime Minister Helen Clark after making a deal with the Government.

When Ms Clark announced Mr Doone's departure she said the secondment to the crime prevention unit in her office would be for six months. Later she refused to rule out extending Mr Doone's appointment for longer.

Mr Doone, whose lawyer as late as last Wednesday was urging the Government not to take serious action against him, denied that the offer of the job for the Prime Minister had clinched the deal to step down.

"My decision to retire stood on its own merits. I made that decision on the basis that the police is bigger than any one person," he said.

Deputy Commissioner Rob Robinson, the first to investigate Mr Doone after police stopped the car in which he was a passenger because its lights were off, yesterday took over Mr Doone's job temporarily.

During the election-night incident Mr Doone intercepted the approaching officer, who was just three days into his job, and the driver, Mr Doone's partner, Robyn Johnstone, drove off without being breath-tested.

Ms Clark said that interaction resulted in evidence not being collected "precisely because normal police procedure was not followed."

Mr Doone's actions were a serious error in judgment, Ms Clark said.

Mr Doone offered to resign just before the Cabinet met to discuss his future yesterday morning. Ms Clark said the Cabinet had agreed it was the best thing to do to avoid creating any perception that New Zealand had two standards for the administration of the law - one for people in important positions and one for all others.

Of Mr Doone's role in her department, Ms Clark said, "There is much to be impressed about in Mr Doone's career, and the Government does not wish to lose his experience at this time. In addition, by taking early retirement Mr Doone is losing the opportunity to work through a notice period.

"Several testimonials from Maori leaders tell of his efforts. The Maori crime rate, along with other disparities between Maori and other New Zealanders, is also an area which is a top priority for the Government and one in which I have announced I will take close personal interest."

Mr Doone said he was happy investigators accepted his version, that he had acted in good faith and that no drink driving was involved.

"With hindsight I could have handled the matter differently and insisted that the constable spoke to the driver. I had no idea that the constable was only three days in the job."

Mr Doone is regarded as the highest-educated police commissioner, with a Harvard degree part of his 31-year career.

National leader Jenny Shipley said she had been briefed as prime minister on the incident, and supported Mr Doone's departure from his post. However, she said: "This looks like a golden handshake under the table, a deal in disguise."

Mr Robinson said Mr Doone's stepping down was in the best interests of the police. The incident had affected morale and the way police were regarded by the public.

Procedures would be written to govern the way off-duty police should interact with on-duty police.

WELLINGTON -- The investigation report by Deputy Police Commissioner Rob Robinson, dated December 14, shows conflicts in versions of events surrounding the stopping of Police Commissioner Peter Doone's car on November 27.

Police Commissioner Peter Doone said in his announcement yesterday that breath-testing was not routine, but in the report Sergeant John Buston said it was generally expected that breath-testing was standard when vehicles are stopped for traffic offences. There could be discretion if the officer felt there was clearly no reason for a test.

Constable Brett Main, who was in the patrol car that stopped Mr Doone's vehicle, and the commissioner differ over what was said.

Mr Main said he told Mr Doone the car was stopped because the lights were not on and that he wanted to speak to the driver, but Mr Doone said the constable had not told him that and, if he had, then it would have "fundamentally changed how he approached the rest of the interaction". Mr Doone's partner, Robyn Johnstone, said Mr Doone returned to the car saying it was "just a routine check, no problem".

Mr Doone said it was an instinctive reaction that made him get out of the car and approach the constable. "Whenever I meet police in an operational setting I am always proactive, speak to them, and introduce myself. This was the sole reason for doing so that night."

The constable was adamant the commissioner did not introduce himself.

Mr Main said he "felt intimidated" when he recognised the commissioner. Mr Doone knew he had been recognised: "I could see through the expression on his face that he recognised me."

Mr Main also said that Mr Doone had moved at one stage, placing himself in a position more or less directly in the constable's path to the driver. He did not know whether that was deliberate.

In a memo Mr Doone gave a categorical assurance that "there was no drink driving involved" the night of the incident. But later he acknowledged Ms Johnstone had been drinking when he said she was "nowhere near the limit". --NZPA Editorial
Doone departs

The departure of Peter Doone as police commissioner has long been a foregone conclusion. Already under fire for his inept handling of the Incis computer system and his general management of the police service, Mr Doone showed crucial lack of judgment on November 27. That was when a constable stopped a car in which Mr Doone was a passenger but failed to breath-test its driver, Mr Doone's partner, Robyn Johnstone.

Mr Doone stepped from the car to exchange pleasantries with the constable, who had just three days police experience. The damage done by that action seems only belatedly to have dawned on the commissioner. The nation's top policeman must be above suspicion. His very presence was likely to have intimidated the constable, regardless of what the commissioner intended. Had Mr Doone instead insisted that Ms Johnstone be tested, he would at least have been seen to have done the right thing.

Although precipitated by this incident, his retirement does not rest on it alone. The Government has offered him a six-month contract on his present salary to work on issues of Maori crime. But that is merely a face-saver, perhaps to avoid a bigger payout. In fact, official disenchantment with Mr Doone goes back a long way. It came to a head last August when IBM pulled out of the controversial Incis project, which was years overdue and many millions over budget.

The company's frustration was understandable. While still deputy commissioner, Mr Doone wanted to have IBM adopt a Microsoft platform for Incis. Three months before becoming commissioner, he was warned by a police computer expert, Greg Batchelor, that changing to Microsoft entailed a high risk of Incis not being delivered on time. Mr Batchelor has since been proved dead right.

As soon as he became commissioner, however, Mr Doone went ahead with the Microsoft option. The decision was hushed up. The original director of the Incis project, Tony Crewdson, who had opposed changing to Microsoft, later quit the project and also the police after extended stress leave.

Clearly, Incis has been a botched job. It has now been left stranded, only one third complete. Mr Doone bears much of the responsibility for the mess. Although occasionally expressing some anxiety about the system's many delays, generally he has defended it.

In other respects also, Mr Doone's tenure as commissioner has been less than rosy. During his time at the top, morale in the force has plummeted; its attrition rate, particularly from officers using the controversial perf scheme, has been high, and police are fed up with budget cuts and lack of resources. A police establishment review has not worked out well. Instead of applying themselves to solving crimes, officers have had to spend long hours reapplying for their own jobs.

In 1998 they marched in the streets, mostly in support of a pay claim. Nearly two years later, many of their grievances remain unresolved. Not all of those troubles can be laid directly at Mr Doone's door. Until November he was constrained by a government unwilling to put substantial money behind its law-and-order rhetoric. But neither did he act decisively to solve ongoing police problems. Instead, he became an apologist for police management.

His early career showed promise. It began while he was studying law at Victoria University. After qualifying, he spent several years as a fraud detective in Wellington. His investigation of the Universal Group of Companies led to the conviction of three directors. In 1984 he was promoted to detective inspector and took charge of the Otahuhu CIB. The following year he won a Harkness Fellowship to Harvard.

By 1987 he was legal adviser at police headquarters in Wellington. Then came the top jobs. In 1992 Mr Doone became an assistant commissioner, managing finance and planning portfolios. The next year he rose to deputy commissioner and has been police commissioner since 1996.

The commissioner, paid $275,000 a year, serves at the pleasure of the Governor-General. So Mr Doone could not have been directly dismissed by the Government. Its deal with him represents political pragmatism. His present contract would have expired next year.

It is a disappointing end to a 31-year career. But Mr Doone has no-one to blame but himself. Reluctant to listen, he pushed ahead with his Incis preference regardless of expert advice. He was lukewarm in defending his force against politicians keen to reduce police numbers and resources. And he initially made light of the incident in which the constable would have breath-tested the commissioner's partner. All of those add up to lack of discernment. That inadequacy, and Mr Doone's inability to recognise the wider responsibilities inherent in his holding this country's highest police post, have ultimately ensured his downfall.

21.12.1999

If all public services, the police are perhaps the most important. They give the public not only a sense of security but also the confidence that law and order will be upheld impartially. It goes without saying, therefore, that the country's most senior policeman must be above reproach. Such, unfortunately, is no longer the case with Police Commissioner Peter Doone.

No matter what the finding of the Police Complaints Authority inquiry into an election-night incident in Wellington, Mr Doone cannot escape the fact that this is the latest of a series of debilitating episodes which have eroded public confidence in him, his position and, indeed, the standing of the police.

Since Mr Doone's elevation from Deputy Commissioner in July 1996, the police have generally been at the forefront of public attention for all the wrong reasons. The Incis computer debacle ran parallel to a disruptive and disorganised restructuring of the force, including the shedding of almost 200 non-sworn staff.

And as these contentious issues rumbled on, there was a growing, and justified, public perception that minor crime was going uninvestigated and personal safety was not what it should be. Mr Doone, even as Deputy Commissioner, was closely involved with Incis, being variously described as its chief architect and principal driving force. Much was made of this when he was promoted to the top job.

Thus, it seems logical that he should field some of the responsibility for the budget overruns, delays, conflicting objectives, unclear accountability and poor management which bedevilled the project.

At one stage, ministers of the previous Government even considered sacking Mr Doone after he spent an extra $20 million on the project without cabinet approval. They were talked out of it by the State Services Commissioner on the basis that Mr Doone's action was apparently not deliberate. In the end, he received only a letter voicing the ministers' displeasure. A month later, when details of the $104 million debacle became public, Mr Doone chose to lay the blame squarely on computer company IBM. The taxpayer was left to pick up the pieces.

The Prime Minister has indicated that Mr Doone's future now depends on the outcome of the Police Complaints Authority inquiry. The authority is investigating whether correct police procedures were followed by the officers who stopped the car in which Mr Doone was a passenger because its lights were not on. The Police Commissioner stepped from the car and engaged a young constable in conversation before the constable had reached the driver's window. The upshot was that the driver, Mr Doone's partner, was not even spoken to by the constable, let alone breath-tested.

The authority must decide not only whether the Police Commissioner's action was contrary to the law but also whether it might have been unreasonable, unjustified, unfair or undesirable.

It is now important, given crumbling confidence in the police, that the full findings of the authority, not some brief resume, be made public. The authority has widespread powers to ensure that this happens. The Police Complaints Authority Act dictates that public disclosure need be restricted only for issues of security or defence.

To a degree, however, the authority's finding is barely pertinent to Mr Doone's future. Even if an innocent explanation for the Police Commissioner's behaviour were found, it is not in the police's best interests for him to remain in his job. Repeated instances of bad management and poor judgment have undermined his position to a point where continuation is no longer tenable.

A demoralised and now highly embarrassed police force needs a new face at the top. Rather than wait for the outcome of the inquiry, Mr Doone should resign now.