Report finds officers’ actions justified – Police response to IPCA findings

Police acknowledge today’s Independent Police Conduct Authority report into the fatal shooting of David Cerven in Myers Park in August 2015, which finds that two officers were justified in using firearms to defend themselves and others from him during the incident.

Auckland City District Commander, Superintendent Richard Chambers, said while the various Police staff involved had acted according to their training during what was a highly volatile, challenging and fast-moving situation, the final outcome was not what anyone wanted.

“No Police officer goes to work wanting for this to happen.

This was a tragic outcome for all, and our thoughts and sympathies are with Mr Cerven’s family and friends,” Mr Chambers said.

“At the same time, I want to acknowledge the courage of my staff on the night, who were put in an unenviable position where they ultimately had to use lethal force to protect themselves, their colleagues and the public from what they genuinely believed was a clear threat posed by Mr Cerven.

“In this instance, they were dealing with a man who had committed a number of violent aggravated robberies, and who was unstable and refusing to cooperate with Police.

He also told Police he was armed and gestured as if he was holding a firearm, clearly leading to the officers’ assessment that they were about to likely be fired upon.

“This had followed repeated appeals by officers for Mr Cerven to give himself up peacefully, which would have allowed him to be taken into custody safely,” Mr Chambers said.

“We also acknowledge the Authority’s findings relating to the officers approaching and challenging Mr Cerven.

Situations like these are always unpredictable and are continually shifting from minute to minute.

This means our staff have to make split-second decisions under considerable pressure based on the often limited information they have available to them at the time, without the benefit of hindsight.

In this case, this all unfolded within the space of about three minutes.

“As the report notes, the officers believed they were acting appropriately by moving closer to Mr Cerven to reduce the risk to the public of potentially having to fire a shot over a greater distance.

It also reflects that Police staff were clearly conscious of the risk to the public if Mr Cerven exited the park to nearby city streets with a weapon, hence they believed they needed to act swiftly.

“We also acknowledge that some of the communications from staff to the Communications Centre on the night could have been better, and have made recommendations to improve the relevant systems and processes as a result.”

The IPCA findings are consistent with the outcome of a Police criminal investigation into the incident, which also found the officers’ actions were justified.

A coronial inquest is still to take place.

Police has continued to keep Mr Cerven’s family in Slovakia informed during the investigation process.

ENDS

© Scoop Media