Police acknowledge the IPCA’s findings into an incident in Whanganui, in which a Police dog was used to effect an arrest.

The IPCA found Police were justified in deploying the dog against a man who was threatening Police, but unjustified deploying the dog on another man who was resisting arrest.

About 2.15am on Saturday 19 March 2022, Police were called to attend a disorder incident where a group of men were allegedly arguing in the street.

Police, including a dog handler, attended and the men soon became aggressive towards officers.

Police attempted to arrest one of the men for disorderly behaviour, however he resisted.

The second man then advanced on officers, making verbal threats, and after he was given a warning, the dog handler released his dog to prevent the man advancing further.

The handler then released his dog to assist officers struggling with the man they were attempting to arrest.

The IPCA found this second action unjustified.

Central District Commander Superintendent Scott Fraser says this was a fast-moving, dynamic incident where attending staff felt there was a risk to their safety.

“Every day, our staff are required to make decisions in an instant, with the goal of keeping the public and themselves safe, which was the aim in this instance,” Superintendent Fraser says.

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