Police accepts the Independent Police Conduct Authority’s ruling that the force used in restraining two women and a man in Waharoa in September last year was justified.

Police were called to a family harm-related incident at the property on September 11, after a man struck a relative over the head with a glass bottle, and also broke windows at the house by punching them with a bare fist.

During the incident, two women and the man were physically restrained by Police when taken into custody due to them resisting arrest, and the officers involved reported that this force was proportionate to the situation.

The womens’ and man’s version of events did not corroborate with each other, nor with the attending officers’ versions of what happened.

As such, the IPCA ruled that in all probability, and based on the circumstances of the incident, the use of force by the officers was both justified and reasonable.

Waikato District Commander Superintendent Bruce Bird says this incident is just one example of the types of situations officers find themselves in every day.

“Every day, I am proud of the way our officers conduct themselves in often confronting and difficult situations,” Superintendent Bird says.

“In this instance, the people involved were behaving in such a way that meant an appropriate level of force was needed to safely take them into custody, which was shown here.”

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