Relieving Canterbury District Commander Superintendent Karyn Malthus:

Police acknowledge the findings by the Independent Police Conduct Authority into the use of a Police dog during an arrest in February 2021.

The man and woman involved were wanted for a series of burglaries across the South Island, and it was believed they may be in possession of firearms.

In the course of Police efforts to apprehend the offenders there was a low-speed collision between a Police vehicle and the offenders’ vehicle.

Following this collision involving a Police dog handler, the Police dog successfully led the handler and another officer to the location where an offender was hiding.

The officer made the tactical decision to release the dog after the person failed to come out when requested to do so.

The handler quickly arrested the female offender and the Police dog was removed. Police transported her to receive medical treatment for a dog bite to her leg.

A criminal investigation was carried out in relation to the incident, and it was determined there was no evidential sufficiency to support a criminal charge.

Relieving District Commander for Canterbury District, Superintendent Karyn Malthus says Police acknowledge the findings by the IPCA in relation to the decision to release the dog, and notes the threat of firearms is something we expect officers to treat extremely seriously.

“Police accepts there were errors made during our investigation into the crash. There are learnings from this incident and the officer who carried out the investigation has had this addressed with them.”

“Since this incident occurred Canterbury Police has implemented changes around how we investigate Police crashes. This ensures independence and timeliness of investigations into Police driving matters such as this type of incident,” says Supt. Malthus.

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