Inspector-General of Police will have vast new powers to investigate potential misconduct as new police watchdog
A new police watchdog announced after the Jevon McSkimming scandal will be given sweeping new powers to clean up the force, including the ability to investigate potential misconduct without a formal complaint.
The Inspector-General of Police will also have direct access to relevant police records and databases and, if they disagree with a police decision not to prosecute a staff member, will be able to send the case for an independent legal review.
Among other substantial changes, these new powers are designed to provide stronger oversight of the police and restore public confidence after the damaging revelation that New Zealand’s highest-ranking officers ignored allegations against one of their own.
Over the course of several years, a young woman sent hundreds of emails alleging the former deputy police commissioner McSkimming was a sexual predator who had groomed her.
While McSkimming admitted a consensual affair with the much younger woman – she was 21 at the time, he was 42 – he denied the allegations and claimed she was motivated by revenge.
For years, this narrative was accepted by McSkimming’s supervisors.
So instead of investigating the woman’s serious accusations, the police used the anonymous emails as evidence to prosecute her for an alleged campaign to destroy his career.
She was arrested and charged under the Harmful Digital Communications Act, placed under restrictive bail conditions and silenced by wide-ranging suppression orders for nearly 18 months.
The gagging orders contributed to protecting the reputation of McSkimming, one of the top candidates to replace outgoing Police Commissioner Andrew Coster.
The failure to investigate the woman’s repeated allegations against McSkimming was condemned as serious misconduct in a scathing 135-page report by the Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) last November.
In a bid to restore the public’s battered trust after the biggest police scandal in 20 years, the Government immediately agreed to implement all the IPCA recommendations to increase scrutiny of poor behaviour.
One of those recommendations was to give additional “own motion” powers to the IPCA to investigate any matter relating to police conduct, without the need for a complaint.
The Government went a step further and announced it would establish a new watchdog, the Inspector-General of Police.
This new office will replace the IPCA and bring police oversight in line with similar bodies that scrutinise the intelligence security agencies and the Defence Force.
But since then, the Government has been tight-lipped about progress.
The legislation to enable the new body was introduced to Parliament in late September without fanfare but will not have its first reading until after the election.
Documents released by Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith a few days later reveal the Government has missed its original deadline to set up the new office by April 2027.
The new date is redacted from the paperwork but the Justice Ministry hopes the legislation will be passed into law by May.
The documents also spell out details of the enhanced functions of the Inspector-General position to “ensure that nothing slips through the cracks”.
This was necessary, according to the Justice Ministry briefings, because problems with “preventing, identifying and addressing issues of police misconduct continue to occur” despite previous high-profile reviews of police.
“While independent oversight cannot prevent all the issues that have arisen, there are several known time limits to the IPCA that impede its ability to provide more effective oversight and prevent conduct and integrity problems before they occur,” ministry officials told Goldsmith.
“Most notably, these limits include the IPCA’s reactive nature, limited resourcing and an inability to ensure its recommendations are implemented.”
The Inspector-General will be supported by a board of up to four additional members, which could include two deputies.
To minimise any perception of bias, any potential board members must not have worked for the police for the past 10 years.
Goldsmith supported the expansion of powers for the Inspector-General, including the ability to investigate without a formal complaint, something the IPCA had lobbied for unsuccessfully for several years.
The Inspector-General will have direct access to police records and databases, as well as the power to enter police premises after sending written notice to the Police Commissioner.
Police will also be required to consult with the Inspector-General on proposed outcomes after internal employment investigations.
One of the most significant changes is that the Inspector-General will be able to intervene if they disagree with a decision of senior police not to prosecute an employee.
In such cases, the Inspector-General will refer the matter to the Solicitor-General, in charge of the Crown Law Office, for an independent review of the decision.
This change was necessary because the current model “suffers from at least the appearance of a conflict of interest”, according to the Justice Ministry advice to Goldsmith.
“There is a risk of bias influencing the interpretation of evidence, consciously or unconsciously, when some members are deciding on the misconduct of others from the same organisation. This is consistent with international studies on the culture of solidarity that arises from the challenges involved in policing work,” according to the briefing paper.
“It should not be assumed that this will always, or even usually, affect the outcome of any individual case. But this risk is always present. It may lead to, for example, the uncritical acceptance of the evidence of a colleague when there is a conflict in accounts, as demonstrated in the Jevon McSkimming case.”
While McSkimming was not charged by police after a belated investigation into the sex allegations against him, he had resigned as the deputy commissioner in disgrace.
Detectives investigating the young woman’s allegations had discovered that McSkimming had used his police-issued work devices, primarily an iPhone, to search the internet for thousands of pornographic images.
Among the imagery was bestiality and child exploitation material.
He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to home detention for nine months. McSkimming is now free to leave his home, a Corrections spokesperson confirmed.
A separate IPCA investigation also found McSkimming breached the police code of conduct by using taxpayers’ money to stay in hotels with the young woman who alleged that he groomed her for sex.
Jared Savage covers crime and justice issues, with a particular interest in organised crime. He joined the Herald in 2006 and has won a dozen journalism awards in that time, including Best Investigation at the 2026 awards for his coverage of the Jevon McSkimming scandal. He is also the author of Gangland, Gangster’s Paradise and Underworld.