Steve Cullen: lawyer responds to new research investigating police bias

A legal expert is rejecting the legitimacy of research into police bias.

A two-year inquiry commissioned by police suggests there are ongoing inequities in treatment depending on people's race, sexuality, gender, and mental health.

It's found Māori men are more likely to be stopped, tasered, and prosecuted, compared with Pakeha.

Lawyer Steve Cullen says it's a 'bizarre' allegation.

"There might be individual cases that might seem to have that as a bias in relation to the parties involved in the case - but that doesn't support an allegation of fundamental corruption within the police nationwide."

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
A two year inquiry into our policing system has found
bias and structural racism. It found Maldi men are more
likely to be stopped, tasted and prosecuted than Parkiher criminal lawyer,
Steve Cullen, is with us now. Steve, Hi, Hey, Heather,
have you seen any evidence of this?

Speaker 2 (00:16):
Oh? No, it's to be friend. It's a rather bizarre
allegation to allad systemic bias throughout the entire New Zealand
police community. Is an enormously serious assertion. You'd want it
to be substantiated by clear and unambiguous evidence, wouldn't it?

Speaker 1 (00:31):
Is there no evidence?

Speaker 2 (00:33):
Well, there might be individual cases that might seem to
head as a bias in relation to maybe one of
the parties involved in the case, but that doesn't support
an allegation of fundamental corruption within the police nation wide,
systemically against an entire race and culture. And in fact,
that struck me the fact that the Commissioner of Police
has called for this report, that's making that public speaks

(00:53):
for itself against that very type of suggestion.

Speaker 1 (00:56):
Steve, I don't even know how you reached up not you,
they reached some of these conclusions. They say that unconscious
bias increases the chance of Maori being prosecuted by eleven percent.
How do you even quantify eleven percent?

Speaker 2 (01:11):
Yes, you need to see the statistics, which is we
know these lies, damn licensed statistics. What basis did they
use to make this type of allegation. I spoke with
a couple of colleagues within the police force and when
they stopped laughing, they said, people don't seem to realize
the police actively sought to recruit people of married heritage
into the force. That was extremely successful. People should be

(01:31):
made aware what proportion of the force is actually of heritage?
What proportion are the ranks a MARII There are a
lot of sergeants and the senior ranks and Maria the
assistant commission in Auckland's Mari. We're a assistant commissioner's nation.
Why do you marry the chief district court judges of
Mara culture. It's absurd. They've never been so ethnically diverse.
Another policeman's comment was they targeted initially married in Asian, Indian, Polynesian, Fijians,

(01:58):
Fijian Indians and now the folks is on the rainbow community.
And that officer's comment was they now acknowledge participate in
the range of cultural celebrations from d Wali to individual
language celebrations. Who's teaching the people of Fijian background, or
Indian background, or Philippine or Malaysian or Polynesian background, or

(02:18):
the Maori members of the force to be systemically biased
against Maori. It's ridiculous when you have regard to the
number of senior officers within the force who are murray
and we all are aware of and familiar with that
type of personnel within the police force.

Speaker 1 (02:34):
Steve, it's good to talk to you. Thank you mate.
That's Steve Cullen, the criminal lawyer.

Speaker 2 (02:38):
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