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The Police Complaints Process

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The Palgrave Handbook of Australian and New Zealand Criminology, Crime and Justice

Abstract

As an organisation, the police and its officers hold a considerable amount of power over the average citizen. Therefore, it is important that police are held accountable for their actions by having a process by which citizens can seek recompense against police misconduct. For the sake of impartiality, such an organisation would need to be independent of police influence. This chapter provides a historical analysis of the struggle towards an independent police complaints organisation for New Zealand. It concludes that while the complaints process is more independent now than it was in the past, there is still large room for improvement.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand

    John W. Buttle & Antje Deckert

Authors
  1. John W. Buttle
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  2. Antje Deckert
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Correspondence to John W. Buttle .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand

    Antje Deckert

  2. University of South Australia, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia

    Rick Sarre

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Buttle, J.W., Deckert, A. (2017). The Police Complaints Process. In: Deckert, A., Sarre, R. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Australian and New Zealand Criminology, Crime and Justice. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-55747-2_35

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-55747-2_35

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-55746-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-55747-2

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