Police have refused to say whether some historic poaching prosecutions have been made incorrectly or unfairly, following comments in an Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) report that seem to indicate that has occurred. The report found there was sufficient evidence to prosecute the Christchurch officers, but said the decision not to prosecute them was "reasonable and justifiable on public interest grounds". The Otago Daily Times emailed police to ask if some previous prosecutions had been made incorrectly or unfairly and if there would be any review of previous cases of alleged illegal hunting but police said they would not make any further comment about the IPCA report. Ms Parker said police were still handling illegal hunting inconsistently, and more police training was needed. This IPCA report has made a mess for our local cops to clean up.

Source: Otago Daily Times September 15, 2017 17:03 UTC