Source: Radio New Zealand
Public Service Commissioner Sir Brian Roche says the case was a “wake up call”. RNZ / REECE BAKER
The Public Service Commissioner says Jevon McSkimming is a liar who went to extreme efforts to cover up accusations against him.
Sir Brian Roche said since appointing McSkimming to his role near the top of police the commission has improved its hiring processes, calling the case a “wake-up call”.
He said he was confident they would now detect someone like McSkimming during the hiring process.
He told Morning Report the Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) report was confronting.
“It’s just shameless and shameful that we’re in this position, that one of the key institutions of the state being the police is now being questioned and that questioning is appropriate at this point,” he said.
“A few people behaving poorly have created problems for us all.”
The report recommended that the Public Service Commission could have pushed on a particular line of enquiry when McSkimming was appointed. Sir Brian said that had been taken on board and its processes had been strengthened.
“I’m really confident that we would [now] have detected the likes of Mr McSkimming,” he said.
“But I do not wish to underestimate he was a liar, he schemed and he created a story that just was so pervasive and it wasn’t until 2024 that it began to unravel. But even then he was confident enough to put himself forward for Commissioner of Police. This was a a person who lacked serious judgement.”
Sir Brian admitted that it was extraordinary that issues around McSkimming had not come up during the interview process.
“And that’s the detail that I’m working through about who said what to who when. But the fact remains this person was a flawed character and it was about this time last year that it became clear about the nature of this person – at that point no one knew about the issues associated with the devices.”
Sir Brian agrees the commission should have probed further regarding “a strange relationship” McSkimming had that had been mentioned.
“But as the review found, it is highly unlikely we would’ve learned anything because of the curated story that Mr McSkimming had over many years managed to cement in that organisation and everything around it.
“We have to make sure we get behind that filtering – it’s a very big wake up call for us.”
The commission had had some confidence because McSkimming had a very high level security clearance from the SIS, he said.
But where the SIS was focused on security, the Public Service Commission’s focus was “probity and character”, he said.
“I’m still going to push really hard that we are able to get access to that, at the moment it is against the law for the SIS to make that information available to us,” he said.
“This person was able to mislead the majority of the system, this system now has to make sure we’re not going to get captured by that again.”
Sir Brian said the commission now checks all applicants’ devices for certain appointments within the public sector.
“We’re making it very very clear to the candidates that if there is any blemish once they’re appointed, we find anything about them that they haven’t disclosed, that would result in immediate sanctions. There’s no misunderstanding about the critical nature of what it is we’re looking for and their obligations to continually disclose to us.”
The public can have confidence and the current circumstances must never be repeated, he said.
Former Police Commissioner Andrew Coster RNZ / Nick Monro
Meanwhile, Former Police Commissioner Andrew Coster has been placed on leave from his role as chief executive of the Social Investment Agency, with an employment process underway.
Sir Brian said the commission was currently working through an employment process which would be done as quickly as possible.
‘Members of the police executive hadn’t learned from history,’ former top cop says
Former Assistant Police Commissioner Nick Perry said the people who failed to properly investigate allegations against Jevon McSkimming broke the first rule of learning from history.
Perry was given the job of cleaning up the police ranks 20 years ago, after Louise Nicholas brought historic rape allegations against former and serving officers.
He retired as Assistant Police Commissioner in 2013 and told Morning Report that he felt “deep disappointment” when he saw the damning IPCA report.
Perry said he used to present adult sexual assault courses at the police college and in his opening comments he would say that those who did not learn from history were bound to repeat it.
“I couldn’t help thinking about that when I was reading the IPCA report because it was clearly the fact that certain members of the police executive hadn’t learned from history, although I must add there were clearly those within the organisation who had and did their very best to address the issue that they confronted.”
The police culture had changed for the better in the last 20 years, he said.
Perry said despite retiring in 2013 he had remained in contact with police.
Jevon McSkimming with Prime Minister Christoher Luxon and Police Minister Mark Mitchell Hagen Hopkins / Getty Images
“Last year for example I was speaking to a number of front line officers who had graduated in the previous 18 months, I’ve got to say I’m extremely impressed with the quality of the people, the motivation, it’s all there.”
Police needed to follow a basic process which was not followed with Louise Nicholas nor in this case, he said.
“In terms of investigations it’s relatively simple in terms of whether it’s an investigation into a criminal offence or a complaint. You have to keep an open mind, you have to be unbiased, follow policy procedures and just see where the evidence takes you.
“If you start missing out any of those, particularly the keeping the open mind and being unbiased, that really starts to damage the integrity of the investigation itself and it’s clearly what’s happened in this particular case.”
Both this case and the Louise Nicholas case involved a complainant making a complaint about sexual offending by police officers, he said.
In the Nicolas case her allegations weren’t accepted, the word of police officers were accepted and it was well down the track before an investigation was commenced, he said.
In the latest case, the IPCA report indicates it appears that Jevon McSkimming’s future and potential as a commissioner was foremost in the mind of a number of upper level police staff involved in the investigation, he said.
Public Services Minister Judith Collins speaks after a damning report into police conduct, with Police Commissioner Richard Chambers and Police Minister Mark Mitchell. RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
The case raises the question about the selection processes in terms of selecting senior leadership within the police, he said.
The IPCA report recommended the establishment of an Inspector-General to have oversight of police, a move which the government is moving to do.
Perry said it remained to be seen what their powers would be and what resources they would get.
He said he would encourage strengthening the powers of the IPCA as they did some very good work but really had no teeth so they could not ensure they were followed through.
A joint IPCA inspector general could be a way forward but that remained to be seen, he said.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand