Source: Radio New Zealand
Former Police Commissioner Andrew Coster. RNZ / REECE BAKER
Former Police Commissioner Andrew Coster has been placed on leave from his role as chief executive of the Social Investment Agency, following the release of a damning Independent Police Conduct Authority report.
The report found serious misconduct at the highest levels of police, including Coster, over how police responded to accusations of sexual offending by former Deputy Commissioner Jevon McSkimming.
The allegations arose from an affair between McSkimming and a woman who was a non-sworn police employee at the time.
The Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) report says when police did eventually refer the woman’s claims to the authority, several months after it was recommended they do so, senior police attempted to influence the investigation.
Coster took on the role as Secretary for Social Investment in November 2024, after stepping down as Police Commissioner.
Public Service Minister Judith Collins said it was agreed between Coster and the Public Service Commissioner Sir Brian Roche that Coster would be on leave while Sir Brian undertook his own investigation.
Public Service Minister Judith Collins. RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
She said the report showed a “massive” failure of leadership, and while it was now an employment matter, she said the report spoke for itself.
“If this was me being named in this report, I would be ashamed of myself. And I think that’s what I can say. I would be deeply ashamed.”
She was unable to put a timeline on when the investigation could be completed.
Social investment minister Nicola Willis said she was “shocked and appalled” by the IPCA report’s findings.
“I have conveyed my views to Public Service Commissioner Brian Roche. The matter now sits with him as Mr Coster’s employer,” she said.
More to come
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
