Source: New Zealand Police
Police can now reveal further details about the assets and resources deployed during the search for Tom Phillips and his children.
In mid-December 2021 Phillips and his three children disappeared — for the second time in three months — from their farm in the small rural town of Marokopa, in Western Waikato.
The Police operation to locate them, which would later become known as Op Curly, came to an end in the early hours of Monday 8 September 2025 when Phillips shot and critically injured an officer before he himself was shot and killed by Police.
Over that period, the active investigation limited Police from disclosing the considerable measures employed during the search.
Detective Superintendent Ross McKay says while the specifics of the Police response will be subject to debriefs and reviews, some further detail can now be released.
“The vast area in which Phillips kept the children is difficult, steep terrain almost completely obscured from all angles by dense bush.
“At various times during the operation, Police specialist units such as Special Tactics Group, Armed Offenders Squad, Search and Rescue and Tactical Operations Group, were used.
“There was also support from the New Zealand Defence Force, with helicopter and ground assets.
“Other resources included geospatial imagery, thermal imagery, covert technology such as motion-activated cameras, and Airbus Flexrotor drones.”
The drones, supplied and operated by Airbus, flew for 111 hours over a period of two weeks in April this year.
“Police never stopped trying – thousands of hours were dedicated to the search,” Detective Superintendent McKay says.
“Intelligence played an important role in informing decisions and planning for possible outcomes.
“We knew Phillips had firearms and was motivated to use them.
“We also knew, based on previous actions and behavioural science analysis, that Phillips was unlikely to surrender easily and was prepared to put the children in harm’s way.
“The primary objective was locating and returning the children safely.
“Police focused on two key things to achieve that – finding a campsite or a supply route.
“The family regularly moved around and adapted their behaviour, meaning no sites were found.
“They were detected in transit on occasion but never in circumstances that allowed Police to safely intervene.
“While Operation Curly has concluded, it would not be appropriate for Police to provide further details ahead of the subsequent and ongoing investigations and reviews.
“However, I hope the information released today provides some reassurance about the lengths Police and its partner agencies went to in order to resolve this complex situation, as well as some clarity on the difficulties faced in achieving that safely.”
The children are in the guardianship of the Family Court, with Oranga Tamariki as the agent of the court.
Officer A has been discharged from hospital and his recovery is progressing.
The Police investigation into the critical incident on Monday 8 September is ongoing.
Police also continue to investigate the likelihood Phillips received outside support and are following strong lines of enquiry.
ENDS
Note for media:
NZ Police is releasing the above information following a significant number of media queries in relation to the actions taken during Op Curly, and in awareness of the public interest in having as many of those questions answered as possible.
However, due to ongoing investigations, there are still limits on the amount of detail that can provided.
Detective Superintendent Ross McKay will not be available for interviews at this point, due to those ongoing investigations and enquiries into this matter.
