May 23, 2013
Police prepared to restore relations with Tūhoe
Police Commissioner Peter Marshall says police are prepared to do whatever is necessary to restore relations with Ngāi Tūhoe and the people of Ruatoki.
Calls for an apology and compensation have come after the release of an Independent Police Complaints Authority report finding that police acted illegally in blockading the eastern Bay of Plenty township during their hunt for people involved in military-style training camps in Te Urewera.
Mr Marshall accepts people who had nothing to do with the camps got caught up in the action in October 2007.
"We didn't select Ruatoki out of a lottery as a place to visit. We went there because we knew that the illegal firearms and the people that needed to be put before the court were there. They chose Ruatoki to base themselves. It was a very difficult operation from our point of view in terms of the Urewera forest, technically difficult and time consuming, but we will do whatever we can and I don't underestimate the hurt, I don't underestimate the disappointment from people in Ruatoki. We made mistakes. We acknowledge those mistakes. In the year 2013, let's really focus on the future," he says.
Copyright © 2013, Uma Broadcasting Ltd