Labour's police candidate Rakesh Naidoo won't hit back at police leadership
Labour's police candidate Rakesh Naidoo has declined to fire back at police top brass over their public criticism of his move into politics, telling RNZ he would not do anything differently with hindsight and pointing to an internal review that cleared him of wrongdoing.
In his first interview since being recruited by Labour, Naidoo said he bore no grudge toward Police Commissioner Richard Chambers or Police Minister Mark Mitchell, both of whom publicly criticised his candidacy when it was announced in June. Chambers and Mitchell argued the superintendent should have declared his political intentions earlier. (RNZ)
An internal police review concluded Naidoo had complied with police policy, though it noted it would have been "prudent" for him to have given his superiors more advance warning. A separate police investigation into possible leaks to Labour also cleared him, with Commissioner Chambers declining to comment on that outcome. (NZ Herald)
Naidoo received an apology from Assistant Commissioner Tim Anderson, which he said he was thankful for. Asked whether he also wanted an apology from Chambers, Naidoo said only that he respected the process.
He declined to repeat Labour leader Chris Hipkins' criticism of the Commissioner, who Hipkins called a "bad employer" for casting aspersions on an officer with "no evidential base behind it". (RNZ)
Naidoo walked through the timeline of his recruitment in detail. He said he was first approached by a Labour member in February about the possibility of standing as a list candidate — under MMP, parties rank candidates on a list, and their position determines whether they enter Parliament based on the party's share of the vote. He described that initial conversation as "very much a hypothetical". He told his supervisor in May that he was giving the idea serious consideration. He then informed police in June, when he decided to attend a formal Labour committee meeting at which he was offered a list spot, and notified both police and the Labour Party the following day. (RNZ)
Earlier reporting indicated Naidoo told his police boss he was considering standing as a Labour candidate about two weeks before his candidacy selection. (RNZ)
Asked directly whether he would do anything differently with hindsight, Naidoo said "no".
On the question of institutional racism within police, Naidoo told RNZ he did not believe it existed, and said he had not personally witnessed any racism during his nearly 25 years in the force. (RNZ)
He declined to share his views on specific law and order policy, including the gang patch ban, saying it would be "highly inappropriate" given his recent involvement in policing.
The broader context here is the unusual dynamic of a serving police superintendent transitioning directly into partisan politics while still employed by the organisation. The public rebuke from both the Commissioner and the Minister, followed by an internal review that found no policy breach and a leak investigation that produced the same result, has placed the police leadership's handling of the matter under its own scrutiny. Naidoo's refusal to escalate, combined with Anderson's apology and Chambers' silence after the leak investigation cleared, leaves the original criticism from police leadership looking less defensible than it may have appeared in June.
For Labour, Naidoo's candidacy brings a senior law enforcement figure onto the party's list at a time when law and order is a contested political battleground. His decision not to weigh in on policy specifics, while defensible given his recency of service, does limit his immediate usefulness as a spokesperson on the portfolio he knows best. That may change once the campaign is further underway and he is further removed from his police role.
