The Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) is investigating complaints made against Police Commissioner Richard Chambers. Both the IPCA and Police are running separate inquiries into the matter, the IPCA announced on 25 June 2026.

The IPCA is the independent body that checks whether Police behave properly and handle complaints fairly. It confirmed it has received complaints about Chambers and investigations are under way. The details of what the complaints are have not been released publicly. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said on 29 June that he still has confidence in Chambers while the investigation continues, according to RNZ.

How we got here

This investigation doesn't happen in isolation. Questions about whether the IPCA can properly hold Police to account have been brewing since November 2025, when the Authority published a report on how Police handled complaints against a former senior officer, Jevon McSkimming. That report found the Police's own investigation into McSkimming was set up with terms that shouldn't have been used, and it identified conduct by the former officer that was inexcusable. Chambers released a public statement at the time accepting the findings.

The McSkimming report sparked a wider conversation about how Police are overseen. A government statement released the same day noted the findings had prompted new oversight steps and raised questions about whether independent oversight of Police is enough. Officials working on this issue flagged a structural problem that people in policy circles have talked about for years: the IPCA relies heavily on Police to investigate complaints against their own officers. This setup raises a question about whether the public can trust the process — and whether people are willing to come forward with complaints at all.

The problem with Police investigating Police

The IPCA looks into complaints about Police misconduct or failure to do their duty. But in practice, Police do a lot of the investigative work on complaints against their own officers. Critics say this creates an obvious conflict of interest: how hard will an organisation really investigate itself?

This isn't a new concern. In 2004, a Commission of Inquiry was set up specifically to look at whether Police officers had deliberately obstructed investigations into complaints against colleagues. The government adopted the recommendations that came from that inquiry in 2007. Another Commission of Inquiry was later established to look at how Police handled sexual assault complaints more broadly.

What's different now is that the person being investigated is the Commissioner himself — the head of the entire Police organisation. That's not the same as investigating a constable or even a senior district-level officer.

What happens next

Luxon's public backing of Chambers puts the government in an awkward spot: supporting someone who is the subject of an active investigation by an independent body. Ministers usually try to strike a balance here — saying they have confidence in someone without commenting on what an investigation might find — and Luxon appears to be following that approach. How long the government can hold that line will depend on what the IPCA actually finds and how soon it reports.

The IPCA is a Crown entity that operates independently from both government and Police. Its findings aren't binding like a court judgment, but they carry real weight and have historically led to changes in how Police operate and even changes to the law.

For now, Chambers remains in his job, the investigation is proceeding, and the Prime Minister has made his position clear. The next major moment will come when the IPCA finishes its inquiry and releases what it found.