Other Stuff
Police recruit fingered by himself
07 September 2005
By NICK CHURCHOUSE
A new police recruit got more than expected when he was betrayed by his own
fingerprint at police college.
Taking part in a standard fingerprinting exercise at Porirua's Royal New Zealand
Police College three weeks ago, the recruit's print matched him to an
outstanding warrant for a serious assault. He was arrested late last week.
Training commander Superintendent Alistair Beckett said screening processes were
demanding and extensive but never foolproof.
"And so if somebody like that is intent on coming on in, it's got to be somebody
who's able to defeat quite an extraordinary process.
"It's extremely rare, to be honest. By and large, the people we get are top of
the line, top drawer. They normally don't have things from the past they want to
hide."
Starting from the October intake, all recruit applicants would be fingerprinted
before training.
The recruit will appear in Christchurch District Court later this week.