Police had lack of intelligence about Molenaar

JAN MOLENAAR: Shot himself dead after a two day siege, in which he killed Senior Constable Len Snee.

Len Snee

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The presence of an extra police officer at the search of Jan Molenaar's home may have meant the death of Senior Constable Len Snee was avoided, coroner David Crerar said today.

Mr Snee was shot by Molenaar as he left the gunman's Napier property on May 8 last year. Molenaar subsequently held police at bay for several days before turning his gun on himself.

Mr Crerar released his findings into both deaths today.

He found police had a lack of appropriate intelligence about Molenaar.

He agreed with police that Molenaar's response to a police search was totally disproportionate to the seriousness of the incident.

He found that Mr Snee died as a result of wounds from gunshots fired by Molenaar and that Molenaar died from a from a self-inflicted bullet wound to the head.

In a statement released today, police noted that the coroner had agreed with their view that Molenaar's reaction to what was a routine search was "extreme and totally out of proportion".

Among the coroner's recommendations are a review of the Arms Act.

"At present the Arms Act is only complied with by honest people," Mr Crerar said.

The policy of tracking MSSA's - military style assault rifles - and confirming the type of firearm that is an MSSA must be looked at again. 

The Thorpe Report recommended the banning of all MSSAs, including those in "sporting configuration".

Superintendent John Rivers, of the Operations Support Group said a total ban on MSSAs was rejected when the Arms Amendment Act was being developed.  There were  already between 12,000 and 15,000 such weapons in the country including those used legitimately by deer hunters and shooting competitors.

The outcome was to treat MSSAs the same as pistols and restricted weapons, he said.

Mr Rivers said police were already acting on all the recommendations made by the Coroner and would shortly suggest changes to the Act to police minister Judith Collins, he said.

Police had given "careful consideration" to the recommendations of the report which formed part of current police practice, although this was not necessarily expressed in legislation, he said.

Other recommendations by Mr Crerar include speeding up the rollout of the police digital radios, the programme of reviewing and simplifying police "General Instructions" should receive "prompt attention" while procedures for executing search warrants should be upgraded to increase officer safety.

Mr Crerar said procedures for the execution of all search warrants by the police should be upgraded to ensure that:

-All supervisors are aware of warrants being executed by their staff

-Adequate numbers of police officers attend the execution of search warrants

-There are improved tools and equipment available to staff and that appropriate training in risk assessment and other tasks is given

-There is a continuing monitoring of staff in their use of personal protection equipment.

Mr Rivers said the digital radio rollout had already begun, with police in Wellington and Wairarapa having used the system since June 2009.

The greater Auckland and Canterbury regions will be switched over to the new system by the end of the year while the rest of the country would be covered by 2014.

"This is a complex, technical solution and it is being implemented as quickly as possible."

The review of police General Instructions began in 2008 and is almost complete. The review of the Operational GIs is 97 per cent complete, he said.

"Since the shootings of Sergeant Don Wilkinson and Senior Constable Len Snee there has been a much closer assessment of risks taken into account throughout the organisation when planning the execution of search warrants," he said.

- The Dominion Post and NZPA