Pubdate: Sat, 01 May 2004
Source: Otago Daily Times (New Zealand)
Copyright: 2004 Allied Press Limited
Contact:  http://www.stuff.co.nz/otago
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/925

LONG-RUNNING DISPUTE ON STRESS AND ADDICTION

Undercover Police Settle

Wellington (NZPA) : Up to 19 undercover police officers have reached a 
confidential settlement over their long-running claim against police for 
stress and drug addiction.

Police management reached the agreement with the officers at the High Court 
in Wellington yesterday.

The terms were confidential, but did include rehabilitation and retraining 
for the officers.

Former Police Association secretary and lawyer Rob Moodie, who has been a 
facilitator for the officers since 2002, said he could not discuss specific 
details about the settlement because it was confidential.

But the officers were happy with the outcome and were very pleased that 
Police Commissioner Rob Robinson have given the officers the opportunity to 
settle, he said.

"I am very comfortable with it and very pleased to see a 10-year saga 
drawing to a close in a satisfactory way. There is closure on it and they 
now have opportunities for assistance."

Dr Moodie said undercover policing remained risky.

"The undercover programme will always produce casualties. It's better 
monitored and better managed than it has ever been. But drugs are getting 
more potent and even the secondary inhalation of smoke and vapours from 
some of these drugs is quite damaging.

"Undercover work is some of the most dangerous work you can do in the 
police and certainly the most scary," he said.

"What has been put in place for these people will have a long-term role"

The exact number of officers covered in the settlement was unclear. Dr 
Moodie said it was "the majority" of the 19 former officers. A police 
spokeswoman said they understood the number was "in double figures".

Five other former undercover officers were paid about $480,000 last year in 
a Police Association-negotiated settlement. The individual pay-outs varied 
depending upon each case.

All the officers claimed they suffered post-traumatic stress disorder and 
became addicted to cannabis and other drugs as a result of working 
undercover. They claimed it also affected their career prospects.

The dispute began in the early 1990s. The association had spent at least 
$800,000 in legal fees and the Crown Law Office a similar amount by May 
last year.
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