Off-duty police officers drank to excess and behaved inappropriately on the night a constable indecently assaulted his colleague, the Independent Police Conduct Authority has ruled.

Auckland constable Jamie Foster was jailed in 2020 after assaulting a fellow officer after a night of drinking.

The wider group of officers had been deployed to Northland’s Kerikeri to police the 2019 Waitangi Day commemorations.

During Foster’s trial, the court was played numerous hours of CCTV showing off-duty officers drinking at their motel and playing stripping games.

“Our investigation found that, while the officers were entitled to drink alcohol while off-duty, the level of consumption clearly led to a general lack of professionalism and respect for the public-facing environment and the context of the deployment,” the IPCA said on Thursday.

“There were several examples of unprofessional and inappropriate language and behaviour that evening, including the use of an improvised vessel as part of a drinking challenge, and an officer exposing his genitals to his colleagues.

“These actions negatively affected Police’s reputation.”

The Waitangi incident was one of four the IPCA investigated.

Assistant police commissioner Richard Chambers said the police acknowledged the report.

“Police has previously commented on the incident during the Waitangi deployment and at the time acknowledged that the behaviour of the officers’ involved was completely unacceptable and extremely concerning.”

MORE TO COME.