Support voiced for police rugby club

Press, 17 April 1982, Page 7

Support voiced for police rugby club

PA Wellington Almost an equal number of people who complained about the alleged misbehaviour of some Hamilton police rugby players holidaying in Rarotonga have approached investigating officers to say that the team’s behaviour was perfectly acceptable. An inquiry, co-ordinated by the Hamilton district com-

mander, was ordered after 10 New Zealanders staying in the same motel as the offduty policemen complained in a letter to the Commissioner of Police, Mr R. J. Walton, that the police were rowdy and inconsiderate towards other guests.

Hamilton’s acting commander, Superintendent Norman Hardy, said yesterday that the complaints came from people living in several parts of New Zealand. Officers in these districts were interviewing the writers and until the exact nature of their complaints was known the inquiry could not begin in earnest.

“One of the- most surprising things is that we, and the local press, are now getting unsolicited, calls from people who were also on holiday saying that the complaints have been exaggerated," said Mr Hardy. “The number of calls is almost equal -to the number of complaints.”

The chairman of the Hamilton Police Social Rugby Club, Constable Neil Paterson, said that club members would co-operate fully with any internal police inquiry into allegations of bad behaviour on the private trip to Rarotonga. He said that the visit to Rarotonga had been a wellbehaved social rugby trip.