CANNABIS FOUND IN OFFICER'S CAR

A policewoman banned from the Christchurch Casino after a drunken fracas is
facing disciplinary action over a car crash where cannabis was found in her
car.

The officer, who was off duty at the time, and a male friend were
travelling around the city together when the crash occurred.

Both were out of the car by the time police arrived at the crash scene and
found a foil of cannabis inside. Her vehicle was impounded by police.

The lawyer representing the policewoman, Jonathan Eaton, has confirmed the
police are taking no action over the cannabis.

However, the officer faces internal disciplinary action relating to her
involvement in the crash.

The Canterbury police district commander, Superintendent John Reilly, would
not comment on the incident. He said it was an internal employment issue
and a matter before the Police Tribunal.

The policewoman was breath-tested at the scene, then asked to accompany an
officer back to the police station for an evidential breath test.

She later indicated she would lay a complaint that she was unlawfully
detained by the officer, but it is unclear what happened to the complaint.

In January last year the same policewoman, also off duty, was served a
trespass notice barring her from the casino for two years, after a conflict
with a security manager.

Police and casino security reports on the incident, obtained by The Press,
show the woman became upset and left the casino after she was refused
alcohol because she was intoxicated.

She returned three times within an hour and a half and was refused entry
each time. Security shift manager Paul Anderson said that the woman told
him she was a police officer.

His incident report said that the woman became "very upset and aggressive
in her manner" and he offered her a taxi ride home.

"She was virtually begging to come in," he wrote.

On the officer's third attempt to enter the casino, Mr Anderson rang the
police.

A senior sergeant arrived, confirmed the woman was a police officer, and
drove her home.

Less than half an hour later, Mr Anderson said the policewoman returned and
verbally abused him, saying "... that was my boss that came".

He told her to leave as she continued to berate him, using obscene language.

When the senior sergeant returned to the casino, with another senior
sergeant, the woman was taken to an interview room and Mr Anderson served
the trespass notice. She acknowledged she had problems and signed a form
barring herself from the casino.

A police inspector rated the incident as a "minor" disciplinary matter in
his report.

"... having said that, the behaviour is clearly unacceptable and puts the
constable at risk, should it become ongoing."