Some,  or should I say, most, of the public had  all but forgotten about the IPCA's (Previously Police Complaints  Authoprity)  probe into the police shooting of Steven Wallace, and many will be amazed that the inquiry was still going on behind the scenes and that a final report is due to be made public in October next.

It has wrongly been reported in some publications as a 'new probe' because of the fact that IPCA investigators were still to visit the scene and are possibly making further 'field inquiries'

It is understandable that the general public thought the issue was finalised by the initial Court hearings and it is likely that  there is quite a nest of politicians who wish it had been finally put to rest without any tarnish on any aspect of the    police image.

While on one hand the NZ Police Association has always tried to portray the shooting as entirely justified and would not even countenance the possibility of any incompetence, either of police members involved  or the policing system in general, those officials with a truely independent audit of police matters, such as coroners, were always going to sieze on some of the factors which show that while there may have been no criminal actions by police members involved, there were  factors which when finally countenenced will prove some great incompetence in both police actions or in the police training portfolio of the day.  In short they will prove that the shooting to death of Steven Wallace was totally unnecessary.

This bloger, having suffered quite a few 'slings and arrows' from both the public and policing sectors of our society, on this issue, will be glad to see the IPCA report finally put the matter to rest, but not before there is a degree of justice afforded   to Steven and his family. Hopefully, it will also reassure the public that The Authority is truely independent.