Face of the Day

A rookie constable leaked police intelligence to her gang member boyfriend shortly after starting her new career, the Herald can reveal.

The case raises serious questions about the vetting of police recruits and highlights the growing threat of corruption posed by organised crime in New Zealand. [...]

Knowing her boyfriend’s gang affiliation, Smith sent him the name of someone she described as a “snitch”. [...]

In December 2022, [Summer Moana Pearl Smith] took a photo of the gang member’s profile on the National Intelligence Application (NIA), the police computer system.

She also took a photo of a list of all the cars and motorcycles linked to him. [...]

“It’s definitely wrong and um, like yeah, I knew I shouldn’t be doing it,” Smith told the detectives. [...]

“I did take a screen shot that I showed him, um and that was only because I was sleeping with him,” Smith told the detectives.

“I knew he was a bit of a bad boy… it was definitely stupid. Um, yeah, ah very f***ed up from me and I shouldn’t have done it.” [...]

Smith was arrested and charged with corrupt use of official information, accessing a computer system for a dishonest purpose and possession of a Class-A drug.

The prosecution was shrouded in suppression orders until Smith, now 32, pleaded guilty at the Manukau District Court earlier this month.

The offences carry a maximum penalty of seven years in prison.