A Māori response during a fatal car accident has helped make police procedures more empathetic.
The family of 18-year-old Te Auta Johns of Waikato-Tainui, who tragically died at the scene, has been helping police understand how Māori protocol can assist other grieving families.
His aunt, Louise Edwards, remembers him fondly.
“He was the life of the party, such a great kid, such a great kid and loved by everyone. We come from such a very close whānau and Te Auta has been the first to go,” she says.
On March 25 this year, Te Auta Johns and his cousin were in a car accident. Te Auta died at the scene, with Edwards and Suzanne Kahui, Te Auta’s mother, by his side.
His mother recalls: “In my mind, to process all of what was happening beside me and then just walking up to him, seeing him where he lay, I think it was just a shock of then visually seeing that there was nothing that I could do to bring him back.”
Blurring the boundaries
In an unusual move, police allowed the family to stay with Te Auta for the eight hours it took to clear the accident scene.
“Manaakitanga was expressed at the moment we arrived. When I think of our tikanga Māori, those expressions that police enabled to blur some of those boundaries they have, to allow us to be able to express our pouritanga at such a horrific accident scene,” Edwards says.
Police Counties Manukau South community supervisor, Sergeant Wayne Paxton talks about the police response: “It’s about the team; it’s what we can do as an organisation; can I make my bosses proud, can I make the organisation proud, can I make our community proud, and I hope that out of that day, that’s what happened.”
Soon after, police asked the family to meet Manukau police to talk about why, as Māori, it was important to them to be with Te Auta.
Police Counties ManukauSouth area commander, Joe Hunter, says, “It has meant a lot.
“I’ve mentioned to whānau a number of times, I won’t forget the gift that they’ve given us. I won’t forget Te Auta. There are a whole number of things within our leadership space locally that reflect what we’ve been taught and what we have been exposed to through this.”
Footage of the wānanga will be shared with police as a legacy to Te Auta Johns (April 16, 2004 - March 25, 2023)