Report from RNZ by Te Aniwa Hurihanganui and Hamish Cardwell Police in the Wairarapa have admitted to illegally taking photos of youths after RNZ alerted them to multiple reports of officers stopping and photographing young Māori on the street. Whānau describe their sons walking alone during the day, when police have approached and insisted they take their picture. Marlene Harris said it happened to her son while he was walking home alone one afternoon in Masterton two years ago. He was just 15 years old at the time. “He was just walking from his dad’s house back to my house and he was just minding his own business, walking along the street,” she said. “From what he can remember, there were two cops in the car. They just pulled up beside him and said that they needed to get his photo taken, or they would need to take him in.”