Chambers told Phillips doco producer he'd 'love to catch up' before starting police commissioner job

The police commissioner told the producer of a documentary on the hunt for Marokopa fugitive Tom Phillips he would love to catch up, just before he began the top job.

Police have just released two pages of emails between Richard Chambers and producer Karen Rutherford.

They apologised saying they inadvertently left the emails out of a much bigger release of documents RNZ reported on last week.

Rutherford in an email titled "yay!!" told Mr Chambers on a Thursday in late November 2024 about talks with police over doing the documentary.

Chambers responded on a Saturday around 10pm, " I would love to catch up over a meal if you have time."

She emailed him again that Sunday morning saying he would want to be fully briefed and she could do the following Thursday when she was down in Wellington to meet with police communications staff.

"We are down to discuss our NZ/UK/US factual documentary on the Tom Phillips/Marokopa operation which you will need to be across anyway as we hope to work hand-in-hand with NZ Police. (Mark Mitchell is aware of this as I've mentioned to him, but Julie Christie is a friend of his and they're getting together today for a proper debrief)."

Chambers replied on Sunday afternoon that it "might be a bit tight" but he would diary it.

Next day he began his new job as commissioner.

Dame Julie Christie was chief executive of the documentary production company that got extended exclusive access to the police hunt for Phillips and his children.

Mitchell issued a three-line statement to RNZ crime correspondent Sam Sherwood on Thursday saying, "I have seen Julie at social occasions where she has talked about her work, including the documentary.

"It has always been clear that police are the decision-makers regarding documentaries and media access, as is the case in every interaction I have with media either formally or informally. They are always referred to police for decision making."

Later on Thursday, Chambers in a statement to RNZ said he met with Christie and Rutherford on November 28, 2024, in his Wellington office "for about half an hour after they had met with the media and communications staff".

"I had never met Dame Julie Christie previously. However, I have known Karen for a number of years in a professional capacity and she was keen to catch up.

"The documentary was briefly discussed, and I expressed my support knowing it was not unusual for Police to engage with production companies. After that point, beyond seeking an update on progress, I was not involved in the negotiations for the agreement."

Chambers said last week police did not handle the documentary properly and the process was under review.

The documentary crew received a text "heads up" from police comms before 7am to say Phillips "has been shot", before the family was notified.

Police have also conceded other media "were not served well".

Rutherford in her first email on November 21 had congratulated Chambers - "Great interview on ZB this morning Richard and a HUGE félicitations mon ami!"

"All the best and let's catch up ... Enjoy getting your feet under the desk, and if I'm in Wellington and you're free for 5 minutes I'll poke my head into your office for a hello."

She told him the documentary was "a wonderful opportunity to showcase the amount of work that has been going on behind the scenes for NZ Police on what has been a very high-profile operation".

He responded, "Let me know what days you are in Wellie. I would love to catch up over a meal if you have time. And sorry for the delay coming back to you. It has been a bit busy."

Her reply began: "Hiya Richard! Jeepers don't apologise you have had a huge week!"

Noting her upcoming meeting with police comms, she said, "Would love to grab a coffee at the very least, am conscious though you'll be flat out as it's your first official week! You could always sit in on our meeting as you'll want to be briefed fully to make sure you are happy with our proposal!"

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