The New Zealand Police is marking 10 years of better behaviour, but recent victims of alleged sexual assault have told Newshub they are still being let down by police.
Louise Nicholas's claims of rape by police officers in the 1980s sparked a Commission of Inquiry into police practices and culture, and Police were found to be wanting on both counts.
Over the last decade all 47 of the Commission's recommendations have been put in place.
"I want people to absolutely trust us. Trust that we will do the best by them, if people don't have a good experience let us know and we will do everything we can to fix that," Police Commissioner Mike Bush said.
He says now victims are at the heart of every operation and all officers must treat victims with respect, professionalism and empathy.
"Empathy means not judging, we are not there to judge. We are there to support we are there to help and we are there to empathise."
But that's not Carol's experience. She says she suffered years of sexual abuse from her former partner who then allegedly raped her twice after they broke up.
She says police didn't uphold those values of empathy and respect when dealing with her complaint against the man.
"After about three months they sent me an email. The email said that he had been interviewed and he strongly denied the allegations and he was trying to move on with his life and the file was now closed," she told Newshub.
She wanted to discuss the case further, but wasn't told any more information. She says she should have been told the investigation was dropped in person.
She told Newshub she wishes she had never gone to police.
"Because I have all this extra trauma with the way police treated me as well as dealing with the assaults."
Newshub has also learned of another woman's poor experience. After making a sexual assualt complaint, police sent her a letter admitting taking too long to address her case and that the Detective had an "ezy ozy ho hum" attitude towards her.
Police apologised and said it was unacceptable.
The Police Commissioner said they'll always investigate victim's complaints.
Newshub.
