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A rescue team in the rubble of central Christchurch following the February earthquake - Source: Supplied -
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Urban Search and Rescue are fighting back against allegations their teams looted while working in Christchurch's red zone in the days and weeks following the February 22 earthquake.
The New Zealand Fire Service says it is outrageous that the men and women who worked tirelessly and heroically in the quake aftermath have been accused of looting.
National Fire Service Commander Mike Hall strongly denies the accusation, which he describes as "scurrilous and appalling".
"The Fire Service is held in very high regard by the public and we take great pride in being regularly named as the most trusted profession in the country," he told ONE News.
Canterbury University criminologist Greg Newbold told Newstalk ZB during an interview on crime statistics yesterday that people with authority to be in the red zone took part in large scale theft during the rescue and recovery operation.
"There is a hidden area of major theft that has occurred from within the red zone and it's an area that hasn't been explored and hasn't been identified," Newbold said. "But there is lots and lots of anecdotal evidence of large scale theft occurring inside the red zone by people with authority to be within the zone.
"I'm talking about looting ... I'm talking about large amounts of money and property being taking from within the red zone by people who had authority to be within the red zone."
But Hall says Newbold's claims are not backed by any evidence.
"University academics generally take a much more responsible and careful approach to their theories and base them on evidence, not supposition."
Some red zone business owners have told ONE News that they agree with Newbold that some looting was undertaken by people allowed into the red zone.
Police told ONE News that six people including a demolition worker were arrested for theft within the cordon, but none were emergency workers.
"We have no information of any sort, other than rumour or innuendo, of any emergency service workers have been involved in any form of theft or burglary," said Christchurch police commander inspector Derek Erasmus.
No investigation
Newbold says there has been no official investigation in to the claims.
"Nothing's been investigated .... but there has certainly been a situation where shops were open and lots of stuff went missing from them and mysteriously, and some of those people who were inside the red zone are no longer in New Zealand.
"We had a lot of people ... firefighters and rescue workers from overseas... who are now back in their own countries. If they were the people pinching the stuff they will never ever be caught," Newbold said.
Newbold said looting is not uncommon during times of crisis.
"These things are inevitable, they happen in war ...soldiers do heaps of looting in war time, it happens all the time when you get urban breakdown you get a lot of looting.
"It was a time of chaos in the days following the earthquake and the police were mainly concerned with manning the cordons.
"People weren't patrolling inside making sure the people who had authority to be inside weren't thieving. They were mainly patrolling on the outside making sure the people who didn't have authority weren't getting inside."
But Hall said he thinks it is appalling that Newbold has made the allegations against his firefighters and firefighters from overseas.
"It's just beyond belief that these people would help themselves to things and take them out of the country."
An email received by ONE News from a USAR worker said the claim was "extremely hurtful".
New Zealand Professional Firefighters Union national president Steve Warner says it was several days before the cordon was around the city, so anyone could get in, meaning it was unfair to lay the blame with the authorities.
He said that firefighters in New Zealand have a high moral code and it's his understanding that all Urban Search and Rescue members were accompanied by police when in the red zone.
Do you have evidence of such theft? Email news@tvnz.co.nz
