Richard Chambers

Richard Chambers (born 1972) is a New Zealand police officer who has been the Commissioner of Police having succeeded Andrew Coster on 25 November 2024.

Early life As a child, Richard Chambers had ambitions of joining the Police and owned a Police imitation helmet at the age of five. He is the son of Auckland barrister Roger Chambers.

Career Police career Chambers joined the New Zealand Police in 1996 working as a constable based at Avondale Police station. He was quickly promoted through various ranks including that of detective and inspector.

In 2005, Chambers was promoted to Inspector at the National Police Headquarters in Wellington.

In late January 2025, Chambers proposed cutting 17 executive-level Police roles and creating 20 new roles as part of a restructure of the Police leadership. Chambers denied that scrapping an executive role focusing on Māori iwi (tribe) and communities would diminish the Police's engagement with Māori, Pasifika and ethnic communities. In mid February 2025, Chambers said that the restructure would allow the Police to reinvest cost savings into frontline roles while spreading executive responsibilities.

In late May 2025, Chambers rescinded a March 2025 memo instructing Police officers not to investigate "lower value" thefts, petrol drive-offs, shoplifting and fraud crimes following media coverage. Chambers described the earlier memo as "confusing and unhelpful," and reiterated the Police's commitment to combating retail crime.

In November 2025, following the release of a report by the Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) identifying serious misconduct by senior members of the New Zealand Police during the tenure of former Commissioner Andrew Coster, Chambers publicly condemned the actions of his predecessors. The IPCA report found that senior officers, including Coster, mishandled sexual-offending complaints against then–Deputy Commissioner Jevon McSkimming, delaying referral to the authority and attempting to influence the investigation.

Chambers described the situation as “a total lack of leadership and integrity at the highest levels of the New Zealand Police,” calling it “a sad and dark day” for the organisation. He said that he had been briefed on the McSkimming matter only days before becoming Commissioner and had “absolutely no knowledge of the situation” beforehand. Chambers stated that he was relieved many of those involved were no longer with Police and pledged to rebuild public trust with a new leadership team.

In interviews following the report, Chambers rejected suggestions that the scandal represented a systemic failure within the Police, instead describing it as the misconduct of “a small group of former leaders.” He maintained that the public could continue to have confidence in the Police as an institution, while acknowledging the behaviour described in the report as “a disgrace.”

In late June 2026, Police Minister Mitchell referred two complaints against Chambers for misconduct against women to the Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) and the Police National Integrity Unit. Chambers denied the allegations and said he would cooperate with the investigation. He remains in office during the course of the two investigations.

Views and positions In November 2024, Chambers expressed disagreement with his predecessor Coster's policy of policing by consent, stating:

Chambers has also expressed support for enforcing the Gangs Act 2024, which banned gang patches.