Police have apologised to the family of a murdered Hamilton woman and say they could have prevented her death if they had acted sooner.
Police accept the findings of an Independent Police Conduct Authority report which found multiple failings in the way police handled emergency calls in January 2010 regarding escaped mental health patient Christine Morris who was threatening to kill neighbour Diane White.
The report made public on Thursday says the 53-year-old's death in Hamilton could have been prevented if police had responded appropriately to emergency calls.
Christine Morris killed Mrs White hours after escaping from the Henry Bennett Centre and is serving a life sentence for murder, with a non-parole period of 10 years.
The 43-year-old left the centre at 10am. After faxing and calling police and getting no response, a nurse dialled 111 just after 11am to say the woman was missing and had been making death threats to a neighbour called Diane.
The dispatcher failed to pass on that Morris was profoundly deaf and did not ask more questions about the threat, her mental state and how police should approach her.
Police received three 111 calls over a period of 80 minutes, but failed to respond to the second emergency call which advised where Morris was at the time.
The IPCA said on Thursday that police mistook the second emergency call reporting Morris' location for a repeat of the original call reporting her escape. It said that if police had responded, Diane White could still be alive today.
Assistant Police Commissioner Allan Boreham said a dispatcher failed to alert officers after receiving the second 111 call and admits their mistake. He told Radio New Zealand's Checkpoint programme police accept the IPCA's findings and admits police failed to protect Mrs White.
Mr Boreham said police would consider compensation if it is requested. "The question of compensation hasn't been raised with us ... if the family came to us and asked about compensation we would consider that on its merits then."
Mr Boreham said an apology was made to Mrs White's family on Wednesday.
Police say they have made improvements in technology and staff training, but Diane White's former partner said on Thursday that is just talk.
Gary Chadderton told Checkpoint police are simply trying to save face and similar mistakes will still be made in the future.
Mr Chadderton said there were plenty of warnings that Mrs White was in danger, which were ignored.
