The search for Tom Phillips: cop reveals dangers of the task at hand

Photos appear to show wanted man Tom Phillips and this three children walking through a farm in Marokopa.Supplied

The response has drawn criticism from some, including former senior police detective turned private investigator, Bruce Currie, who said he was surprised the sighting did not lead to the location of the family.

“We have tracking experts in the NZ Army that could have been employed at short notice and brought this saga to an end.

“It is unbelievable that that search has not been successful.”

However, a current police officer who spent several years working in search and rescue spoke with Stuff about the obstacles and dangers staff face in the search.

The officer, who is not involved in the operation, spoke with Stuff on the condition of anonymity.

He said by the time the call came into police it would have been about to get dark, with staff dealing with a huge area of land where there would be limited cell reception.

Such a search would require a team capable of going bush on standby, usually such searches were done with a group of at least four.

“It's a completely different thing when you've got people who are just lost in the bush that want to be found which is already challenging enough.

“This is someone who adamantly doesn't want to be found, is armed, he's keeping to his own code of morals or ethics but by average Joe’s standards he's unhinged and allegedly he's robbed a bank and another store in order to fund his escapades.”

Another question for staff would be how they would get to the location, would they use choppers to drop them in, or would they be using vehicles to go over land.

“Putting a team together by sort of what is already first light the next morning means that from a search and rescue planning perspective there would've been teams working on that all night bringing up maps figuring out what the communication options were going to be. Are we going to have to drop in a radio repeater tower?

"You want to talk to the farmer who owned the land where they were seen, and get an idea of what is conditions are like … you need someone who has actually been there and can say oh yeah that's steeper than it looks or we've seen tracks before indicating people might pass this way… there’s so many considerations, getting together by first light the next morning is already hard work.”

Among the suggestions raised have been whether police used drones or night vision equipment.

The police officer who spoke to Stuff said a police helicopter may have been able to get to the scene “pretty quick,” however the thick foliage would have made things difficult.

“Even if you've got powerful binoculars and special equipment, you're a few hundred metres up trying to a grid search of a landscape that - suppose it took an hour for the police chopper to fly there they could've already gone to ground in so many ways."

Graphic of Tom Phillips, with his children Jayda, Maverick, and Ember. Julia and Neville Phillips house and farm in Marokopa.

The safety of the staff involved as well as Phillips and his three children was also a major concern.

"Even if you got police there if you got an armed person in the bush, you're in their home turf. They've got every advantage, they can spot you from any angle, at any vantage point and you've got maybe some bush cover but all sorts of ways in which you could be exposed and put at risk.

“You imagine if you sent people in and someone got shot you'd look terrible for sending people in that are not equipped to deal with that risk.

“It's very unsafe doing a bush search, it might help us narrow down an area, might find some clues. But what you really want is to be able to negotiate and talk to the guy. You try to start track him through the bush that's really hard you might be forcing a confrontation and making it all more dangerous for everyone."

Even with an hour head start, it would be “very hard” for those involved in the search to catch up on people dressed in camouflage who know the area well.

“He must have supply depots, regular camp sites, waterholes, places he knows he can wait out a long period while the helicopter flies over.”

The police officer believes the staff involved in the three-day search would’ve “hit the area pretty hard”.

"Your typical SAR operation is very thorough on the debrief. The teams are assigned to search whatever kind of areas are deemed feasible that they could search within that time but they can't go sprinting through the bush because you'll miss clues.

“So they work their way methodically and then at the end of the day they have to do a debrief reporting sheet and go, OK this is what we found however big, however small.

“That all gets collated and then that will inform the management who kind of goes OK where do we put the teams the next day."

“It's always about probability really, and increasing your probability of detection and spending your time in the right area."

The police officer said there must be people helping Phillips, whether they were actively assisting him or leaving things at depots knowing he will help himself.

10102024 Photo RICKY WILSON/STUFFJohn McOvineyTaumatamoana Station His grandson saw Tom Phillips whilst out pig huntingRICKY WILSON / Stuff

"If people are imagining a scenario where you're going to come across him and he's going to throw his hands up and go oh you've got me you can have the kids back and the kids are going to yippee.

"We've got to be prepared for it to go many other ways. If we can narrow down where he might be and get some cordons in place and then hopefully begin negotiations from there that would be great.

“It's just such a dangerous thing to just go following him around the bush like that when he's been thinking about this full-time for years and how that might go."

The police officer said the sighting suggested the children were physically coping with their lifestyle.

“We all worry about the psychological impact and resolution feels long overdue, but urgency needs to be considered based around the safety and well-being of all involved, we can’t rush in blind because our egos are bruised.

“We also can’t magic up resources in an instant for a situation that, while ongoing, is unprecedented.”

He said it would be “naive” to think police could just call in an army tracking specialist.

“The army may have people with the skills, but the army loves a plan more than anyone, they have a huge chain of command.

“They don’t send in lone wolves, no one does. It takes a carefully coordinated team.”

Daylight and patience were the best assets for any search.

“Phillips is a hunter, at home in the bush. He will have reasonable tracking skills too and an awareness of how to minimise his trial. So tracking can’t be rushed.”

Detective Inspector Andrew Saunders earlier said, for operational security reasons, he would not provide details of when police arrived on the ground last week, or specific details around the resources involved.

He did say they conducted a three-day search with air support from the police helicopter and an air force helicopter.

“While we cannot go into detail, we want to reassure the public that we have the resources in place to respond to any information or reports of sightings that come in.”

It was John McOviney’s teenage grandson who spotted the family while out with his mates shooting at their farm about 4km from Marokopa.

Duo who robbed bank in Te Kuiti flee the scene on a motorbike. 06092023 Police now say they think one of the people involved in the robbery is missing Marokopa dad Tom Phillips. Newslink

Stuff spoke to the two boys at the farm, where they have been docking sheep during school holidays and going hunting in the evenings.

They wanted their names withheld because they have been getting blowback on social media.

The boy who spoke to the Phillips family - a mate of the grandson of farm owner John McOviney, told Stuff that it was the eldest girl, Jayda, who replied.

“I said ‘this is private property’, and she was like, ‘yeah ... duh’. Then I asked, ‘does anyone know you’re on here’ and she said ‘no, just you guys’.”

And that was it. The family kept walking, in the direction of a neighbouring farm and towards Marokopa.

McOviney’s farm house, halfway between Kawhia Harbour to the north and Marokopa to the south, is more than an hour to the nearest towns, Te Awamutu and Otorohanga.