The Glock was provided to an associate and sold for $10,000. Karehana did not know it was going to be sold, but received $5000.
The firearm has since been recovered.
Karehana, of Marton and posted in Whanganui, was charged with theft and unlawful possession of a firearm arising from the same incident.
Today, he appeared in Whanganui District Court, where he pleaded guilty to both charges and his interim name suppression lapsed.
NZME understands he has resigned from New Zealand police.
According to the accepted summary of facts, read at the hearing by Crown prosecutor Cherie Clarke, appearing for police, an audit of police-owned firearms in the Central District policing area took place in March.
The audit confirmed the Glock was missing and presumed stolen.
It had been stored in a locked gun safe at Whanganui Police Station.
Before the Glock vanished, Karehana asked an associate if they would be able to “get rid of a gun” if he delivered one to them.
The associate advised they could.
On the day the firearm was stolen, Karehana entered the station to begin his shift and removed two Glock pistols and two M4 rifles from a gun safe and put them into lockboxes in a police vehicle.
He and a colleague then travelled to a site on Victoria St, Whanganui, where his team were based.
That afternoon, Karehana returned to the station alone and accessed the gun safe containing the Glock he stole, and placed it in his backpack.
He later delivered it to his associate, who gave it to another associate for $10,000.
“The defendant did not know that his associate was going to on-sell the weapon,” Clarke read from the summary.
However, $5000 was delivered to Karehana that evening.
The Glock was recovered by police in June and when spoken to by police, Karehana denied the offending.
In court, Judge Bruce Davidson entered the convictions and ordered a pre-sentence report.
Karehana was remanded on bail with conditions including that he surrender his passport.
He will appear in court on December 4 for sentencing.
Recruitment campaign and leadership award
In the recruitment campaign, Karehana described his path to policing as far from straightforward.
At the time, he told NZME that when he first applied 20 years earlier, he was turned down due to a criminal charge from his youth that was dealt with by way of diversion.
He said he was encouraged to gain more life experience and stay out of trouble before reapplying.
When he was finally accepted in 2023, he said it felt “surreal”.
Karehana said he wanted to inspire the next generation.
Steven Karehana appeared in Whanganui District Court, where he was convicted of theft and unlawful possession of a firearm.
“I’ve come from a background where, in my family, they don’t get on with police, and I wanted to try and change that narrative,” he told NZME.
“If I can inspire one young Māori boy, then, you know, it’s worthwhile.”
His advice to recruits was to “bring your authentic self”.
“Don’t change to fit the organisation, because the organisation wants you for who you are,” he said.
A police statement announcing the October 2024 graduation of Recruit Wing 378 said Karehana had received the leadership award.
“This is the beginning of our journey in the New Zealand Police, but for all of us graduating, there are many people who have sacrificed and worked hard to allow us to be here, and we are very grateful. We could not have done it without you,” Karehana said at the time.
“The call to service is one few answer, but it is a selfless sacrifice to put community above self and by graduating today we have all joined a proud and selfless organisation.”
Police in court
Karehana is one of several police employees or former employees before the courts, charged with criminal offending.
Also in Whanganui, Senior Constable Peter Elliot Gray, 61, has been accused of tipping off suspected drug dealers about planned police search warrants.
Gray, who is suspended on full pay, faces a charge of using a computer system for dishonest purposes and a representative charge of wilfully attempting to pervert the course of justice.
He is also charged with possessing a cannabis plant, two glass pipes used for smoking methamphetamine, and a pipe for consuming cannabis.
In June, New Zealand police announced three constabulary staff had been charged after a rapid internal review of staff internet use following the Jevon McSkimming scandal.
Matthew Rogers was one of two Auckland-based officers charged and has pleaded guilty to a representative count of possessing an objectionable publication. The other officer, who cannot be named, has pleaded guilty to the same charge.
The third officer, who also cannot be named, has appeared in Wellington District Court charged with 10 counts of possessing an objectionable publication.
Other recent Auckland cases include a former police officer found guilty of 14 charges relating to assaults on three women while he was in the force; another who pleaded guilty to making and possessing intimate recordings of three women; and officer Amanuel Molla, who was stood down after being charged with doing an indecent act on a child under 12.
Tara Shaskey is an assistant editor and reporter for the Open Justice team. She joined NZME in 2022 and has worked as a journalist since 2014.
Join the NZ Herald’s Open Justice team for Case by Case, a video and podcast series examining the disputes and decisions making headlines across New Zealand.