My reaction to a new Commissioner of Police

15 comments on “My reaction to a new Commissioner of Police ”

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1. I Feel Love 1

   10 March 2020 at 9:01 am

   https://www.google.co.nz/amp/s/amp.rnz.co.nz/article/7eb47171-5308-41dd-a672-ab812ec4d3a5 when this guy was charged with threatening a building, the cops just wouldn't let it go, but the liaison cop the artist dealt with was cool and respectful, it was the upper guys in the force who just wouldn't let thus go. The judge laughed them out of court.
2. Tiger Mountain 2

   10 March 2020 at 10:11 am

   Good for you Mr Coster, welcome to leading one of the most change resistant cultures in NZ. In my view authority worshipping New Zealanders that love the Police have led a rather sheltered life or never seen the cops at work close up.

   Once I was harassed by detectives for 6 months, visits and pullovers at all hours, and friends and employer visited also, over a case I had no involvement with, but “a vehicle matching yours” was seen at the scene they claimed– my car at the time was a distinctive US V8 and I knew well it was not seen in that place. I found out later an unsavoury acquaintance, under pressure on other matters, had offered my name to Police to take the heat off himself.

   Police regularly misrepresent matters in Court, and fabricate evidence, and use excessive unwarranted force–e.g. People’s Centre case in the early 90s, including blinding Sam Buchanan in one eye with a baton. They obtain and misuse private data for all sorts of reasons, and indulge in personal vendettas that have driven some right to the edge. Several hundred Police members a year get charged with criminal offences. Evidence stores get raided or items do not make it that far.

   And being sworn, they get to take on a political role which largely seems to involve intervening in Union matters on Employers behalf, and harassing those exercising democratic freedoms of assembly, speech and association. There is a whole bunch of small special units affiliated to the SIS and GSCB but good luck with finding out what they actually do! The cops have increased powers and decreased accountability just as they are militarising and upping their weapons arsenal. Cops cannot be trusted to do as they say–pepper spray, a baton alternative, has been used as a punishment on already detained persons, Taser was meant to be a lethal force substitute, but soon became a compliance and punishment device often used contrary to medical guidelines.

   A macho, misogynist, racially biased bunch. They do some work most of us would prefer not to, but some of that really could be handled by tow truck drivers, paramedics, a proper mental health service, well funded civil defence services and housing for all!

   Lets see if Mr Coster has effected any change to this pile of after his 5 years are up. Most Commissioners leave broken men or under a cloud of some sort.
3. roblogic 3

   10 March 2020 at 11:59 am

   Police have an impossible job, they have to look the devil in the eye every day. Middle class liberals forget that there are predators out there. A lot of people get away with shit, even killing without penalty (e.g. the careless driver who killed my cousin’s daughter) and the police are often the only voice for the victims.

   Instead of cost cutting and then blaming the cops for their lack of capability perhaps we should resource them properly and help the force to recruit & retain skilled back office people, so that leaks and pratfalls become a thing of the past.
   • lprent 3.1

     10 March 2020 at 12:19 pm

     Instead of cost cutting and then blaming the cops for their lack of capability perhaps we should resource them properly and help the force to recruit & retain skilled back office people, so that leaks and pratfalls become a thing of the past.

     That is what I'd like to do. Of course that would involve not letting National back into power.

     Whenever the police get resourcing (typically when National is out of power) they tend to get a whole lot better at basic policing.

     They also have a countervailing thing that happens when they have more resources of setting up wastrel specialist units with nothing to do. That happened after September 11th 2001 and there were some appalling cases after that of police chasing various types of protest and social activists – mainly because they needed target practice. The Special Investigation Group was particularly obnoxious.

     The Operation 8 fiasco also comes to mind.
     • KJT 3.1.1

       10 March 2020 at 8:06 pm

       A distressing trend is an apparent change in emphasise within the police hierarchy.

       From "Protecting the public" which is admirable to "protecting themselves from the public". Hence the US style attempts at out weaponing the "opposition".
4. adam 4

   10 March 2020 at 2:10 pm

   Well said lprent.

   The new Armed Response Teams are a good example of this archaic militia mentality – called out somthing like 50 times more often than the Armed Offenders Squads.

   Police have been pretty piss poor when they have guns in their hands. They last police shooting on the east coast, the guy had been shot in the back.

   It's a cultural thing as well, the thin blue line conspiracy theory they keep telling themselves. This really needs to stop. People have a tendency to react to how they are treated, and if the police stopped being paranoid, they might just find they have a public which will help them.
5. mpledger 5

   10 March 2020 at 4:47 pm

   The two policemen who rammed the terrorist's car and dragged him out of car and arrested him have my greatest admiration. That took a lot of guts and showed the highest level of duty.
   • RedLogix 5.1

     10 March 2020 at 4:56 pm

     Indeed. The vast majority of cops do difficult dirty work that most of us here who like to demonise them from behind our comfy keyboards wouldn't last 10 minutes at.

     Fair go when they fuck up, as all human institutions do, but some of ill-informed spray you see coming from the left is arrant nonsense.
     • lprent 5.1.1

       10 March 2020 at 7:27 pm

       The vast majority of cops do difficult dirty work….

       Sure. I have to say that when I deal with individual police, with a few notable exceptions, I haven't had any particular issues. When I was working bars, they were my favourite people to have around. When I have dealt with the various issues around our 61 apartments – they have been great.

       But when I'm looking at their handling of the usual societal shifts as expressed in the courts then even the legal system moves faster. FFS the courts – not the police – are meant to be the generational anchor in society.

       I simply don't think much of the police organisation or their organisation's basic understanding of legal issues for anything beyond the simple when taking charges before the courts. There appears to be way too much autonomy scattered amongst an incoherent unrestructured militia organisation that belongs in the 19th century.

       That has nothing much to do with individual police – apart from the level of protection that some police have who shouldn't be in the police.

       Which is really the point that I'm making in this post. I think that is structural issue that has been largely avoided by successive police commissioners for my entire adult life.
     • KJT 5.1.2

       10 March 2020 at 7:50 pm

       There are some very good individual cops, sure, they may even be in the majority.

       When I see them, too often harassing brown kids for the crime of being brown, and driving a car, and the disregard for their rights, so often, there is definitely an attitude problem amongst way too many. It appears to be an institutional disregard for the law rather than individual cops. It contrasts markedly to their reaction to me in my "white man in a suit" mode.

       The "left" are not wrong about the authoritarian attitude and the general contempt for rules restricting police powers, when police think they can get away with it.

       The right wing is, of course, OK with criminalising silly teenagers and assaulting suspects, so long as they are not wealthy white kids.

       Part of it I think is the lack of maturity and training of young police recruits. It is a job which requires a large degree of maturity, patience and tolerance. Something I don’t think their recruitment process, addresses.
   • Chris 5.2

     10 March 2020 at 6:20 pm

     But that's what they love doing. The difference is that this time they were doing the work of the angels so they’re heroes. No doubt an opportunity to beat the fuck out of someone with impunity. They must've thought all their Christmases had come at once.
6. Antonina 6

   10 March 2020 at 7:02 pm

   Thanks LPrent – echoes my experiences ans prejudices vs police
7. Ad 7

   10 March 2020 at 8:51 pm

   I don't care about the structural moves or internal politics.

   I want to see the crime stats published loud and clear, by District, just like the DHB's.

   Compared to the last 12 months, crime is substantially up.

   https://www.police.govt.nz/sites/default/files/publications/crime-at-a-glance-jan2020.pdf
   • RedLogix 7.1

     10 March 2020 at 9:00 pm

     That is an unhappy surprise. The general trend globally since a peak in the 70's has seen crime decrease year on year. Is this year's increase statistical noise or an indicator of some underlying change? And is this unique to NZ or are we seeing something similar everywhere?

     This really does deserve some serious hard headed analysis (as distinct from self serving ideological waffle). What has gone wrong in just the past year?
     • Craig H 7.1.1

       10 March 2020 at 10:35 pm

       At a guess, more cops means people actually report stuff more.

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