Spare time

Written By: - Date published: 10:30 am, November 18th, 2011 - 21 comments
Categories: crime, john key - Tags:

John Key says that it’s OK for the Police to waste time trying to intimidate the media on his behalf because they have “spare time” with the drop in crime. There were 220,000 unsolved crimes last year including 8 homicides. The cops solved 15,000 fewer crimes than the previous year. Don’t tell me they’re sitting around waiting to do the PM’s bidding.

21 comments on “Spare time ”

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  1. the sprout 1
    18 November 2011 at 10:44 am

    but to be fair, there is no greater act of fiendish criminality than asking the PM to be accountable for what he said 😉

  2. queenstfarmer 2
    18 November 2011 at 10:48 am

    That’s not exactly what he said, but what did say was idiotic enough. He’s on a roll, that’s for sure.

    • ghostwhowalksnz 2.1
      18 November 2011 at 12:55 pm

      No wonder he got so far up the tree at Wall St.

      He will gamble all when he is personally threatened.

  3. Jim Nald 3
    18 November 2011 at 11:16 am

    If they have spare time like the PM says, it is time to take the axe to those at the frontline with the spare time. More savings can be made by reducing the spare-time cops.
    Time to cut slash cut slash cut slash.

  4. fmacskasy 4
    18 November 2011 at 12:18 pm

    Police Association Greg O’Connor seemed a bit miffed… http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10766877

    I can understand why. It’s not a “good look” to suggest that police are standing around, thumb-twiddling, waiting for Hamburglar to run across their path…

  5. Dan1 5
    18 November 2011 at 1:48 pm

    That silly bird on TV this morning saying he was joking!

  6. Rob A 6
    18 November 2011 at 2:21 pm

    We were burgled a few months ago, all the police did was send a letter with a number to give the insurance company, they never even asked what was taken.

    Thanks Mr Key

  7. Nick C 7
    18 November 2011 at 7:15 pm

    A very stupid comment.

    But I dont agree that the case is not worth police time. Perhaps you think this tape should be released but what about when a journalist ‘accidentally’ picks up David Cunliffes laptop instead of his own after a press conference and decides to go through his emails?

    • Draco T Bastard 7.1
      18 November 2011 at 8:17 pm

      But I dont agree that the case is not worth police time.

      It’s not worth police time. The law is fairly clear that a conversation in a public space isn’t private.

      Perhaps you think this tape should be released but what about when a journalist ‘accidentally’ picks up David Cunliffes laptop instead of his own after a press conference and decides to go through his emails?

      That would be a crime. The journo would find out fairly quickly that it wasn’t his PC and that he had no right to access it. The PC isn’t a public conversation.

      • Nick C 7.1.1
        19 November 2011 at 12:55 am

        Lanth: Of course you cant accidentally go though someones emails. But you can accidentally pick up the wrong laptop and once you realise decide to go through the emails anyway. Here the journo ‘accidentally’ recorded the conversation. But he then deliberatly listened to it, showed it to his editors and made copies of it.

        Draco: No the legal issue is more complicated than that.

    • Lanthanide 7.2
      18 November 2011 at 9:00 pm

      I don’t know how someone would “accidentally” go through someone elses emails. Surely after you looked at the subjects you’d think “these don’t look like mine”, and after clicking on any one of them, you’d know it.

      Completely stupid drivvel Nick, try again.

    • Maggie May 7.3
      18 November 2011 at 10:23 pm

      David Cunliff does not have public meetings with John Banks nor does he invite the media and above all David Cunliff does not lie.

      To compare the two men is to be of grave dis-service to David Cunliffe.

      I would prefer to believe david Cunliff any day, he has better friends too.

    • felix 7.4
      19 November 2011 at 8:28 am

      Nick C, when you write a heading like “A very stupid comment”, it’s a good idea to use bold or ALLCAPS to make it clear that you’re taking the piss.

  8. appleboy 8
    18 November 2011 at 10:13 pm

    Key has lost the plot…that comment was just plain stupid. I’ve seen the clip – Key is not subtle enough to do deadpan. He was for real….

  9. Adele 9
    19 November 2011 at 8:17 am

    As an aside, I don’t believe that the crime rate has reduced. The measures introduced by National haven’t worked elsewhere and in fact have exacerbated conditions within the criminal justice system particularly to the cost of meting out revenge and retribution without a corresponding improvement in safety and security in the streets and in homes.

    The current punitive justice system is unsustainable into the future and, relatively, very little money is targeting rehabilitation or reducing the drivers of crime.

    I personally think the statistics have been skewed, either by re-interpreting the data sets or re-configuring the responses i.e. they have been manipulated to show improvement. So, the Police don’t have time to pursue what is effectively a trivial matter in the lives of many confronted by real crime such as murder, death, kill, and burglaries.

  10. Baboosh Madango 10
    19 November 2011 at 9:40 am

    Gee, obviously Banks forgot to inform Key that the Police will be tied up trying to catch the wave of Polynesians and Maori coming through the windows of peace-loving Epsom households.

  11. randal 11
    19 November 2011 at 11:51 am

    kweewee isa lamebrianed flee witha good stock of smart answers.
    time for national to go.
    now!