Wasting Police time

Written By: - Date published: 8:50 am, October 20th, 2011 - 19 comments
Categories: activism, law and "order", police, Spying - Tags:

Anyone noticed the sudden overbearing presence of Police at peaceful protests? Bugging Greenpeace and intimidating lawful activists. 25 Police at a 150-strong anti-deepsea drilling protest in Tauranga. 12 officers at a 60 worker picket at CMP Rangitikei. Are they just hyper because of the Cup or is it about shielding businesses from people exercising their democratic right to protest?

There were 220K unsolved crimes last year. Maybe looking into them would be a better use of resources than this bullshit.

Oh, and by the by, no way should the Police be charging for their services at major events. The right to safety at public gatherings is not dependent on your ability or willingness to pay the Police money. They’re not a private security firm. Don’t want them not showing up to major events where a Police presence is necessary because the organisers haven’t coughed up. Equally, can’t have the Police diverting more resources than needed to events to chase some cash.

The payday shouldn’t enter into Police resourcing decisions. Even if National’s cuts are hurting.

19 comments on “Wasting Police time ”

  1. Jimmy 1

    What we have to remember is that the wealth creators pay more tax, so deserve more protection. The rich deserve more.

  2. Uturn 2

    Want to begin a career in television? NZ Police Productions need you!

    ***Extras now sought for Occupy Auckland Episode.***

    We especially require small dreadlocked teens and heavily intoxicated retirees. Selected candidates will appear on Police 10/7, starting February 2012.

  3. Tiger Mountain 3

    Given the chance the cops generally suppress or hinder rather than enforce peoples democratic rights. Oil exploration is a very important issue for ShonKey and he has to show his US friends that he can ensure their “right” to plunder.

    Plus the cops have all sorts of training that portrays protestors as undesirable disrupters at best. There is a proliferation of overlapping anti terror squads, spy committees and new toys that need to be tried out. The peaceful Occupy march in Auckland was well attended by coppers as well, just itching for someone to sit down on Queen St. so they could swoop in.

  4. I would have thought the policy with charging would be that they always attend and they would charge in the way of a fine. i.e. you are simply obligated to pay it whether you are able to or not. If you are not able to then you will be held liable the same way as if you didn’t pay a liquor license breach fine etc…

    It seems sensible to me.

    • McFlock 4.1

      apart from the fact that security at an event should already be provided by the event organisers. Police should not actually be needed, if organisers have done their duty of care right. And for people leaving or arriving at an event is likely to be an issue then organisers need to look at that, as well.

       
      Another argument is that if police are needed to be transferred from other areas to attend a large event, then the people at the event will not have to be policed elsewhere – if they’re at Eden Park, they’re not stealing cars in Hamilton.  Basically, the police association is looking for a way to ping random people for revenue, and discretionary charging will be used as a de facto punishment – the rugby club party that turns into a brawl is attended for free, but the hippy “organisers” of a protest that has a dozen cops doing nothing but listen to not-very-good chants on a loudspeaker is charged at $100/hr per cop. No negotiation possible.
       
      Cops should not charge for their services – what next, the Palin model of charging rape survivors for their DNA swabs? 
       
      If a big event is planned it is planned with the intention of making money, so it will probably bring a certain amount of money into the economy (unless it’s shitly planned by local or central govt). Which will increase the tax take. Which will increase the police budget constraints. If the event doesn’t make money, it will be a one-off and people won’t try that again for a while.

  5. The Voice of Reason 5

    There were well over twenty cops making sure the scabs could get into CMP this morning. Ten patrol cars at 6am and a few more arrived as dawn broke and the shift was due to start. Total overkill, but the cops won’t be around when the bludgers get home or try and have a beer at the pub, so no worries there.
     
    Most of the plods were pleasant enough and there was no aggro either way. The plant is not able to operate to capacity anyway, as there are not enough scabs to run the chain, and the meat inspectors are reluctant to cross the line. That means there isn’t the depth of anger that might have been there if the company had been able to get product out. But that might change as time goes on.
     
    Just a background for readers: CMP have locked out the workforce until they agree to savage cuts in pay and conditions. Their union has quite reasonably asked if management would be doing the same. Answer came there none.

  6. Princes St Labour 6

    There were over 80 officers at the recent fee protests at Auckland University where students occupied the Council chamber. That was at least a 1 to 1 ratio.

  7. Squirrel 7

    Also there were dozens of cops at an occupation of the clocktower by students the other day.

  8. joe90 8

    Talley’s are using the same divide and rule tactics at the Imlay works. The slaughter boards are doing okay but the real strife is in the boning rooms as new workers are targeted to sign individual contracts with confidentiality clauses to maintain secrecy about wage rates.
    Not sure of the exact numbers but mostly women and youngsters are being targeted and I think about 30% of the boning room workers are on individual contracts.

    Talley’s were also going to use re-hiring after seasonal lay-offs to exclude unionised workers by removing seniority practices but the courts overturned their decision.

    Nation wide Talley’s are chipping away with the aim of having enough people on individual contracts to be able to lock out unionised workers.

    • Tiger Mountain 8.1

      Talley’s is the dirtiest filthiest anti union New Zealand company operating. Remember the infamous “women are suited to pole dancing not fish filleting” comment by Talley’s management when they lost a case against a female worker?

      There needs to be a combined union push to out them. During the Open Country Cheese lockout two years ago a consumer boycott was in the planning stages but was ultimately not implemented by the Dairy Workers Union. They used scabs at OCC and unfortunately at the time the union lost an Employment Court case. The Supreme Court only recently upheld the Court of Appeal decision that it is illegal to use scabs to break a legal lockout/strike. The Supreme Court decided not to even hear Talley’s case.

      • uke 8.1.1

        Among their other nefarious activities, Talley’s have been pushing to build private hydroelectric dams in some beautiful Buller wilderness areas for some time.

  9. ghostwhowalksnz 9

    AS well a lot of the covert police filming done without warrants could possibly be using webcams on the targets own computer. So keep your laptop lid closed, the broadband modem turned off when not using it, an maybe a cloth over the CPU box on a desk top machine.

    • McFlock 9.1

      Okay, latop lid, yes. Modem, yes (especially if it’s a wifi modem).

      A cloth over the CPU? WTF?
      Webcams are usually on the monitor or a seperate gadget, aren’t they?

      • ghostwhowalksnz 9.1.1

        They may install their own web cam inside the CPU box to peek through the vents !

        Phones of course are places to plant bugs as they can pickup room conversations separately from phone calls and use the phone lines to transmit.

        Using the webcams has caused a big ruckus in Germany in the last few weeks, as the police admitted doing it.

        • McFlock 9.1.1.1

          Sigh. Well don’t cover the vents if you’re that worried – place the thing on the ground side-on to the room, so the vents face the wall or under-desk draws.
           
          And then if they DO use a camera, make an IPCA complaint that they were looking up your skirt. And if you think that’s gender-inappropriate, wear a kilt in the traditional manner.

  10. Treetop 10

    Then the peaceful protesters end up complaining to the IPCA (which is under very resourced) due to aggressive cops.

  11. Jenny 11

    The dangers of the police charging for the policing of events?

    Say a demonstration for civil liberties, or against corporate greed is not allowed to proceed because the organisers cannot cough up the dough for the huge police presence that always turn up uninvited at every protest action.

    If the protesters proceeded anyway, would they then be cleared from the streets?

    In what way would this be different to totalitarian regimes like Mubarak’s Egypt or Cecescu’s Romania?

  12. Jenny 12

    The police actions against peaceful Greenpeace protesters in New Plymouth, showed that the state is very swift to protect the interests of the oil spillers.

    But very slow to protect the environment.

    The Rena lay, leaking oil, on the Astrolabe reef for three days before any government agency responded.

    It was only on the Friday afternoon that the first tugboat was dispatched to the Rena (the grounding occurred early Wednesday morning).

    Compare this to the police vessels brought especially from other centres to New Plymouth to counter the protesters.

    Somehow it seems all back to front.

  13. Jenny 13

    Maybe they should have mounted a protest against Big Oil. Then the police backed up by the army would have arrived immediately in large numbers by sea and air.

    http://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/rena-crisis/5826197/Anger-on-East-Cape-over-Rena-cleanup-delay

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