Heather Roy's Diary
act-new-zealand
Thu Apr 05 2007 12:00:00 GMT+1200 (New Zealand Standard Time)
Heather Roy's Diary
Thursday, 5 April 2007, 5:08 pm
Press Release: ACT New Zealand
Heather Roy's Diary
Police Pride & Prejudice
The long awaited report into police conduct was finally released on Tuesday this week. Dame Margaret Bazley, one of the Commissioners who conducted the inquiry, wrote the report which is lengthy with two volumes totaling 468 pages.
As he faced the media to comment on the report Commissioner Howard Broad must have been reminded of the Queen's description of 1992 as her annus horribilis. This year is looking pretty horrible for the Commissioner as another report "The New Zealand Crime and Safety Survey: 2006" also released on Tuesday and the latest crime statistics released on Monday, show a marked rise in crime of four percent including robbery (up 21 percent), sexual attacks (up 15 percent) and destruction of property (up eight percent).
I suspect the Prime Minister, along with Police Minister Annette King held on to the Bazley report into police culture until the Ricards/Shollum/Shipton trial was over and the crime stats, which they knew would be bad, were released. But instead of a serious discussion about crime, the public and media are abuzz with speculation about how many people had group sex in the '80s. One can imagine the beehive spin doctors grinning like Cheshire cats through their glasses of low fat, organic milk.
The actual number of misconduct cases cited in the Bazley report, if you compare them to the size of the force, is about 0.5 percent. Even one case is too many but it is worth remembering that the New Zealand police force is well regarded internationally. An entry in Wikipedia sums up the situation:-
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"The New Zealand Police is considered one of the least corrupt police forces in the world. Despite this, there have been a number of recent controversies that have put the Police under close scrutiny."
Outrageous as the reported behaviour was, it is always tricky to judge historical actions using today's values. Was male culture of the 1980's a big part of the New Zealand we grew up in? Of course it was and that was one of the triggers for the PC tsunami that we are now swamped with. However, a code of conduct will not change that. Disciplined forces like Police and Defence must set their own standards and those must be higher than the society they serve. Unfortunately, the Labour/Clark-led government does not lead by example nor set high standards for others to follow.
I believe that there are several un-explored reasons for the breakdown of internal standards. One is the inevitable result of replacing Police commanders with managers. Commanders use personal example and influence to achieve team goals. Managers deal with resources. Asking someone to put their life on the line requires more than a roster. As I learnt very quickly in the Army, you can lead someone to their death but you can't manage them there. Another major impediment to effective policing is their internal composition. There are many 'forces' within the New Zealand Police Force. While politicians and journalists kick the total numbers around, few have discussed in detail the record low numbers of general duties officers - those we see on the street. Up to the 1980s, we did not see large numbers of sworn officers in Asian crime, serious crash, communications, commercial vehicle inspection, intelligence and many other specialist units. That's not to suggest that we don't need these units. However, those officers who have moved to staff the swelling specialist units have not been replaced on the beat. The Police force is not top heavy but rather 'bottom light'. Experienced officers go to these units leaving more and more recent graduates of significantly shortened courses on the front line. The results can be seen, in part, in our appalling crime statistics. As many armies have discovered over time, detaching the force from day to day contact with the society they protect triggers public disapproval. That is one of the major reasons for keeping a strong Territorial Force. As day to day contact between New Zealand citizens and the Police diminishes, so too does the public's support. The willingness to complain about, rather than assist Police grows. Minister King has stepped around the real issue, the increase in crime, by attributing it to higher reporting rates. A lesson on the difference between correlation and causation might help her to better understand why she is wrong. Or perhaps she actually knows that but is hoping that the public doesn't? In the meantime, Police will spend much more time on things that won't make one scrap of difference. Variations on the same way of doing things will always get much the same result. So nothing is likely to change and those in authority will merely now breathe a sigh of relief until the next crime stats are released in six months time. Lest we Forget
This week in history...
10 April, 1869: Constable George Rowley Hill of No.1 Division Armed Constabulary won the New Zealand Cross (New Zealand equivalent of the VC at that time) for leading the party of Maori and European volunteers that ran through the hostile fire of the attack by Te Kooti to dash into Jerusalem Pa and then successfully repel the siege of the Pa that followed.
The Bosnian War began in the first days of April 1992. NZ joined the international peace enforcement operation to end the fighting.
In April 1941, after a period training in Egypt, 2NZEF's New Zealand 2nd Division - stationed in Egypt - was deployed to take part in the defence of Greece. This defence was mounted alongside British and Australian units - the corps-size Commonwealth contingent known together as W Force, supporting a weakened Greek Army. As German panzers began a swift advance into Greece on April 6, the British and Commonwealth troops found themselves being outflanked and were forced into retreat. By April 9, Greece had been forced to surrender and the 40,000 troops began a withdrawal from the country to Crete and Egypt, the last New Zealand troops leaving by 29 April. New Zealand lost 291 men killed, 1,826 captured and 387 seriously wounded in this brief campaign.
ends
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