OPINION
In case anyone is in any doubt, the PC stands for Police Constables and not Politically Correct. Thanks to this Labour Government there are probably too many of the latter already. I’m not suggesting police want to be PC but I am somewhat suspicious of the guidelines under which they might be working. On the front page of the Weekend Herald is the headline: “Frontline cops fear bosses want them to facilitate gang runs, rather than stop them”. From what we know of the police top brass this is not beyond the bounds of possibility.
I would imagine most police employees can’t wait for the day Mark Mitchell is named as their Minister. They will then have someone who is cognisant of working on the frontline rather than a little political upstart who once occupied a desk at Police HQ. The little lady in question, Ginny Andersen, tells us at every opportunity that with 1800 more police on the beat we have every reason to feel safer.
What she won’t admit to is the reality that not all of the 1800 are on the beat. It also doesn’t take into account the numbers who have left during the period the 1800 were taken on. This is the habit the left has of fudging figures to suit their narrative. As an example, to get the true unemployment figure the jobseeker figure must be added to the unemployment one.
It is a mystery how we are supposed to feel safer when the amount of crime as reported by the media seems to increase with each passing week. On page five of the Weekend Herald Olinda Woodroffe, a lawyer, says, “It’s not the Queen Street I used to know,” referring to the violence now prevalent in the CBD. She says she no longer feels safe working on Queen Street following a string of crimes this month. Mayor Wayne Brown acknowledged that it is not acceptable and there must be change.
Underneath that article is another with the headline, “Good old fashioned policing: Officers on the beat in the playground”. This is in reference to Whangaparaoa College where police patrol the grounds up to three times a day. There are also lunchtime walks by police through schools in the Tokoroa, Taupo and Turangi districts. While this might give a clue as to where some of Ginny Andersen’s 1800 police officers have disappeared, this is surely poor prioritisation of police time and resources. If schools can’t handle behaviour in the playground it’s the Ministry of Education that should be stepping in, not the Police.
We need police on the beat in the CBDs and suburban shopping centres, not school playgrounds. It’s not just our largest cities but some provincial towns that are in the crime statistics as well. Most of the crimes being committed are of a violent nature – murders, stabbings, beatings, shootings and ram raids. A perusal of Stuff’s regional pages gives one a good idea of what is going on.
Go to Auckland and the lead story is about a robbery by four armed men at a McDonald’s in Papatoetoe at the weekend. Last Friday gunshots were fired from a car in Epsom and Hillsborough proving, as ACT says, that the gun register is not serving its purpose. On the same day, a sixteen-year-old was arrested for throwing a Molotov cocktail at a house in Te Atatu South. On August 15 police arrested four armed teenagers between the ages of thirteen and fifteen who went on a crime spree from Northland to Browns Bay and back. Jan Tinetti might like to explain why they were not at school.
In Rotorua last week a schoolgirl was bashed and left bloodied at a bus stop after being attacked by a cowardly older teenager who had a group with her. We are told there are not enough police in Rotorua. I’m sure that’s correct but it doesn’t change the fact that a lack of discipline in both the home and at school means there are few consequences for these types of teenagers. To be fair to schools, they have their hands tied, as real or harsher discipline is out of bounds – more’s the pity.
Crime has now reached the point where one exhausted store owner is trialling AI to try and detect crimes before they happen. The little lady from Hutt South can bang on all she likes about her extra 1800 officers but the fact remains that crime is out of control. Change is required and it will only come with a change of government and a competent Minister who understands the problems frontline police are facing. Hopefully, there will also be a review of the hierarchy at Police HQ.
Crime, particularly violent crime, cannot be tolerated at the levels it has now reached. It affects the confidence of the people, local communities and the country. The police have to be able to do their jobs without one hand being tied behind their backs. The judiciary must be given clear guidelines that the types of punishments handed down have to reflect the seriousness of the crime. If that requires more prisons to be built, so be it. At present, there are criminals in home detention, cutting ankle bracelets, who should be locked up.
The basic right of every citizen is to be able to walk around, wait at a bus stop or own a retail business without the fear of being attacked. Today that is far from the case. More Mr Plods are desperately needed but they won’t come from our current bunch of ‘soft on crime’ plodding leftie politicians.