If that was true, and one imagines that she would have told us if there had been more to tell, the process of exposing Weinstein had by that point reached the ridiculous stage.
The same might apply to police employees whose lot is not a happy one. Perhaps the department is a hotbed of bullying and harassment that needs to be exposed and dealt with, but perhaps it is not. We simply don't know, and until we do we should hesitate to rush to judgement.
The writer has never worked for the police but has observed them at close quarters for more than 40 years, and it would be fair to say that for many of those years it was not a place for the faint of heart. Then, as is no doubt still the case today, some of those who donned the uniform weren't really cut out for it. They passed all the physical, academic and psychological tests, but it was never really for them. That tended to become apparent fairly quickly, and while some battled on, others flagged it once realisation dawned.
As is the truth in any situation involving human relationships, it was never possible for someone observing from the outside to understand what was going on behind closed doors, but kid gloves were not issued to officers at any level of authority in years gone by. It tended to be a case of shaping up or shipping out, the real problem being for those who had established themselves, and could certainly do the job, but who simply weren't as popular as others.
The biggest test for some would have been accepting with good grace the practical jokes that were often played. Some of the pranks played at the Kaitaia police station, particularly in the 1980s, would probably now result in formal complaints, and disciplinary procedures. In fact the way in which police officers relate to each other now compared to 30-odd years ago would make a fascinating study into how society has changed, and the legal protections now available to us all as individuals.
That might not entirely be a bad thing, but the world has certainly become a more perilous place for those whose natural inclination is not to follow politically correct rules regarding what constitutes proper behaviour and is rapidly becoming a written code of conduct.
Practical jokes and brutal honesty aside, and the fact that our police force is nowhere near as homogenous as it once was, it is unlikely that the fundamental structure has changed a great deal. It depends, totally, upon those with experience and rank exercising a very significant degree of authority over those below them. The same applies in every occupation to some extent, but without that structure the police department couldn't function. And it would not be surprising if some of those who join these days don't take especially kindly to that.
Certainly some of those who have worked for this newspaper over the years have struggled to take instruction, and, believe it or not, the Northland Age provides a significantly less authoritarian environment in which to work than does the average police station, or the department as a whole. There are a couple of similarities though.
For a start, it has always been unwise to regard some occupations as simply a means by which to pay the grocery bill. Policing, teaching and nursing, and to a significant degree journalism, even at the bottom of the evolutionary scale, are callings. People pursue them because it is what they want to do, and if they can make a career out of something for which they have a passion, then they are lucky. The trick is to learn from those who are in a position to teach, having accepted that those who have experience are in a position to impart greater knowledge than any formal qualification will ever do.
Obviously, those doing the teaching have a clear duty to treat newcomers with respect, but allowances have to be made for the vagaries of human nature. Every one of us, whatever we do, has been a newbie at some point in our our lives, and most will have carried memories of that with us as we gained the experience that only time can bestow.
Wherever we find ourselves, we are going to have good and bad days, the difference now perhaps being that bad days have to be explained, and hurt feelings have become grounds for complaint. We hear now that employers, in the widest sense, have a duty to provide employees with a 'safe' environment, a concept that goes far beyond physical safety and now also covers emotional wellbeing. Increasingly, a telling off from the boss can be expected to fall short of meeting that obligation.
That might be the reality of workplace relationships these days, but we shouldn't encourage it by accepting at face value every complaint of bullying, harassment or any other form of 'unacceptable' behaviour. What is unacceptable now might well depend on who is telling the story, and while there might be no defence for poor behaviour, we need some sort of definition before we are in any position to judge.
We might also consider the price we are paying for our growing acceptance that hurt feelings provide genuine grounds for grievance.
It is difficult to accept that 25 per cent of police officers in this country have experienced abuse, bullying or harassment. If they genuinely believe that, perhaps they are in the wrong job.
