Deborah Coddington: Police cop it hard from experts with hindsight

Inspector Gary Davey has dealt with unfair criticism over the Aisling Symes case. Photo / Sarah Ivey

I wouldn't blame the New Zealand police force if they just gave up and left it to the crims and the armchair critics to keep the country safe. Clearly they can't win any more.

Police have been relegated to the workers everyone loves to hate, into whom we all put the boot, but without whom we cannot do. What's more, it has not only become perfectly acceptable to publicly humiliate and castigate these workers, but you're considered a freak if you stick up for them.

I'm including here lawyers and journalists (funny that). Lawyers don't get good press at present. According to most talkback callers, they're just the greedy bastards who rip off the taxpayers via legal aid so they can prolong the misery of grieving families trying to recover from gruelling court cases where said greedy bastard has tried to portray his/her murdering client as a malnourished, misunderstood unfortunate who wasn't breastfed long enough.

Then there is the media. They're to blame for everything. They always get it wrong, prying into everyone's private life, sticking microphones and cameras where they're not wanted - "Ooh, I could barely stand to watch it! I had to change channels to see if it was on 3 as well!"

I guess if Mrs Outraged was feuding with her neighbour, then backed out of her driveway in anger and ran over her neighbour's kiddie by accident, she wouldn't want a lawyer representing her. No. And no matter how impoverished she is, in principle she wouldn't accept legal aid. No, no.

Just how acceptable it is to despise the media was rammed home to me when friends were discussing ACC changes. I made a disparaging comment about counsellors making things worse in your life and being modern day snake-oil merchants.

A counsellor in the group reared up and went ballistic at what she saw as a personal attack, the same way teachers react any time I make criticisms of our education system.

I gently reminded her of the many times I've sat quietly while she's raved on about how useless New Zealand's media is compared with international journalists. If journalists are fair game, why not counsellors?

But I digress. I'm sick of the police being told they can't get it right. I thought they handled the Aisling Symes disappearance extraordinarily sensitively. But, of course, so many people are wise after the event.

Police should have dug up the drain first. Well, if I knew the woman last seen with Aisling had a reputation for trying to lure children into cars with lollies I too would brace myself for a possible abduction.

Then after the toddler's body was found, the Asian community criticised police for not identifying the mystery woman. See - they can't win.

In September a bunch of Wellington students called police to evict gatecrashers from their out-of-control house party. Then they barricaded themselves inside the house and bleated like babies to Close Up when police had to force their way in. One of them, Jakob Christie, complained to the Independent Police Conduct Authority his neck was broken by a police baton, but the IPCA has now partly ruled Christie had overstated the injury and noted that Christie has six convictions for disorderly behaviour, violence and driving infringements.

In Auckland, police will be criticised, instead of being praised, for bugging the home of Azees Mahomed and Tabbasum Mahomed, on trial for the death of their son. Employed earlier, this tactic might have delivered a different result at the Kahui trial.

The latest nonsense is from Delwyne Keefe, partner of Jan Molenaar, whose 50-hour siege caused the death of much-loved Napier policeman Len Snee. According to Keefe, police should have left Molenaar's property when he threatened them with a gun and told them to eff off. "If they'd just left when Jan told them to the first time, they'd all still be alive."

Right. Then one day when Molenaar inevitably did go nuts and shot someone she could blame the police for effing off back to the station when they were warned, knowing he had guns and drugs.

So much easier, though, to blame the cops.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY