Editorial: Police chief stumbles on front foot

A sense of irony, and a hint of farce, hung over Commissioner Rob Robinson's appearance before Parliament's finance and expenditure select committee yesterday. Here in the most political of environments, the country's top policeman asked politicians to stop politicising the police. He must have known the request was futile, especially in an election year. But that did not stop him. When all else has failed, and seemingly whatever the degree of folly, Mr Robinson has become a practitioner of aggressive defence.

In an ideal world he would, of course, have a point. Constant political scrutiny and criticism undoubtedly reduce the focus of the police and, potentially, damage reputation and morale. But that world would be a one in which a totally efficient, totally virtuous police force enjoyed total public confidence.

It would be a world in which the 111 system worked perfectly and staff were not accessing pornography, in which numerous officers right up to the post of senior commander were not appearing before the courts and in which police priorities enjoyed universal support. It would certainly not be a world in which public esteem for the police had plunged and police culture was the subject of a commission of inquiry.

Mr Robinson blames politicians and the media for sensationalising many of these shortcomings, thereby slanting the public perception. That holds no water. In fact, it smacks more of a callow attempt to deflect criticism. So major have been the police failings that politicians owe the public nothing less than ardent inquisition. Most fundamentally they should be examining how far, and why, the police have strayed from Sir Robert Peel's basic principles: that officers administer the law with wisdom, discretion and compassion.

The public for its part measures the police not by sensational utterances but by how realistic it is to expect police help when it is needed. Too often, the response has been lacking. The public needs to know why. A recent Herald-DigiPoll survey found law and order the fourth most important issue for those polled. Only health, tax and education were considered more significant. The level of concern was in fact half, in percentage terms, of that recorded in the lead-up to the 2002 election.

Yet given the many shortcomings of the police, that can hardly be seen as a ringing endorsement. Rather it reflects the woes of the health and education sectors - where many doctors and teachers would, doubtless, also like politicians to butt out - and disquiet over the Government's tax policy. Certainly, there was nothing in that survey to dissuade political reverberations. Mr Robinson's way out of this politicisation has a surface allure. He wants police resourcing to be on a 10-year footing, similar to that put in place for the Defence Force. But, while a stabilising influence, this has led to no lessening of political or public criticism of the Government's defence policy, and the armed forces' performance. Nor, if acted upon, would it reduce the focus on police operations.

The Police Commissioner's role has, of course, its own political aspect. Mr Robinson's job is to agree on priorities with the Government and to secure the best possible resourcing. The performance of the police is a measure of his success there. Where there are failings, they will, inevitably and validly, result in questioning and criticism from the Government's political opponents.

Clearly Mr Robinson's watch has been less than successful. As the problems have mounted he has tended to go on the front foot. That has an admirable side. But too often, as when terming the damning report into the 111 system "provocative", he has been misguided. Now, again, he has stumbled. Telling politicians not to be political is faintly absurd. It also reveals scant regard for their duty as elected representatives. Once again, Mr Robinson's front foot is coated in clay.