KEY POINTS:
Here is an earlier selection of views:
Dawn Howe-Dennison
An apology is a beginning, and a good beginning. The police staff involved (either directly by action, or indirectly by covering up for them) need to be severely dealt with - they should lose their jobs. Clint Rickard needs to be dismissed immediately. I applaud Louise Nicholas and the other women who have braved ridicule, exposure and criticism and borne the expense of bringing this to light. I realise that all police are not tainted with this arrogant violence and I imagine they want those who are guilty to be removed from the force immediately. I don't know yet if the public are able to read the 60 recommendations. I sincerely hope so. I also applaud Helen Clark for her attitude to all of this despicable business.
John Curry
So, there is to be a ten year "watch'"on police behaviour. Will there also be a ten-year watch on women who treat them as sexual objects? Just asking.
Steve
Bravo Serving Officer. You do a good job under extremely trying and difficult circumstances and I can guarantee you, not one of those knockers who now delight in kicking the police force right now would ever ever step into your shoes and do your job, thank you for pointing out the majority view of those who serve. Shame on those like Dylan, who quote figures from a report and compare them to other professions without quoting the figures from those other professions, that is just simply inflammatory stuff. And Dylan, how do you know that some or many of those 141 cases weren't complaints against the same officers? Whats the bet that those shameful officers in the public recently have a few more of those against them. Even if it were 141 different officers, it is not a significant portion from the thousands of serving officers in the force. It is a very small sad and sorry shameful and disgusting few that have created this media frenzy. The Police have moved on and have changed things since those bad days, time we the public stopped jumping onboard with this media-led shark feeding frenzy and acknowledged this was the action of a disgusting and shameful few, but the far greater majority of the police force are doing a great job under trying circumstances. I have complete faith in this force to do their best to curb the growing crime rate in this country. Politicians, and Helen, you may want to think why people like me dont have the same faith in you lot.
Rodney
I watched the police boss being taken to task on Close Up. He bumbled, duckshoved, and almost lost the plot, I have no confidence that all this report will be implemented, like everything else ,it will be watered down, put on the back burner, hopefully forgotten about by the general public, and things will carry on as they are. Corruption from the top down. As for Rickard, why should we,the tax payers and decent citizens of this countr ,give him a golden handshake? He should be drummed out of the police force in disgrace.
Richard
I have complete faith in the police. I find it rather ironic that twice a jury has found the police and former police involved in the cases innocent and people refuse to look at the woman making the claims. Personally I think the problem revolves around women making false claims, and that this and the investigations into these claims needs to be investigated. Innocent until proven guilty used to mean something.
Jarod
So the outspoken "Serving Officer" wants to get back to core policing? Why not try turning up to burglaries less than 24 hours after they happen? Of course the criminals are winning, they know they will never get caught. I personally know someone who got slapped with a fine to the tune of US$950 for a slip of the tongue outside his own house. They had just moved houses and he accidentally told the officer the wrong address, he was instantly accused of providing false information. I have met and talked to plenty of officers and 90 per cent have not impressed me at all. There are plenty of times I could have reported corrupt police behaviour but have not due to the fact I know it would not get me or anyone else anywhere. This is all coming from someone with a completely flawless and non-existent criminal record.
Olive
Louise Nicholas was portrayed as the guilty party. Hhow disgusting. She is now vindicated. It took too long. Those who are guilty are no better than the gangs they pursue, with their disgusting behaviour. The only difference between the guilty policemen and the gangs is they were/are (17 guilty policemen still employed in the force) were/are being paid by our (the taxpayers) money. Shame on you and those serving sentences, may you rot in hell for the mental stress you have put these women through.
Jess
I was reading peoples comment below and am disgusted at their attitude toward our Police. How about comparing all the complaints against all the good things the police have done for the public. The good will far outweigh the bad. I had also like to see how many of those complaints were made by people angry they were charged with a crime or given a ticket. Cause I can tell you, I hear a lot of stories of police having complaints against them for just doing their job but the person charged or ticketed is pissed off and just want to retaliate. Unfortunately, some of those complaints will also be bogus, in my opinion. Some of these police will be punished for their sexual preferences because the "police groupie" let themselves get in that position. Dont get me wrong, any police person found guilty of rape should be punished accordingly. Lets also not condemn the majority of police who do their job. How about giving the government giving them more funding to do a better job. I' would like to see all you complainers try to be a police person for a month and see how you deal with the domestic violence calls and going to a call out where a child has been murdered.
Gillian Shine
The men concerned should be named and publicly shamed for the damage they have done to our police force reputation. It is important that it be personalized to the individuals who have dishonored and morally wronged the public. It is not the entire police body but a few sick revolting individuals who need to be shamed morally if they can not be legally convicted. They took advantage of 16 year old girls whether it was consensual or not it was wrong, they used their power to coarse young girls into sexual decisions that they did not have the maturity to make. They were wrong and it would be a crime against the entire New Zealnd police force and public if Clint Rickard got paid any compensation for loosing his job. He has single handedly bought the entire police force into disrepute and should be fined any wages he has taken whilst stood down.
Paul
A clue to the police culture in NZ can be detected by way of the ridiculous name suppression practice which protects high profile sportsman. A big tough all black is a demi god in your country and this is indicative of the macho empire that rules supreme. The police are only an extension of this mindset.
M.T
I think the police are doing everything they can and work twice as hard to serve the community everybody is looking at the past on how the police use to be when we really should be concentrating on the future! Although we can't forget about it we could try and make improvements we have to have at least a little faith in them. There is a lot going on in our country and there are a lot of new cops that will make a positive change to this country. I know that there are a lot of good cops out there and we just have to have a faith instead of dwelling on the past! Lets get over it and make a positive change towards the future of New Zealand!
Julie T.
I applaud Dame Margaret's report - finally something is being highlighted to this extent. I pray and hope that the respective authorities will not get "soft" along the way towards recovery and that proper and appropriate disciplinary actions are taken and the culprits dealt with.
Raj Subramanian
It is a welcome move by the Police Chief. But it is belated. Now they will have an independent supervisory authority if the Govt. immediately takes action. This is a case of those who are in power (police power or political power)using the power to harass their own paymasters. It is like monopoly companies like Telecom using the market advantage to deny their own customers, newer technologies available elsewhere in the world for about 10 years. Public are paymasters for the police, politicians, bankers and all businesses. Whoever forgets that will have to face public one day or the other. The recent political decisions about anti-smacking are not going well with public and if politicians act against public wish, the Police episode shows us what will happen to them. Please listen and hold high public on top of your agenda, not yourselves
Chris Brady
OF course I trust our police force. Yeah, right.
Jon
Why not also investigate police brutalit?. I was wrongly arrested in the early 1990s for assault, the only person who was assaulted was me; a police man smacked me around in a interview room, there were no eye witnesses, but I bet someone must of heard me scream. When I complained to the Police they said "can't help, as there were no witnesses". NZ cops deserve their dodgy reputation.
Frans
My confidence in the NZ police has taken a huge knock and again I say it will take more than just an apology to convince me otherwise. Apology accepted though but the proof is in the pudding. I know a couple of rotten cops does not stand for the NZ police as a whole but unfortunately life do not work that way. We, the public beliefs otherwise so NZ police you have now an even greater and more difficult job ahead. Like the saying goes:"Youre walking on very thin ice" You need to be squeaky clean like never before.
Deb
I think everyone should cry a river, build a bridge and get over it. This happened 20 years ago. I have full and complete faith in our police force. If no one has anything better to do than bash the one group of people, yes they are people, that is charged with protecting our community as a whole then this is a very very sad country and I am glad that I will be leaving it. Let he who hath not sineth cast the first stone.
Ian Morine
The government must get rid of the Police Complaints Authority, who are the biggest and best cover-up merchants that I have ever seen, and have been since I can remember. How can any organisation be seen to be transparent when they are left to judge themselves ? The PCA should then be replaced with a completely independent authority, with absolutely no members that have had any past involvement in the police force. That is the only way. When that happens they will be completely transparent.
Peter McAlley
300 complaints against 200 officers over 25 years? That equates to 1 in 40 officers in one year. Not good. But over 25 years that is 1 in 1000. Or in percentage terms 0.1 per cent. Still not good but hardly the disaster it is being made out to be. I agree - the Police Complaints Authority should be independent. However, what will be said when and independent body finds in favour of the Police? I do not believe the publics baying for blood will ever be satiated.
Tim Spooner
The problem faced by the serving Police Officer who has given his comments is that the public perception of Police officers is guided by their own experience and the reports of inappropriate behaviour. We see on the TV instances of Police corruption and misbehaviour, abuse of power such as pepper spraying handcuffed and helpless people,always followed by instant dismissal of complaints of such abuse by senior officers and the Police Association. We see Police "checking seat belts" and issuing tickets for minor traffic infringements as a purported "safety" exercise. We read of literally thousands of motorists being stopped in "blitzes" that result in a very very few people being found drunk behind the wheel, followed by reported comments that Police are not happy that the road safety message is not "getting through, as though they have found a high proportion of those stopped to be drunk. The simple fact is that the Police are seen as ineffective, with the only apparent method of solving serious crime being appeals to the public and the offering of rewards for information. The only area in which they excel is in the area of issuing tickets for minor matters to innocent motorists as a revenue gatherer for the Government. If they want sympathy, they ought to look inwards at the reasons why the vast majority of the public would rather have nothing to do with the Police. Compare their reputation with that of firefighters and ambulance staff. Just why do normal, middle class people neither trust nor respect the Police nor believe that they do not "protect and serve"? It's not just the sleaze.
Anne
Disgust and shame. This report however is just another on the Police Department. There is something radically wrong overall. We have had the Prison Corrections Report, the 111 Report and now this. There are obviously major problems and lack of accountability in this Department. It appears to me that the taxpayer is funding a huge amount of money for something that does not measure up. The Police I thought were there to protect the community and uphold and administer the law ethically. A citizen should be able to have dialogue with police without facing lack of response to 111 calls, sexual and physical abuse and threats. We should be able to trust a Policeman and have confidence in them .It is great that the latest report on the inadequacies is on the internet and transparent to us but it is absolute shame as internet is accessed world-wide and now the world knows what the upholders of Our Laws are an inadequate organisation.
Wayne
Having been through laying a complaint via the police complaints authority,you realise you should have taken the advice of your lawyer that it is a waste of time. To quote "it is regreatable how the police behave when investigating their own members". In our case the officer an inspector sat on the complaint for over two and a half months not forwarding it to the Police Complaints Authority. When I met with him for an interview and handed him the card of our lawyer a senior QC he was so distressed that he had to leave the room. We then laid a complaint about him for not forwarding the complaint. His supervisor initially said that the complaint had been upheld but when we finally got something back from the Police Complaints Authority two years later it was not. As a person with no contact with police prior to this you come away with view that New Zealand Police are basically corrupt when dealing with their own members and associates. I believe that the only way that this will change is for a significant cleanout of the senior management and imposition of a new culture on the organisation. Howard Broad must go and an external candidate not part of this culture bought in and given a the power to address the culture .
Bret Busby
It is disappointing that the news story regarding the report into the misconduct of police officers, has no mention of any action being taken to prevent resignation being used as a means of evading investigation and disciplinary action, or, any recommendation that such action be taken. The message seems to be that if a police officer (and this is not limited to police officers who commit acts of misconduct, or, to New Zealand public officials committing acts of misconduct, but, is a problem with public officials, including members of parliaments, and judges, internationally) commits misconduct and abuse of the position, and then, when someone complains of the misconduct, the culprit simply has to resign to evade any accountability, thus making police officers, and anyone else who can claim the same protection against accountability, completely unaccountable for their misconduct. I hope that someone, somewhere, takes some serious action to end this indemnity from accountability, to end the corruption, as the report appears to not show any real interest in really fixing the problem.
Lisa
I think even though Louise Nichols did not get justice in the court room, a little smile may be playing on her lips now. These allegations of serving police officers and former officers for "misconduct" should have been addressed years ago, not swept under a "brotherhood" rug. My stepfather has been a serving officer for almost twenty years and proudly he has not used his position at anytime for disgusting, degrading, gratification at the hands of innocent people. It is shameful to our country and I guess if justice is not bought to these officers through the courts and with this report being bought to light then justice will be served at the hands of their makers, good luck to them, some people do see all.
Belinda McKain
Logic is: the issues have been raised (somewhat historic but nevertheless), the immediate problems are in the process of being dealt with, and there will be results in one way or another. It is total misjudgment on the publics behalf to have low opinion of the entire force when they have learned only of the handful of rotten fruit. Thank you to the serving officers who are in for the true well being of our communities. Keep up your good work.
WendyG
I believe that on the whole the police do a good job considering the very difficult circumstances they have to deal with each day. However, the percentage of complaints as detailed in this report (313 complaints of sexual assault against 222 police officers between 1979 and 2005) seems excessively high compared to the numbers of police in the country. I would love to see a return to "bobbies on the beat" and that may prevent any undue "restlessness" with those who currently just while away their time driving around looking for anyone exceeding the speed limit - which seems to be their obsession.
Big Al
So what do some of the public and politicians want ? The police commissioner to crawl down Queen st. in sackcloth and ashes? It is great some of this stuff has been "outed", now let all the good cops (the other 99.5 per cent)get on and do what they do best, catching crims instead of trying to placate the hairy armpitted fems and hand wringing libs.In case no-one noticed in north and east Auckland, crime is still running rampant. Better still, throw the "toy" tazers away and give the boys (and girls) in blue some real weapons like their colleagues on this (Melbourne) side of the Tasman. One does not encounter too many people swearing and spitting on cops over here !!
Lily
I am not sure whether the general culture on getting away with sexual assault (evidenced by the unbelievably low rate of successful prosecutions) is influenced by the police culture or influences the police culture. Either way, the only acceptable message from all this should be that sexual assault is severely and successfully punished, within and outside the force.
TW
This report was worth it. Any remnants of the blue wall of silence and the culture of turning blind eyes has to be broken down and this report is strong blow. The police have never been too keen on transparency but now there is reason for optimism.
Denise Haagh
My heart goes out to all the police officers I see on the roads since all of what has come out, every day its in the papers and I know it must be really hard for you guys. Just want to say that I reckon you guys are doing such a amazing job, and I take my hat of to you, Keep up the good work and hold your heads up high. You have my support and respect for sure.
Jayne
It takes a strong person to bring a horrific life experience into the eye of the public as Louise did,to have carried that stress with her for so many years and then gaining the strength to open it up. I have had many dealings with the police for various reasons over the years and have found the times that I really needed their support and help in looking into things for me with all the back up evidence I was given the brush of I put it down to small town cops looking after their so called respected members of society and on another occasion where my son was just about killed by a drunken stoned learner driver where emergency services were called the attending police officer did not follow through on any thing it was just filed and forgotten and trying to get that officer to explain why has been a nightmare. Lets make the police accountable for their behaviour and attitudes to the communities they are paid to protect. They should be wearing the uniform with pride and not use it as a power tool like so many of them do perhaps we should all take the initiative and start following up thru the complaints commission if things are not dealt with or swept under the mat as so many of us are finding.
Rachel
It is great that the Police are making changes, or appear to want to make changes. Seeing it happen will make the pain of women like those from these trials seem a little more bearable. However, rape by police officers is not the only pain caused by the Police force, or members of it, it is only the tip of the iceberg of a male-oriented, and uncaring culture. As a 15-yr old rape victim, it has affected my whole life that the Police chose to ignore my call for help and make my attacker "walk home" for punishment. The Police don't have to have committed the crime to have caused harm - they just need to have ignored it. Inquiries are fine, convictions are great - but when are they going to acknowledge the rest of the damage they did. There will be a lot of women now in their late 30s and 40 who will be dredging up the past in their minds, and wondering "Where the hell do I go from here?". It isn't over for everyone just yet.
Mythily
The whole drama is only the tip of the ice berg!No apology can bring the victims' life back to normal.
Paul
Make the Police Complaints Authority completely independent. No other solution is adequate. The Police have had their chance to self police and it obviously doesn't work.
Attila
I must say the anarchist type, and I have no respect for government, laws, the Bible or anything such. There are a lot of people who regard being a policeman as a source of control and authority. Not to mention attention from idiotic women who 'love a man in uniform'. As long as this mass idiocy prevails, some people will inevitably join law enforcement for the wrong reasons, and many ladies will deservedly fall victim to their own lack of common sense.
Mano Manoharan
Well in any country Police officers are there to maintain law and order, if the community has to blame the police officers there is radically something wrong in the selection process of these police officers. General public should have full confidence and trust in the police force. Police officers are the guardians of the community, they must know to keep their respect without breaking the law. We need more police officers and a good shake up of the police force.
Valerie
Yet the two women whose complaints sparked the Inquiry were excluded from giving evidence before it while their cases were before the Courts. The Police had decades to bring these trials - why now? It could only be to stymie the Commission of Inquiry! Of course the accused were found not guilty - this long after the events, the trials were doomed to fail. Those courageous women have been screwed again! No-one will believe that this business is truly behind us until all those involved have gone - including Mr Rickard.
MD
Power corrupts some people unable to deal with the responsibility. Cases in point; friend of mine caught urinating in alley, told he would be let off if he mopped it with his shirt and people being forced to strip in police cells for incidents not requiring. Such power corrupts some people who cant deal with the responsibility
Carl
Went to school with a guy named Boof, and now he is a cop. Go figure, it's the type of people the police force employ, thugs who are above the law. I have more fear of being harassed buy the police than anyone else, namely because of the colour of my skin. It is the way it was with the police force. It is still that way and aways will be. The police are almost like a sexist KKK group, but an approved and accepted organisation in society.
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