KEY POINTS:
Women protesting against the treatment of rape cases by police and the courts were met by a thin blue line of women police officers in Wellington yesterday.
Was this a good move by police, or a stunt that went wrong?
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This forum debate has now closed. Here is a selection of your views on the topic.
Kate
Huge mistake putting an all female front line at the protest. I doubt rape complainants have any more faith in female offices than they do in their male colleagues. Shame on Annette King for allowing such a stupid decision to be made.
Dave Laing
I think that it was very practical policing. While I have doubts about the way that Police handle rape enquiries, I also doubt the integrity of some of the more radical protestors. I think that if there had been a male police presence on the front line, there would have been cries of male brutality rather than suggesting that the men were hiding. It proves that the NZ Police are now better able to respond to the different parts of our society and this bodes well for the future of NZ Policing.
Delia
I saw the move of putting female officers on the frontline as a cowardly one from the police. Although I do have sympathy for those in the police force who are genuinely good and are now tarnished by the brush of the bad, I think they made the wrong decision by making women front up instead of men within the force. Or should that be farce?
Nicole
It felt like policemen were hiding behind their female colleagues; the police also missed the opportunity to give a statement on sexual violence.
Michelle
Yes, I think it was sensible to have female police officers outside the police station yesterday for the march. I, along with many other women I know, am a rape survivor and I would never abuse another woman. I think it kept the protest calm. If it had of been male police officers on the front line I think it would have been a lot more physical than it was. It also reminded me of the good officers working for the police. NZ Police needs more female officers.
Roy
That was a ridiculous stunt.
John Avery
I commend the officer in charge of the protest in Wellington for putting female constables on the line to prevent illegal entry into the Wellington Police station. It was a stoke of brilliance and a huge blow to the protestor who thought they would be able to intimidate the frontline staff by exposing their bodies and so forth. And why shouldnt female officers be used for this task? God forbid we label the police sexist as well as rapists. Never forget that no matter how many effigies you burn, or offensive bills you post, when you need the Police they will come, regardless of what you think of them. The final irony in the Rickards matter is that it was the police who prosecuted Rickards and took him to Court, and it was members of the public who acquitted him. I think in other countries they call this a fair trial and bring judged by your peers.
Lynne
It was a smart move on the part of the Police to have women at the front line. I understood it to be a day of celebration of how far women have come and to encourage other women to make more of themselves. Having female police officers at the front line was indeed proving how far the NZ police have progressed and is an indication of changes over the past 20-30 years. Had the photo been of a male officer on the protesters shoulder all hell would break loose! The NZ Police has my full support.
Paul Sharp
Placement of female officers on the line in front of the anti-rape protest was a good decision. Male officers would have received more aggressive treatment. The protesters involved were already enraged, and I would not like to have seen their behaviour if male officers were placed in their path.
Rakesh Krishnan
A sensible idea. Shades of a publicity stunt, but sensible all the same!
James Robinson
A cynical yet tactically brilliant move. The senior police officer behind this decision should move into politics!
Marc McAllister
Protesters simply want to protest. Whatever is done to curb this will be used and distorted to their advantage. However it is a pleasant thing to see the police actually thinking through a possible situation and good on them for minimising the potential for retaliation. The protesters also need to realise they will be stopped from becoming unruly.
Lyn Dear
It was a very sensible decision to put policewomen on the frontline at that protest. The protesters had vilified policemen with their poster and clearly, the men would have come under attack if they had been there. Putting women on the front line defused the protest to some extent.
Charlotte
It should not have made any difference man or woman, as they are all cops all able to do the same job.
Sarah
I believe that the female police line up was a stunt that will only backfire. At least one of the women present wanted to go in and lay a complaint of rape and was stopped by the female police at the door. What is that about? Where is the protection that we are suppose to be getting?
C. Stinson
I think it was a good idea to put female officers on the frontline and hopefully it helped to diffuse some of the potential tension between female protestors and male police officers. However the fact that this was thought necessary says something about how these recent cases have been handled. It would be fair to say that the recent trials have left the general public feeling dissatisfied and questioning the police force itself.
Justin
I think it was a great idea to have women on the frontline. If the protestors were truly concerned about highlighting rape support then whoever was on the frontline male or female would not matter, unless it was really about saying all male police are rapists?
Guy
There are about 8,000 police officers in NZ, The vast majority probably have always done a difficult job well which includes alternating shift work, call backs and cancelled leave amongst a few drawbacks for doing this job. If this so called scandal occurred in any other work place it wouldn't receive a tiny drop of publicity. Its a pity that the protesters taking time off work or calling in sick seem to think all NZ police officers are bad when like in any work place you will possibly get a tiny percentage of bad eggs over a period of a long time. So lets get real.
Leslie
Thin blue line? It is all semantics. It is positively grim to think that in our day women have to fight for the right to live in dignity. What the case has clearly outlined is that rights in NZ are not equal for women. It has also exposed the weak social / gender link - its not men. All over this case there have been women who discredited other women even when it made little sense. This scenario pushes Louise Nicholas into the realm of civil rights heroine - she was underestimating when she stated she was doing it for others.
Chris
It's about time Bradford and the usual rent a mob get a life. These offences happened 20 years ago. Although the behaviour of the offenders was appalling it is history. What has it got to do with the cops in the job now? A lot of them would have been at Primary School when these offences took place. Good on the police for putting female officers on the front line. They would have tried to get confrontational with a male officer to raise her profile and make the police look bad.
Katie
I absolutely completely 100% agree with putting females in front of the protesters last night. A very smart move and as mentioned above, the protesters would have shown more aggression towards male officers. I absolutely completely 100% still support both male and female police officers. I absolutely and completely 1000% support Rickards not being put back into the Police force.
Pip
I think putting female police in a line outside the Wellington Police Station instead of males was a good idea because males would have been more intimidating to the protesters, and I guess it was a way for the police to show their acknowledgment and acceptance that the protesters had an extremely valid point!
Arthur
I found myself wondering what the female officers themselves thought of what they were ordered to do. The reason behind this particular protest may have caused one or two of them to feel that they would rather have been members of the protesting group than the femme blue line.
Rebecca
If the police outside the station had been male they would have been treated in an unfair way because of their gender. Placing women officers was the only way to avoid making the situation much worse. At the same time, I would like to point out that once again, the majority are suffering for the behaviour of a very small minority. Grow up people! The NZ Police should not be made to suffer because a few stupid idiots were found not guilty by other ordinary NZ civilians. If the jury was made of cops you might have something to complain about! I know a lot of cops who are amazing young men who are wanting to do something positive with their lives and make a good difference in the lives of others. Well done to the men and women in uniform who put themselves on the line to keep the rest of us safe!
Natarajan.S
I wish there are no cases coming out involving group women police officers and a male protest. It is not about gender abuse anymore. It is about misuse of power by police officers against commoners(actually the commoners are their paymasters as taxpayers). Just imagine the police department is privatised and three police companies are competing for efficiency. What would have been done by the company with a Police Commissioner like that? What would be the reaction of Govt.? Hey MPs do the same thing now.
Brent Logan
It was a good idea to use the femme blue line.
Apurva
Give police a break. They are in a situation of being damned if they do, damned if they dont. To me it was sensible policing to have female officers on the frontline when faced with the prospect of all women demonstraters. Gender should not matter in effective policing, however do not forget that police management also live in the mad PC world (or rather NZ) that we live in. Therefore we can not expect them to be non-PC. Had they had male police officers on the frontline, I am sure they would have been criticised for that reason alone.
Anna Scerri
I do believe it was more that a good PR to have female officers to meet the protestor. From what I have seen of the march in Wellington, things were very heated unnecessarily so! Having male police officers would have aggravated the situation more. They were intent on tarring all male officers with the same brush. Like all groups or communities in society there is the good and then the bad that tend not to help the cause. These protestors are not different to the police in that regard!
Fraser Law
I think it was necessary to protect the male officers. These, mostly women, protestors were fired up about sexual misconduct by male officers, so they would have taken any opportunity to make complaints about the conduct of men in the line. Sometimes the protestors can be just as bad as what they are protesting about.
Tamblin Davenport-Larking
The move to defuse potential trouble, by presenting the female face of modern policing, was a good move and a smart publicity stunt. The national marches were good social statements, and a good reflection of a momentum towards a better future. Commander Inspector Cowan has demonstrated good PR Skills (a skill Rickards was obviously in short supply of, and hence will not be re-instated),by saying that "These young women are motivated, they are talented, and they are the face of policing in the 21st century. Cowan is on the right direction in recognising that many women will not work for police if it still had the culture the marchers were demonstrating against, and really it is a numbers game, as far as "changing police culture." However, Cowan should have played along with the protestors publicity stunt straight away, and accepted the written statement to indicate that his own publicity stunt was more than a publicity stunt.
Noeline J
The women of NZ are angry at the present system that allows previous convictions to be withheld from a jury in a rape Case. I believe that they took the opportunity to demonstrate their anger by marching in protest. The police made a very good decision to put their women police on the front line, although it is something like putting mothers and babies on the front line of a battle. It is not the individual police that they are angry with, it is what the police represent by having to uphold a law that needs changing to help women report rape without feeling dirty or prejudiced against. If Mr Rickards gained his top job again, what hope do the women of NZ have of being confident in the police and the current law as it now stands? There are some questions that need answering. For instance, why was this man promoted four times when they knew of these allegations? What were mature policemen in their thirties doing playing around with young teenage girls? That is the issue I believe. Unfortunately it has tarnished the reputation of all NZ Police. There are some very good police out there. Good role models and good at their job. They must be feeling devastated by the recent events. Thank you for allowing me a forum to air my views. I dont often write about my views but I do feel strongly about this issue.
Chris
I think it was a great strategic move by the police. Why fuel an already raging fire? Not all men rape. Not all police do. Rickards associates with two convicted rapists and supports them, therefore in that vain I do not believe he should have his job returned to him.
KC
It was a good move to place policewomen on the front line for the protest. Most of the protestors were women who were emotive, irrational and were out to provoke a reaction from police. By having police women facing the women protestors, it defused the whole situation so it is an example of good policing and the police should be commended on their actions. If these women were would have been better directed at unemployed male Maoris/Polynesions in their 20s/30s as they are the group who perpetrate the majority of rapes in NZ according to statistic NZ, but then again the PC thing to do these days in NZ is bag the police.
Bruce C
I would have thought selecting staff for a task based on gender was just a little bit discriminatory. And isnt it rather ironic given the subject matter and messages that were being conveyed by both protesters and police? Good intentions, bad idea.
Warren Le Noel
Like any other person I was shocked at the revelations of the rape case against the various male policemen in NZ. If it happened in Australia, I am positive there would be the same outrage from not only women but men like myself. I was impressed to see some lateral thinking on the part of the police head who arranged a line of women police to be at the protest. I have to say I agree with the protest. We have women in Brisbane and in Melbourne who head up both police forces in these large cities,and they do a very good job. I am just sorry there are so many horrible men in every country in the world who think they can take advantage of young women in any situation. There must be an answer to prevent these minority of men doing these acts. However,back to the question in hand.I totally agreed with tempering the situation,and having women police at the front line on this occasion. Well done to the chief in this instance.
Annette
This was a cover up and diversion on the part of the NZ Police and a poor taste publicity stunt. Similar to the beer factory ads. As has been noted there were no aggressive incidents on the part of police officers. This smaller number of very young female officers were able to control the crowd with little force , no shields, no grabbing young bystanders and knocking them to the ground or other unprovoked assaults. Had they been the usual large gangs of male officers, things would undoubtably been different, recent history still shows this. The male officers in the NZ police have a deserved reputation for their aggression towards female crime victims and witnesses. This is clearly demonstrated by the reason for protest. The NZ police will have to do better than a row of young pretty blonde women in uniforms if they wish to earn the trust and respect of New Zealanders It was all reminiscent of a dodgy old Benny Hill episode.
Barbara
If the police were really serious about the integration of female/male in the force, they would have used a mixed line up. This was just a stunt to try and prove a point.
Mark
The protesters were there as a result of atrocities inflicted on them by men, causing distrust at the smaller end of the scale to lifetime hatred at the top end. Given the "it's a blokes world" mentality that exists in the male dominated police force and the general arrogant attitude and aggressiveness of the average male police officer, I think it was a sensible move on behalf of the police to put female officers in the frontline. This is heightened by the fact that there was little or no trouble.
Matt B
Damned if you do, damned if you don't.
I think it was a great move by Wellington Police to not present protestors with an opportunity to vent anger at male officers. All it would take is one protestor getting too confrontational, getting arrested by a male officer and the media pounce like seagulls on a chip. There may be a few bad eggs in the police force but I still have a lot of faith in them.
Wendy Hammonds
Putting male officers there would likely have inflamed the situation further. The march was entirely appropriate but not targeting the Police, there are bad people in all walks of life. It is extremely unfortunate that when a small number behave as disgustingly as these guys did, the whole lot are tarnished. The justice system is at fault here, not the Police force. Give the Police profession a break, the vast majority move into the job to stand as the 'white knights' of our community - it definitely isn't the money that attracts them! Give [them] a hard time by all means but burning effigies of a Police person just detracts and minimises the whole point of the failure to bring justice to bear in these cases, against these terrible men.
