KEY POINTS:
New Zealand's top police officer has given an unequivocal apology to women harmed by sex abuse from police officers, and appealed to any other victims to make formal complaints.
Police Commissioner Howard Broad vowed to overhaul his organisation after a damning report by the Commission of Inquiry into Police Conduct.
Here is the latest selection of your views:
Diana Taylor
"The biggest people who win from this are the criminals, at a time when recorded crime is sky rocketing" - so says a serving police officer on the NZ Herald website. That officer should take a closer look at police statistics. They show that there were fewer recorded crime in 2006 than there were ten years ago. The Statistics New Zealand publication "Crime in New Zealand 1996 to 2005" states that "the overall recorded crime rate in New Zealand has shown a decreasing trend since 1992, with the 2005 rate being approximately the same as the 1982 rate."
Try it for a Day
My partner is a serving police officer. He and all of our friends on the beat are good people. They work excessive overtime, generally have to work every concert, miss out on weekends with friends and family, work difficult shifts and all for little pay. They are regularly abused both physically and verbally by the public, although lately of course the usual derogatory "pigs" and "I pay your wages" etc has been replaced by "rapists". My heart goes out to them - I do not know how they hang in there. And they hardly ever complain. They are just as disgusted by the few who have let the force down as anybody else. Stop this witch hunt and try and remember we are dealing with decent human beings for the most part - probably the same proportion of decent human beings as exists in every profession.
Andrew Atkin
The following is a letter that I sent to Chester Borrows, National party MP, introducing an idea to "police the police": [letter starts] Here is an idea that I think should be considered. Imagine a modified iPod/digital-camera strapped to a policeman's shoulder, like a pirates parrot [it could also be built as a head-set]. Recording video (and audio) at, say, 5 frames per-second, this discrete, robust and economical device could record a policeman's entire 8-hr shift with only about 2-gig of hard-drive (flash-drive) space. At the end of the policemans day, they could upload their recorded shift onto a local database where the video of their shift is stored for maybe one month before automatic deletion. This would be easy to do and cheap - so why not? It would greatly improve police accountability, improve incriminating evidence, and also make policing safer because it would allow the police to utilize tasers and the like without oppositional pressure from the public that may fear these devices would otherwise be abused (I personally think that some policeman enter the field for the wrong reasons). You could possibly even integrate these devices with cellphone-type remote technology, so less experienced police can be appropriately backed-up and/or coached through difficult situations (the "coach" can see exactly whats going on remotely, in real time). I know this sounds a bit futuristic, but the technology is here and it does not need to be expensive. [Finish]
Jon
Congratulations to the media for being relentless in pursuit of at least some form of "justice". Congratulations also to Dame Margaret for at least perservering under much criticism. Unfortunately as Dame Margaret is very aware, nothing will change until the whole culture of the force is changed. The sort of culture within the force is bred over considerable periods of time and is consequently very difficult to change. Cultural change should start with disbanding the Police training establishment and having personnel receive training in various Higher learning facilities around the country where they are more in contact with the general public. The antics of the "few" force members would not be tolerated in large companies and retribution would be swift and final. I am appalled that the culture has been allowed to continue for so long and must by its very nature be throughout the force. It is even more damning when one considers personnel are supposedly trained investigators and who should see crimes before they happen. I personally cannot see how it is possible to train someone to just investigate everyone else! This is not just a matter of a few rotten apples in a barrel.
John
99.9 per cent of law abiding citizens have complete faith in the NZ Police.This despite the attempts to undermine them by a minority of women who...lets face it weren't exactly angels in their young days! These same women are now old & seem to be enjoying the attention they are now getting from basking in the media spotlight as modern day Mother Teresas(which they definitely aren't!)
Theresa
Ok so heres the guts of it, Rickard and his friends should go .bye byes. More power to those who have been abused in some way form or other by members of the police in the past. Their actions are inexcusable and they should be made to stand in the dock. but hey if you are caught speeding you deserve the ticket, if your are not wearing your seat belt you deserve the ticket. Excuse you if the police are trying to save your life or the lives of others. What about all the sad excuses the police have to put up with from public when they stop someone for being over the legal limit? Or when they go to a domestic? Why don't people focus on the positives about the police and there are a lot but hey that is not what the public want to hear, thats not what the media want to sell.. Big ups to New Zealand Police. Your are doing an awesome job!
Andrew
The report tells us about cases that we know about. I wonder how many cases there are that we dont know about? Scary thought.
Greg
I read with interest the report which slams historically the actions of our Police force. I also read with interest the comments of current serving officers who defend their current roles and their "commitment" to public service and the issues they face in their role on a day to day basis. We hear that we have a Police force that is the "least corrupt"and "most professional police force in the world". Well I am sorry NZ Police but all the report has done for me as your middleclass male that has grown up in this country and now in my late 30s is confirm what I have experienced personally and that includes the police planting evidence on me to secure an arrest and this was by the young, new fresh faces of the Police force. The result being take a diversion because I could not afford the thousands of dollars to defend a minor conviction although I was totally innocent. I believe there may well be a few good officers out there who do their job and arent corrupt but my experience and that of my average middle class family who are all law abiding lost confidence in this Police force many years ago even before the recent hype and exposure of historical events. Sorry but I have no sympathy for this police force or for anyone who chooses to serve in it. It is a disgrace and the only way to fix it is to architect a new force from scratch where all officers should re-apply for their roles and the most stringent of screening processes be put in place. I would also suggest pay them twice as much and employ true professionals who value a career and not appoint those who see it as a good earn and an easy option to escape their current low paid roles they may currently be working in. What has happened is Karma and was a long time coming. Lets hope it drives a positive change!
Disgusted Taxpayer
I find it laughable that we are spending taxpayers money to investigate police behaviour! I know from personal experience that the sexual behaviours of cops are just the tip of the iceberg - having socialised in these circles my experience is that cops more often than not operate without integrity and most certainly abuse their power. Ironically, the current recruitment drive that suggests "Better Work Place Stories" is bang on. Although you never heard the story of cops getting stopped at booze buses (we were always told where they were) the lawyer and his cop friend, who took out the headlights of a Tongan Crypt gang members car with a police baton whilst offduty, were common place.
Rod
If Helen Clark and her party are so worried about the sexual exploitation of women then why did they pass a law legalising it. How about a report into the exploitation & abuse of women through prostitution and then subsequent efforts to wipe it out instead of making it legal? Most policemen are decent men trying to help the community and the Police did not support the legalisation of prostitution as they knew that this would just add to the sexual exploitation of women. Helen Clark should also be looking inside her party when it comes to a sick culture.
HH
I do not blame "the police". I blame the few individuals whose heinous actions have tainted so many of their honest, hard-working, blameless colleagues. Has my opinion of the average police officer on the street changed? No. I am appalled at the actions of those officers whose names have become household words, but I am impressed by the fact that, given a lack of a formal Code of Conduct, more officers did not fall off the rails. Kudos to the thousands of men and women serving New Zealand so well. Shame on those few who took advantage of their power to rape and abuse girls.
Audrey Jackman
All this is mind-blowing ! But where does one go to anonomously,to report any incident of this nature? Or you have not supplied a phone number for anyone to call privately (not that I want to make a complaint) but there may be many more who do.
Average Joe
I am not a Police Officer. I never have been - although I considered it briefly. I fully understand that there are a lot of good people working within the Police doing an important job as well as they can - often without much in the way of thanks. I think the main problem is the laws that the Police are pressured to enforce. Whenever I have needed the help of the Police (when burgled, assaulted or knocked off a pushbike by a u-turner) they have been nowhere to be seen. However - if I happen to let the speedo drift up to 111km there are more of 'em around than you can shake a stick at! I am not saying that anyone should be allowed to speed. I'm not even saying that the Police aren't right to enforce the speed limit. What I am saying is that while Cops give the impression of spending so much time on things like traffic enforcement and caring so little about all the other nasty stuff - the image problem won't go away! A little simplistic maybe - but there is definitely some truth here.
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