Robinson Report: Police join DoC 1080 team

Chilling conservationists across the Waikato, the Department of Conservation is working hand in glove with the police in a co-ordinated effort to quell opposition in advance of controversial possum control operations under way this month.

Last week, as a result of continuing information gathering by police and the Hauraki DOC office in Thames, officers telephoned individuals known to oppose aerial 1080 with a stern warning not to engage in illegal activity in relation to this month's drops on the Moehau Range and further south on the peninsula.

The calls came out of the blue.

Those contacted, on instructions from police Senior Sergeant Graham Shields, included a 70-year-old retired medical doctor and his PhD wife, who co-authored an extensive statistical review of DOC "research" on the topic of aerial 1080 and related environmental outcomes. Their review is highly critical of the quality and credibility of DOC "science" on the subject.

Others contacted by police included the Robinsons, who have written critically on DOC toxin policy in several publications and have addressed meetings urging district council intervention. Although police refused to divulge how many individuals, or who, were on their warning list, the Robinsons confirmed at least one other person was contacted by phone and another visited at home by police. Several more are understood to have received the warnings.

Which agency initiated the warning call list and what criteria were used to compile it remains fuzzy. So far, opposition to 1080 alone seems to have attracted police attention.

Police insist the calls were not made at DOC's request. A police spokesman in Thames said the calls were merely a standard effort to prevent "civil unrest", "maintain law and order", and keep people from "getting too emotive".

According to DOC Hauraki manager Melissa King-Howell, her office did not request specific calls be made. But King-Howell did admit her office and local police "share intel" regularly.

Explaining "intel", she said her office maintains comprehensive files and records of "everything" relating to its 1080 operations, from contacts with the public, to rumours, newspaper articles, letters to the editor and information on community anti-1080 meetings.

As a result of receiving threats, DOC now works closely with police. King-Howell said she could not explain why particular individuals received police warnings.

Another DOC spokesperson confirmed names of people who "could pose a risk" are passed to police. Examples she offered were those who had made threats or received restraining orders.

But for those who received police warnings for no apparent reason, it is simply harassment and intimidation based on their political views and vocal opposition to DOC's aerial 1080 plan.

They find no other explanation - no police scrapes other than traffic tickets, no restraining orders or threats of violence - and no reason to be singled out by police.

Since police say the warnings list was compiled to help "prevent violence", one could conclude that, according to DOC and police "shared intel", those called are considered potentially violent or to pose a substantial risk. And that does not sit well with retired physicians or columnists.

Police insist the calls were not meant to intimidate. But winding up on a police list and getting a personal warning call is serious business for anyone on the receiving end. And well it should be.

The assumption is that, by making it on to that warning list, one is considered (by DOC, or police) as more likely than the next person to commit a crime, break the law, or threaten public safety. If not, everyone in the phone book would be called.

With protests against mining on the Coromandel continuing and likely to intensify given present government policy, the question arises whether police are compiling other such lists of those they consider potential "risks" and "threats", and whether individuals outspoken on other contentious public issues will also be targeted.

According to Sergeant Shields, the police respect the right to protest. They are just trying to avoid confrontation and illegality, he said.

But for Coromandel residents active in the struggle to protect native biodiversity and ecosystems, without the damage and dangers of aerial toxin 1080, their peninsula is feeling less and less like a relaxing holiday destination.

After last week's targeted police warning calls, it's feeling more like the Ureweras.