Whywe should back the police
no institution in existence that has a 100 per cent shareholding in Getting it Right Ltd.
They’re not above criticism, there’s an independent body, the Police Complaints Authority, devoted to keeping them honest. As an organisation they have a rigorous code of conduct with very clear boundaries governing behaviour. If members step over the line or fail to perform their duty they are penalised, even ejected. If they break the law they face the same judicial process as anybody else.
Every case they take before the courts is subject to stringent evidential standards. Any failure to meet them is slammed by the courts. But the saddest part of all of this is when we as a community still queue up to take cheap shots at the police like we’re at some carnival coconut shy.
The most recent example of this in Nelson is the reaction to a retailers’ complaint last week of police inaction over an attempted break-in. There is no denying the pain and frustration of being repeatedly targeted by burglars. The feeling of invasion and vulnerability, the expense of cleaning up and bracing for the next wave of attack. The sense of helplessness. It’s got to be someone’s fault right?
But before we line the police up in our crosshairs there’s a few questions we should be asking first. Were the police able to attend immediately? Police are dispatched to jobs in order of priority. If there’s imminent threat to safety or property that jumps the queue. These jobs don’t trickle in they build into a cascade every day. Domestic violence, suicidal behaviour, assaults, traffic accidents, offenders on the scene - take your pick. They all require immediate attention.
If the police had attended immediately would this change anything? Gathering that evidence could have led to an arrest and successful conviction but equally there are no guarantees. To label this incompetence is to suggest the police are wilfully sitting on their hands. That is not a criticism that can be levelled at the NZ Police.
Is it even fair to blame the police? Many towns have a drugs problem and hand in hand with that a burglary problem. Saying the police have it in their power to completely squash this is like saying you can stop the tide with a squeegee mop. We all have a part to play in fighting that battle.
The police have a tough job but we’re lucky in this country, they put themselves on the line and when the chips are down they have our backs. We also need to have theirs.