Cops’ pain use ‘racist’
Police accused of ‘sub-human treatment’ of Ma¯ori, who account for half of those subjected to painful force
Police are being accused of racism after their own figures confirm officers are more likely to use pain to subdue Ma¯ori suspects than other ethnicities.
Information released to the Herald under the Official Information Act shows officers resorted to the tactical use of pain to bring violent or resisting offenders under control nearly 1800 times in the past five years.
Ma¯ori — who make up 16.5 per cent of the population and 42 per cent of people charged with an offence — are subjected to painful force at a higher rate than other offenders, accounting for 49 per cent of all such cases.
Police bosses are rejecting the racism accusation, insisting that while officers often deal with violent or disturbed offenders, force is always a last resort and everyone interacting with police should be treated with respect.
The figures have sparked claims Ma¯ori are being unfairly targeted with excessive police force in what one commentator alleges is evidence of racism.
“These statistics are really telling about police’s philosophy with how to deal with Ma¯ori, which is basically to treat us like animals,” criminology doctoral candidate and People Against Prisons Aotearoa (Papa) spokeswoman Emilie Ra¯kete said.
“This is how you treat someone that is dangerous. This is sub-human treatment by police.” Ra¯kete claimed police tended to use pain during encounters with Ma¯ori at up to six times the rates of other ethnicities.
“There’s no other way to describe that as racist.”
Police are defending their use of force and deny claims of institutional racism, labelling such claims “inflammatory and offensive”.
Deputy Police Commissioner iwi and community Wally Haumaha said everyone who interacted with police should be treated with respect.
Police were well trained in how to respond when faced with challenging and violent situations, and recognised force was a significant power granted to officers.
“Police should always use the appropriate tactical decisions to safely resolve any situation. Our staff do their best to conduct themselves with professionalism and care, to ensure the safety of the community and their own safety.
“We don’t have all the answers as to why Ma¯ori continue to be overrepresented in the justice system.
“However, we are working hard to get those answers by working with partners, community leaders and iwi so we can better understand what they are experiencing when they engage with police, and make sure that our communities are getting the support they need.”
Police Association president Chris Cahill said the number of reported incidents of pain compliance was incredibly low given the hundreds of thousands of serious incidents and arrests police attended — many involving violent, drunk and mentally disturbed people.
“These figures show that use of force is a last resort, and every effort is made to resolve matters without having to resort to using these techniques. However the reality is that to protect New Zealanders from violent people there will be times force has to be used.”
Pain compliance techniques involve officers using the “direct and intentional use of force” to cause pain to gain compliance in an arrest or control situation — “usually evidenced by the subject showing and/ or verbalising pain”, police said.
The Herald asked what techniques were used to cause pain and what guidelines governed when pain compliance could be used by officers.
Police acting national manager response and operations Inspector Nic Brown refused to provide details, arguing doing so could prejudice the maintenance of the law, the prevention, investigation and detection of offences, and the right to fair trial.
Internationally, the techniques usually involve applying force to certain parts of the body such as wrists and arms, or pressure points around the neck and jaw.
Pain is used to force someone who is resisting to submit, but pressure should be relieved once the offender complies with an officer’s instructions.
New Zealand data shows police officers here reported using the pain techniques 1788 times in the past five years.
Men were subject to much greater use of pain techniques than women — 1502 to 285 respectively.
Ma¯ori made up nearly half of all pain compliance recipients, followed by European, Pasifika, and Asian.
Cahill rejected claims of racism, labelling Ra¯kete’s comments “inflammatory and offensive rhetoric”.
The comments showed Papa had no interest in being a meaningful part of solving Ma¯ori over-representation in the criminal justice system, he said.