In a reaction to ram-raiding (which has now morphed into aggravated angle-grinding); to cold-blooded murders by a home detainee; to brazen trolley-filled supermarket shoplifting; to defiant silence from witnesses of child abuse deaths; New Zealanders voted for a crack down on law and order. The issue was second only to inflation on the list of the voter concerns in the run-up to the 2023 election. New Police Minister Mitchell has sent a public message to old Police Commissioner Coster - Quit with the tolerance of crime.
Since the election police visibility on our roads has ramped up. For instance, on a bypass road running between a golf course and a military facility the speed limit recently reduced from 80kmph to 50kmph. Of a morning, frequent sirens blast as police catch unaware 'speeders' as if shooting fish in a barrel.
Now we learn forty five people were arrested on New Year's Day leaving Rhythm and Vines for drinking and driving. Well actually drinking, sleeping it off and driving. The three check-point operation was run in the morning.
The age-old sensible slogan will have to be amended to 'Don't Drink, Sleep and Drive.'
OK. People with hangovers probably aren't the safest drivers behind the wheel. But then neither are people with fatigue, who chose not to sleep.
"No driver has the right to put other people's lives at risk; every person in and around your vehicle relies on you being in full control of it" says the police area commander. Quite.
But all of this smacks of window-dressing: Look at us. Look how tough we are. Look at all the resources we can summon up to catch people doing 55kmph in what was for years safely a 80kmph zone. Or to hobble the hungover.
In reality the police have much bigger, nastier fish to fry. But the temptation will always be, when pressed, to chase after low-hanging fruit.
Anyway. That's my suspicion. The demand for a 'tough on crime' approach will be executed but not in quite the way we anticipated.
And there will be no room to complain. Commissioner Coster need only reply, "You asked for it."
Let's hope I'm wrong.
In the year to November 2023 there were 347,068 crimes comprising assault, sexual assault, abduction, robbery, burglary and theft reported to police. Up 35,644 (or 10 percent) on the previous period.
Legal boundaries must always be drawn somewhere but sometimes crossing them is a minor breech.
Policing and punishing minor misdemeanors does nothing to prevent innocent people from becoming victims of serious crime.
Lindsay Mitchell is a welfare commentator who blogs HERE. - where this article was sourced.
Now we learn forty five people were arrested on New Year's Day leaving Rhythm and Vines for drinking and driving. Well actually drinking, sleeping it off and driving. The three check-point operation was run in the morning.
The age-old sensible slogan will have to be amended to 'Don't Drink, Sleep and Drive.'
OK. People with hangovers probably aren't the safest drivers behind the wheel. But then neither are people with fatigue, who chose not to sleep.
"No driver has the right to put other people's lives at risk; every person in and around your vehicle relies on you being in full control of it" says the police area commander. Quite.
But all of this smacks of window-dressing: Look at us. Look how tough we are. Look at all the resources we can summon up to catch people doing 55kmph in what was for years safely a 80kmph zone. Or to hobble the hungover.
In reality the police have much bigger, nastier fish to fry. But the temptation will always be, when pressed, to chase after low-hanging fruit.
Anyway. That's my suspicion. The demand for a 'tough on crime' approach will be executed but not in quite the way we anticipated.
And there will be no room to complain. Commissioner Coster need only reply, "You asked for it."
Let's hope I'm wrong.
In the year to November 2023 there were 347,068 crimes comprising assault, sexual assault, abduction, robbery, burglary and theft reported to police. Up 35,644 (or 10 percent) on the previous period.
Legal boundaries must always be drawn somewhere but sometimes crossing them is a minor breech.
Policing and punishing minor misdemeanors does nothing to prevent innocent people from becoming victims of serious crime.
Lindsay Mitchell is a welfare commentator who blogs HERE. - where this article was sourced.
6 comments:
Ramping up tough on crime will generate statistics which attract the label of racism. Better to chase speeders who are more evenly distributed and whose fewer relatives are not likely to become seriously vengeful.
I suspect you would find a tsunami of supportive agreement with the following comments:
“But all of this smacks of window-dressing” and “… the temptation will always be, when pressed, to chase after low-hanging fruit.”
Easy pickings, in other words.
The Police upper echelons have a huge issue to resolve - winning back public confidence. That in my view has been eroded and in too many cases destroyed by Commissioner Coster’s trumpeted philosophy/policy of “policing by consent”. He has never explained that to the public’s satisfaction.
Next step: the justice system, in particular NZ’s Courts & Judges. Bring on the Letters of Expectation, Mr Goldsmith.
I notice no report on the number of people leaving Rhythm and Vines caught with cannabis or other drugs likely to impede driving skills in their bodies.
Low hanging fruit indeed.
Oh let's be fair. It is early days. I am a fan of the Police (in spite of several speeding tickets, all very politely administered). Surely they enter the force because of a respect for law and order, and the Commissioner knows he's 'in the gun.'
I feel less respectful of the judiciary - plenty of woke people there. I long to see the Justice Department get a shove in the back.
Well, to be fair, the Commissioner was really tough on those who complained about compulsory ‘vaccination’.
Surely these arrests were for drink driving? Hardly a frivolous offence. The fact that the drunks had slept for a while wouldn't prevent them from killing other road users.
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