My father was a police officer, and my uncle. A number of my friends are police officers, or once served. I have huge admiration for the work they did and for the police as a whole.
But without doubt, the latest revelations of how some senior police officers ran interference to protect a now disgraced ex-colleague, is appalling. This impacts many people, but it will be a huge kick in the guts to serving officers and their families.
The situation with Jevon McSkimming was bad enough in itself; a former Deputy Commissioner now guilty of accessing some of the vilest objectional materials. This alone was raising questions around police conduct and vetting processes. How could a man with such problems – both in real life and online – get to within one step of the very top job of police commissioner.
But as we now know, it’s even worse with a cover up involving several senior police including the then police commissioner – Andy Coster. The cover up is not in relation to these objectional materials but the nature of an affair McSkimming had with a woman almost 20 years his younger including using his influence to get her a job within police. Without going into all the details, it is clear this affair ended badly and she was keen to let people know about his behaviour – via social media posts and emails. What has shocked so many people is that some senior police choose to accept McSkimming’s view of matters and actively worked to protect him. Instead of doing what police routinely do – investigate – these senior police officers instead chose to ignore her claims, or block and misdirect inquiries. They then pursued her for harassment, charging her under the Harmful Digital Communications Act.
If you want a fuller picture of what happened, there is a very good summary here and we now know that other police eventually stepped in, asked questions, and have bought this all to light. They are to be commended and thanked. They are the police we want and expect.
Trust in our police is essential and sadly, this sorry situation will undermine this trust for many. We live at a time where authority is being actively undermined and challenged, be this police, politicians, the church, media, and other groups. Some of this undermining is directly due to poor behaviour and choices, but it is also driven by activists who believe our way of life is corrupt and needs to be destroyed. Moments like this both harm individual perceptions and the wider societal good. The police are not a faceless entity, but thousands of fellow kiwis who work hard to protect the rest of us. We must loudly call out this current atrocious mess, but we should also not succumb to blaming the entire profession. That would be to play into the hands of those activists I mention, who would like nothing better than to defund the police, clear the prisons, restrict your speech, and compel your thoughts.
Practically, it is self-evident that greater vetting is needed. But what is also obvious is that processes are only as good as the people prepared to implement them. As we have witnessed, even the most senior police officer in New Zealand was prepared to ignore and divert investigations so as to protect a colleague.
The challenge ahead will be designing a system that has allegations against police (or others in power) taken seriously, yet simultaneously not used vexatiously. I have spoken of late about ‘the process being the punishment’ and while we do not want to see a repeat of the current situation, nor do we want good police officers being dragged through the mud unnecessarily or so as to inflict a form of abuse on them.
It is also time to repeal the Harmful Digital Communications Act. It was a law I was worried about at the time it passed. I expressed my concern to colleagues, but it was ultimately something the majority of the National caucus backed (and so you will see I voted for it). While I did not anticipate the precise ways it would be misused, I could see how the desire to protect people from harm would lead to ‘harm’ being more widely deployed and troublemakers using the law to silence those they do not like.
The misuse of the Harmful Digital Communications law by police to protect McSkimming is just one example. Sadly, there are others. One of note is journalist Portia Mao who had an ex parte case against her after a Chinese Communist Party aligned ‘hack’ targeted her. Fortunately, this was rescinded but it is ridiculous it was possible in the first place. That the women involved with McSkimming was targeted via this law shows it is not fit for purpose. It must go.
A final comment. While we rightly condemn the actions of those involved, we cannot expect a police force of angels. This in no way suggests that bad behaviour should be ignored or accepted; in fact, the very opposite is true. In knowing we are all human and flawed should re-double our efforts to ensure such failings are identified and put right.
Simon O'Connor a former National MP graduated from the University of Auckland with a Bachelor of Arts in Geography and Political Studies . Simon blogs at On Point - where this article was sourced.
But as we now know, it’s even worse with a cover up involving several senior police including the then police commissioner – Andy Coster. The cover up is not in relation to these objectional materials but the nature of an affair McSkimming had with a woman almost 20 years his younger including using his influence to get her a job within police. Without going into all the details, it is clear this affair ended badly and she was keen to let people know about his behaviour – via social media posts and emails. What has shocked so many people is that some senior police choose to accept McSkimming’s view of matters and actively worked to protect him. Instead of doing what police routinely do – investigate – these senior police officers instead chose to ignore her claims, or block and misdirect inquiries. They then pursued her for harassment, charging her under the Harmful Digital Communications Act.
If you want a fuller picture of what happened, there is a very good summary here and we now know that other police eventually stepped in, asked questions, and have bought this all to light. They are to be commended and thanked. They are the police we want and expect.
Trust in our police is essential and sadly, this sorry situation will undermine this trust for many. We live at a time where authority is being actively undermined and challenged, be this police, politicians, the church, media, and other groups. Some of this undermining is directly due to poor behaviour and choices, but it is also driven by activists who believe our way of life is corrupt and needs to be destroyed. Moments like this both harm individual perceptions and the wider societal good. The police are not a faceless entity, but thousands of fellow kiwis who work hard to protect the rest of us. We must loudly call out this current atrocious mess, but we should also not succumb to blaming the entire profession. That would be to play into the hands of those activists I mention, who would like nothing better than to defund the police, clear the prisons, restrict your speech, and compel your thoughts.
Practically, it is self-evident that greater vetting is needed. But what is also obvious is that processes are only as good as the people prepared to implement them. As we have witnessed, even the most senior police officer in New Zealand was prepared to ignore and divert investigations so as to protect a colleague.
The challenge ahead will be designing a system that has allegations against police (or others in power) taken seriously, yet simultaneously not used vexatiously. I have spoken of late about ‘the process being the punishment’ and while we do not want to see a repeat of the current situation, nor do we want good police officers being dragged through the mud unnecessarily or so as to inflict a form of abuse on them.
It is also time to repeal the Harmful Digital Communications Act. It was a law I was worried about at the time it passed. I expressed my concern to colleagues, but it was ultimately something the majority of the National caucus backed (and so you will see I voted for it). While I did not anticipate the precise ways it would be misused, I could see how the desire to protect people from harm would lead to ‘harm’ being more widely deployed and troublemakers using the law to silence those they do not like.
The misuse of the Harmful Digital Communications law by police to protect McSkimming is just one example. Sadly, there are others. One of note is journalist Portia Mao who had an ex parte case against her after a Chinese Communist Party aligned ‘hack’ targeted her. Fortunately, this was rescinded but it is ridiculous it was possible in the first place. That the women involved with McSkimming was targeted via this law shows it is not fit for purpose. It must go.
A final comment. While we rightly condemn the actions of those involved, we cannot expect a police force of angels. This in no way suggests that bad behaviour should be ignored or accepted; in fact, the very opposite is true. In knowing we are all human and flawed should re-double our efforts to ensure such failings are identified and put right.
Simon O'Connor a former National MP graduated from the University of Auckland with a Bachelor of Arts in Geography and Political Studies . Simon blogs at On Point - where this article was sourced.
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