The Police Complaints Authority has decided that West Coast police did not assault or use excessive force against John Menzies. I think this is a clear case of the police looking after their own, and a clear demonstration of why we need an independent Police Complaints Authority.
For those who have forgotten, Menzies was originally charged with assaulting police after a late-night altarcation in 2000 which left him with severe head injuries. He was acquitted, and then turned around and laid a civil suit against the police involved, winning a record $35,000 payout after the jury found that one of the officers had assaulted and wrongfully imprisoned him, then fabricated evidence against him at trial. While this was not a criminal trial, and the standard of proof was therefore lower, you would expect it to amount at least to a case to answer for assault and attempting to pervert the course of justice. Instead, the Police Complaints Authority has whitewashed the whole affair, and a bad cop has been allowed to continue to poison the police from within.
But then, is this really surprising? The police have backed their man to the hilt, and even went so far as to award him a commendation for bravery for his actions in assaulting Mr Menzies (because apparantly beating an old man with a baton while three of your mates hold him down is showing "a ton of guts"). The Police Complaints Authority is simply reflecting the opinion of the local commanders that the jury got it wrong, that there was no foul play, and that Menzies deserved everything he got. Which is what happens when you get people to investigate their mates.
This case is a good demonstration of why we need an independent Police Complaints Authority, one that is not so beholden to the police. There is a bill to do this before Parliament, but it is currently awaiting the final outcome of the investigation into historic allegations of rape against the police - which is currently on hold while criminal charges are resolved. Which means we will have to wait even longer until the police are subjected to proper independent insight. And in the meantime, the police will continue to be able to treat the public as they treated Mr Menzies, secure in the knowledge that they will not be held to account.
4 comments:
If the Police Complaints Authority won't do anything about it maybe a member of the public will have to cash in Terrence's raincheck and show him what a real assault is.
Posted by Anonymous : 10/06/2005 10:20:00 AM
I would like to know how many complaints laid with the Police Complaints Authority have ruled against the Police, and the seriousness of those that are ruled in the publics favour. I would bet the police are very rarely found to be in the wrong.
Posted by Anonymous : 10/06/2005 10:36:00 AM
The parlous state of NZ policing is something no government has seemed prepared to tackle. I can't remember how long it's been since I first heard calls for an independent police investigation unit, but I must've been in my early teens - some 20 years ago.
Since then I've worked closely with police both here and in the UK as a reporter. There is no doubt that NZ police are often under-resourced, but to my mind there is also no doubt the police culture here has long promoted a thuggish 'them-against-us' attitude.
The Metropolitan Police in London, which faces community groups that are often far more antagonistic, entrenched and well armed, seems refreshingly friendly, understanding and, above all, even-handed compared to NZ Police. Just compare being stopped by one of NZ's ex-London bobbies during a drink driving blitz to being stopped by a NZ-born cop - the bobby assumes you're innocent until the breathiliser proves different. The Kiwi cop thinks you're obviously guilty of something and he'll get you next time. And don't even get me started on the Team Policing Units...
Rerferring complaints to the Complaints Authority in NZ is the most effective stalling tactic I ever came up against in journalism. This is the only avenue complainants have, it often takes years and it's secret. As a result, NZ police believe they can, and do, get away with... well, I'd hestitate to say murder, but none of us will ever know.
Unfortunately, the case you refer to is just one of many - like the recent one of the man who fell over and crippled himself while being arrested. Yeah right!
If you changed place names in these reports to Zimbabwe, China or New Orleans, I'm sure few would doubt that the police had a serious case to answer.
Posted by Anonymous : 10/06/2005 12:51:00 PM
As a relative of Mr. Menzies, Christiaan, I appreciate your sentiment but I have to say your comments aren't really helpful. Answering thugery with thugery only convinces the police that they are justified in their attitudes.
As much as I would like to see Hunt get what is coming to him, I'd rather it be dished out in a fair and just manner, rather than in an action similary to what started this whole affair. An independent complaints authority would go a long way to helping that.
Posted by Anonymous : 10/06/2005 11:27:00 PM
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