In March 2015, police surrounded Gregory McPeake in his car in a Napier carpark. Despite McPeake being contained and able to be arrested at leisure, they proceeded to smash the windows of the car, set police dogs on him, and repeatedly pepper sprayed and tasered him in an effort to arrest him. He died shortly afterwards. This week, the officers were tried for their manifestly excessive use of force in effecting the arrest. Despite being condemned by their fellow police, Radio New Zealand is reporting that they have been acquitted:
BREAKING NEWS - Four police offers found not guilty of assaulting a man who later died
— RNZ News (@rnz_news) December 8, 2016
And there you have it: the police are above the law. They can use excessive force, rape, even kill, and they will not be convicted - assuming they are even charged. The courts and the legal infrastructure are simply not capable of providing justice against them when they commit criminal acts.
