Thursday, January 10, 2008



Still protecting their own

So, the cop brother of one of the Mt Maunganui pack rapists (who included former cops Brad Shipton and Bob Schollum) was caught looking up details of the victim in a police database, presumably so he could harass or attempt to discredit her. Rather than being disciplined, fired, or prosecuted, he was allowed to resign, reputation intact.

This is simply unbelievable. After the whole police rape scandal, a damning report, at least four court cases and and several convictions, it seems the police have learned precisely nothing. Cops are still covering for cops, still protecting their own - which as the victim points out is exactly what got them into this mess in the first place:

"That's why those other police officers got to be rapists. They took for granted their power and their powerful positions."
If the police want any hope of rebuilding their reputation and regaining the trust of the New Zealand public, they need to stamp out this toxic internal culture of protecting their own. When police officers violate the law or the public trust, they should be held accountable for it. otherwise, they are simply inviting further scandals, and further corruption and criminality from the people we trust to protect us.