Hard News: Another Saturday Night
46 Responses
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Phil Wallington, in reply to
Agreed... Booze and drug fuelled violence is pervasive and horrible.
Much of the anti-social behaviour stems from ignorance of consequences and poverty.. not just lack of wealth... but the poverty of lack of opportunity and the grinding down of NZ society as the greedy & privileged few grab all they can.
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That is brilliant. The fuzz & their comms team done good.
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Bart Janssen, in reply to
Lest you think me “anti-police” I can honestly report that I have written and reported on the many deeds of police – the good, the bad, the ugly, the corrupt, the fiercely honest and even the heroic.
What always bugs me is that even with the best of intentions the news of a police corruption story is alway a bigger headline than that of a police heroism story. You even show more pride in your story of uncovering corruption than in your stories of good police.
Yet as has been noted above and is clear from the tweets, being in the police is hard, depressing and sometimes soul destroying work. It's not a job most of us could or would do.
Hardly surprising then that the police distance themselves from the media when they know there is much more likelyhood of a mistake (or worse) leading above the fold than a tale of a hard day or night at work.
I think there is good intent on both sides of the police and the media. And lord knows we've needed the media to watch the police at times but the other side of the coin is a very jaded view of the police by the public which is not good for anyone.
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Isn't there an argument for decriminalisation of marijuana here? It seems so much is pushed along by alcohol (please note my avoidance of "...fuelled...").
When I was lifeguarding at Swimarama in Panmure in the 80s, dope was cool, and alcohol was terrible (though the worst was glue). No P in those days.
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Matthew Poole, in reply to
Much of the anti-social behaviour stems from ignorance of consequences and poverty.. not just lack of wealth… but the poverty of lack of opportunity and the grinding down of NZ society as the greedy & privileged few grab all they can.
What explanation, then, for all the antisocial yobs who get hauled out of town and Takapuna? They're neither poor (financially), nor ignorant of the consequences.
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Phil Wallington, in reply to
The violent "upper class" who should know better are generally people who have never known what is to be disempowered or poor . They often have a huge and unwarranted sense of entitlement
In almost any modern society one might recruit an army of thugs and storm-troopers. Those who know better and from whom we might expect more usually become officers.
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As long as we're digressing into police grammar, can someone explain something to me? Why in the last few years have police suddenly, inexplicably started putting simple narratives into the perfect tense rather than the simple past? Eg: the suspect has entered the property and then he has broken a window. He has then ...
Did some particuarly influential copper invent this bizarre style and it spread?
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Lilith __, in reply to
Why in the last few years have police suddenly, inexplicably started putting simple narratives into the perfect tense rather than the simple past? Eg: the suspect has entered the property and then he has broken a window. He has then …
Isn't that the pluperfect? If we're going to be word nerds. ;-)
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"chris", in reply to
Pluperfect/ Past Perfect would use the auxiliary ‘had’.
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"chris", in reply to
I’ve seen it used a lot in those Police reality TV shows, I guess to intensify the feeling that the action is still unfolding as we watch.
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st ephen, in reply to
Perhaps from the rugby league comments team when viewing the replay: "He has gone outside his man and done him for pace, then he's come off his right foot and beaten the cover" sort of thing..
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Lilith __, in reply to
Pluperfect/ Past Perfect would use the auxiliary ‘had’.
Yes. Looking it up, “has entered”, etc, are present perfect.
I don’t know that there’s anything wrong with using that tense. Except it conveys an awful feeling of endlessly re-living the past. Which is perhaps appropriate.
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nzlemming, in reply to
A shift spent in a police car on a Saturday night anywhere in NZ is a real informative experience. Damn difficult job, particularly where the expectation is that you get it right every time. Wouldn't catch me doing it.
Very much so. While there may be a few idjits who hit the headlines, the majority of officers I have worked with are earnest, good blokes who do a hard job. That said, there's still a cultural issue of burying the mistakes rather than fronting them. We can only encourage change.
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nzlemming, in reply to
Did some particuarly influential copper invent this bizarre style and it spread?
It's how they talk when giving evidence, too. I suspect that they have a single communication class to cover all of that.
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Jesus. Waiuku in a distressed state was a joke.
Ben:
I noticed there were no reports of injuries from overly hot pies, so they’re making some progress :-)
IF I recall correctly, it wasn’t a “report of an injury”, it was a community cops suggestion to watch out for the hot pie.
“Safer Communities Together”
Heh. | And here is Dr Paul giving the cop his 15 minutes on Breakfast. ]]
Thermonucular. Sigh. Plice. Sigh.
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Youse literalists are harshing the buzz.
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Keir Leslie, in reply to
I think one reason we apply such a high scrutiny is that cops get away with all sorts of stuff (like, seriously, this?) and there’s a need for independent accountability.
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Kumara Republic, in reply to
The violent "upper class" who should know better are generally people who have never known what is to be disempowered or poor . They often have a huge and unwarranted sense of entitlement
Indeed. These 'snob yobs' are a law unto themselves who seem to think Big Rich Lister Daddy will simply buy them out of the courtroom with a fat chequebook, presumably to protect the future inheritors of the family investments.
It brings to mind when 7 of my Year 13 peers at Christs Col got nabbed for smoking pot at an end-of-school function. They also just happened to be the upper-class entitled types who got away with being jerks.
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Bart Janssen, in reply to
Did some particuarly influential copper invent this bizarre style and it spread?
It sounds to me like the narrator for a reality show. But I suspect it may have more to do with courtroom presentation.
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Ian Dalziel, in reply to
...(like, seriously, this?) and there’s a need for independent accountability
Damn straight!
It reassures me not a jot that police with that attitude are still out and 'looking after' the community - but I suspect that attitude spreads down from the top and the current head in Chchch is a particularly unrepentant type - refusing to apologise to a pensioner badly treated by armed police in the Chchch redzone, comes to mind. -
Matthew Poole, in reply to
there’s still a cultural issue of burying the mistakes rather than fronting them
Exemplified by the official response to this piece of historic brutality, where a still-serving officer turned an athlete into a “morphine-dependent invalid” and has apparently suffered precisely no repercussions.
I understand the argument that the IPCA will get better cooperation if they aren’t a prosecuting agency, and it may even be somewhat valid, but if the cops aren’t going to charge their own after serious assaults then someone with state funding needs to pick up the slack. Any other person who inflicted such injuries would be looking at quite a few years in jail.
ETA: I see Kier beat me to the punch in mentioning this one.
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