Police Shooting

[malc]

Are we sick in this country ? ?
When you see the anti police media frenzy over the recent shooting of someone going berserk , whats wrong here ?
They say you get what you deserve .
In that case do we deserve the protection of the police ?
I would go so far to say that if someone is on a destructive rampage and is warned by the police to desist and that rampage continues then if it is necessary for Police shooting to come next then so be it .
The attack against the Police by Holmes was disgraceful . To suggest as he did that if a mad man was running toward you , you had your weapon trained on him , you could back no further back then instead of shooting you should take to the footpath and run away .
A disgusting statement . I would rather pull the trigger than run . Why turn your back on a mad person and run like a scared rabbit when its your job to protect the public. If the policeman had of run away and succeeded in running away and becasue of that other people got hurt think of the line that Holmes would have taken against the policeman then.
The race card has to be played , as always .
Helen Clark did nothing but undermine the Police in her comments. Her professilism has gone right out the window .
All these "Tut , tut 'ers " about the Police let them just hope they don't have to pick up the phone in desperation seeking help.
If someone got shot for jay walking , then Okay these comments would be justified .
The comments made to date would make one think that was exactly what happened .
I for one think we have too much of this softly , softly approach , but to go so far is to think a policeman should put his life on the line by having to think twice before protecting himself is plain stupidity .
Let there be common sense .

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[LJ]

I completely agree with you Malc. I can't believe the fuss the New Zealand Herald is making over the name suppression. They claim that they have the right to have access to the police officers name, but are not planning to use it. If the courts allow the Herald to have access to his name then someone is going to leak it. I don't blame the policeman for leaving the city, there is bound to be some kind of retaliation if his name is published. We give name suppression to criminals to protect them, why can't we help someone that deserves it.

[malc]

Thankyou L.J.
This topic certainly hasn't aroused much interest at this site .
The name suppression thing is crazy .
I see Helen Clark stepped back from introducing legislation to support the policemans name suppression. She seems to think that the "law" must run its course .
Is she trying to drive police out of the force . If the police officer concerned had to answer in a court of law for his actions then perhaps that would be different , but he has not been charged and appears to have been acting within his duties. However having said that many criminals with dispicable offences can get name suppression sometimes on the grounds that it might 'punish their family' .
Has this policeman who has not committed an offence no family ? ?
He has shot in self defence someone who was on a destrutive rampage . He didn't abuse or interfere with young kids , etc .

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[imported_watchmanz]

Hiya Malc, hiya LJ ....this is typical. I go away for a while and a really cool topic starts up on here. I was reading your initial message Malc and thinking to myself "this guy sounds exactly like me". I don't know if that's a compliment or a curse but I agree 100% with everything you said. Well done ... it's great to see somebody actually analyse a topic and argue based upon fact, rather than the usual emotional arguments used. I can't even encourage the debate by taking the devil's advocate position because I strongly believe in the right of the police to uphold the law and protect the people. Well done Malc and LJ .... it's great to see you both here .... let the debate begin! :-)

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Watchmanz
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"The secret of happiness is freedom, and the secret of freedom is courage"
- Thucydides

[LJ]

Hiya Watchmanz,

glad to see that someone else is interested in this topic. I find it quite hard to keep up with the local news in New Zealand being in Germany, so I log in to the New Zealand Herald website as much as I can. Amazingly the topic seems to have disappeared. People here are constantly saying 'New Zealand is supposed to be a fair and friendly country' and sometimes it is hard to agree with them. I think the police have a hard enough time ensuring that people uphold the law without being criticised for the way they do it. I think that the 'police are all pigs' attitude comes from the States, where they really do have a lot of public cases of misjustices caused by the police.

Well that is all for today.

Cheers

LJ

[rodneymackinnon]

I am saddened to see anti-police media rhetoric spread globally. Here in the States we have criminals who shoot police officers, lead dozens of cars on high speen chases through crowded neighborhoods, and display absolutely no regard for human life. As soon as the criminal figures he can't run anymore he simply throws up his hands and lies down. After this point the police have to treat him gently and respectfully. If you endanger human life you should expect some sort of retribution. I am really depressed to see this nonsense spread to New Zealand, which has a very reasonable image here in the US

[Nonson]

As is their practice the media uses such incidents as an excuse to create social unrest by pointing a finger at a specific race and labelling them as ignorant. This tactic will one day be the cause of a real societal action.

Nonson
2.11.01

[imported_Texas]

What I've found here in the US (and thru experience), is that it's dangerous to make an assessment of a shooting incident until things have really settled down. The day after a shooting, all the special interest groups are spouting their version of the story. If they don't bend the facts to be advantageous to their cause, they cease to exist. The media is especially guilty. Our media hides behind "freedom of the press" but they do not take on the responsibility accurate reporting. They are owned by companies that exist to make money, and if that means bending the truth to be controversial and "watched", they don't mind.

[brendonm]

Are you talking about the Steven Wallace shooting in Waitara?
If so here is a link to the Police report for those who missed out:
http://www.police.govt.nz/resources/...rashooting.pdf
& here is some discussion on it at Converge.org:
http://www.converge.org.nz/pma/waitara5.htm

All in all quite a sad affair all round, something I would like to see less of in New Zealand.