Euphemism of the Year
This should win some sort of award for spin or euphemisms:
A baton may have been used to assist the man to the ground and with only one strike used, Mr Rutherford said.
Yes batons are well known for how they assist people to the ground. Just in case you can’t make it all the way down there by yourself, then hey let a baton assist you.
Next we will read how the Police may have used a gun to assist a man in slowing down.
For the record I am not casting a view on whether the Police should have used a baton or not. Just criticising the ridicolous way they described it as assisting him.
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February 5th, 2008 at 11:50 pm
Why would any well managed organisation send a woman police officer and one male officer to confront a male offender suspected of assault? Two issues here-
1) Female police officers are often super aggressive and therefore more prone to provoking a violent outcome
2) The presence of a female cop puts the safety of the male cop at risk, and therefore makes the use of extreme force by both officers a more likely option
The language used to describe what happened is designed to downplay the level of violence used. The real objective is to conceal the weaknesses that eventuate when women are used as front line police.
This largely symbolic feminist bullshit of having wimmin police serving in the front line is putting male officers at undue risk and creating situations where because of the physical weakness of the female officer, violence, perhaps even undue violence, is much more likely than if only males were present.
NZ’s Police Force is a politically correct basket case. Another socialist fuck up.
February 6th, 2008 at 1:01 am
Revised version:
A baton may have been used to assist club the man to the ground and with only one strike used, Mr Rutherford said.
February 6th, 2008 at 1:02 am
Sorry the strikethrough tag didn’t work – wish you could edit posts after sending or preview them b4. Any chance DPF?
[DPF: That feature will be on Kiwiblog 2.0 which will be out this month]
February 6th, 2008 at 1:11 am
That’s right Redbaiter. We should send in people like you to use their negotiation skills. And if negotiation doesn’t work, you can always fire off a few assertions. Safer than tasers!
February 6th, 2008 at 1:12 am
DPF:
If I may pick up on Reid’s comment…
I generally copy-and-paste my comments before submitting them, just in case the internet browser goes nuts. This allows me to look back over comments which supposedly haven’t been formatted properly. And sometimes, even though the HTML tags are correct, it stuffs up. I’ve noticed the same with other people’s comments.
Is this a WordPress issue?
February 6th, 2008 at 1:18 am
WordPress assisting you to the ground there, POC?
February 6th, 2008 at 1:24 am
Negotiation Skills?
Now I’m not saying this situation was a particularly good one although the idea of negotiation can sometimes seem a bit rediculous. For instance the situation with the agressive mentally impaired man in auckland, difficult to negotiate with someone who doesn’t have full mental capacity.
I personally have been working late nights in the hospitality sector for almost 4 years now and have seen nightly what the police have to deal with. I’m not saying the police should go in all guns blazing but I’ve seen my fair share of large agressive (normally drunk) New Zealanders who are very non-negotiable. For the safety of the public (which the New Zealand Police force is out to provide, public safety) I think the use of the baton, pepperspray or taser (which I have seen used and was extremely impressed) to ‘assist’ an offender to the groud is far better then allowing agressive behaviour to continue and endanger.
It is in fact the publics negative reaction to such police weapons that makes them more difficult to use and thereby give the criminals more power. Surely any criminal would think twice about overreacting to a female (or any) cop if they knew (I mean knew, not thought but were sure) that a few thousand volts would follow their non-cooperation.
February 6th, 2008 at 1:40 am
Deborah:
Nicely put. Couldn’t have said it better
February 6th, 2008 at 2:08 am
Redbaiter:
I’d like to introduce you to a few women Police officers of my aquaintance – I think they’re entirely capable of ‘assisting’ the hot air to leave your body.
Anyway, if DI Rutherford is vanity googling and comes across this, please follow this link (http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/orwell46.htm) and commit to memory George Orwell’s classic Politics and the English Language:
So: stunning someone with a good hard crack with a batton becomes a assist[ance] to the ground, doesn’t it DI Rutherford?
February 6th, 2008 at 2:38 am
cc_vince
I agree.
We need to consider the dangerous situations the Police have to deal with at times, all with the purpose of keeping us safe.
Anyone who is drunk, violent or menacing can expect to be dealt with by the Police and our instinct should be to support them. They seem to bend over backwards in explaining themselves whenever there is a problem, mistake or accident.
I often find myself cringing or feeling sorry for a well-meaning and hard working Police officer who – perhaps having just dealt with a homicidal yobbo – just doesn’t get the message across very well in the media. The Police’s situation would be helped if they used proper or more PR staff when making statements.
February 6th, 2008 at 3:02 am
Even without better PR I think the real problem is the difficulty people have in putting themselves in a police officers shoes. Given my weekly experience with aggressive people I have something of a different view.
I wouldn’t expect everyone to be able to either but to me its not a difficult answer, given the option when confronted with an agressive person of either talking to them or tasering them I certainly know which one I would choose.
And even during violent situations the options are greater now then before. Batons, pepperspray and tasers are certainly less fatal then a 9mm slug and judging by what I’ve seen just as effective.
(and before I have to re-hear what my friend said about tasers stopping pacemakers to me it’s simple, if you have a pacemaker it’s probably a good idea not to get confrontational with police)
February 6th, 2008 at 4:13 am
Revisiting the quote:
The NZ Herald article paraphrases Rutherford – ie not a direct quote. Even so, either the baton was used (one strike) or it wasn’t (no strikes) or there’s doubt (no idea if or how many strikes). Rutherford seems to rule out the latter two scenarios, and he’s playing semantics with the first scenario.
So in that spirit, a question: was there only one strike in total, or multiple strikes but just one to “assist” the man to the ground?
Having said that, those arguing for greater police restraint may care to Google “Constable Murray Stretch” and then share your thoughts.
http://www.stlukes.org.nz/?sid=10679
The anti-taser brigade (no doubt now to be joined by the anti-baton brigade) need to provide practical alternatives for modern-day policing. Otherwise they’re just perpetuating the problem.
February 6th, 2008 at 7:24 am
My understanding is that the deceased had a mental illness and died as a result of a heart attack.
An individual having a cadiac event will be mentally disorientated, physically distressed and oblivious to external behaviours. So it’s nice to know that when this happens, a couple of kindly police officers will apply suitable emergency treatment: a full armed crack to the head with a baton and a chest full of life-giving, oxygen-rich pepper spray.
Commissioner Broad – over here with the whitewash bucket asap!
February 6th, 2008 at 7:47 am
Sounds like “X is assisting Police with enquiries” when X is the prime suspect and is being
intensively questioned at the cop shop.
A defence lawyer once tried to attack an accused’s statement as being a fake because the accused stated that he had ‘proceeded’ to an address, hence the Police must have put words in his mouth. The accused was a habitual criminal and had heard police jargon so much that he could not help himself using it.
February 6th, 2008 at 7:47 am
‘Excuse me Officer, I was wondering if I could get some assistance? Is this the right way to get to the Citizen’s Ad……?”
[WHAP!]
“Was that helpful? Was it Did I ‘assist’ you, Bithch!!?!? Oh yeah, baby you gat good and ‘assisted’ there huh/ What? You’re trying to get up again? here, let me help you….”
[WHAP]
“Hah hah was that good ‘assistance?1? hey, Look Sarge1 I ‘assisted’ a member of the public.”
“No, Rittles! Are youcrazy?!? How many times have I told you about this?!…. you use the side of the Baton and a circular sweping motion, Thus…..”
[WHAP]
and so on….
February 6th, 2008 at 7:48 am
I blame Winston Peters…
February 6th, 2008 at 7:55 am
“I’d like to introduce you to a few women Police officers of my aquaintance ”
Yes, I would imagine you’d know a few, but no thanks.
February 6th, 2008 at 7:56 am
Two men should have been sent to deal with this complaint.
February 6th, 2008 at 7:59 am
Steve Rutherford’s interview on Checkpoint was so good, they played large parts of it several times.
That man should have his own show.
February 6th, 2008 at 8:49 am
Clearly he was resisting arrest. Putting aside the ridiculous way they have phrased what happened it is clear that cops in south Auckland should be paid war zone allowances.
How many of the cardie wearing numptys who comment on here have actually spent some time in this mega slum. Go and have a drive around and have a look at what the thin blue line is trying to cope with.
The good news is Clark has another funeral to attend, however the last one did not seem to help her poll ratings.
February 6th, 2008 at 8:59 am
While I support the Police in most cases (they deal with the dregs of society every day), they do seem to have an air of arrogance and superiority. Our local coppers have a tendency to use more force than necessary, and the lady copper is the standard “Ill give a ticket to my aged grandmother” variety. PR aint gunna help the local view of police. Having said all that, my sympathy does lie with them when dealing with recalcitrant people. They never really know whether this one will be the madman hopped up on P or similar.
February 6th, 2008 at 9:47 am
Redbaiter: This just goes to shows that you shouldn’t post after the third Jack Daniels. That’s why I prefer chardonnay.
February 6th, 2008 at 9:50 am
Awww… scared of a couple of little girlies, Baiter?
Very wise — they’re used to spending Friday and Saturday nights dealing with blowhards who are all mouth and no trousers. They’ve also had plenty of experience cutting sexist arse-hats down to size; they wouldn’t even have to put down their beers to ‘assist’ you ‘to the ground’.
February 6th, 2008 at 6:27 pm
Ohmygod it’s more than I can stand!
February 6th, 2008 at 7:38 pm
Lee C: That exchange between the two coppers is right up there with the “Not the Nine O’Clock News” sketch… the one where Constable Savage keeps arresting people for “loitering with intent to use a pedestrian crossing”. Brilliant
February 6th, 2008 at 7:52 pm
Sort of like Mr. Ropati assisting that nice lady’s arse onto his knob.
February 6th, 2008 at 8:22 pm
Rex:
Some people feel it’s acceptable to ridicule the Police as a matter of routine. The Police make mistakes like the rest of us. You might think them less ridiculous should you ever need them and benefited from the work they do.
Oh, and bye the way, Not The Nine O’Clock News was never funny. Not even once, about anything.
February 6th, 2008 at 9:59 pm
The Police are also civil servants who are subject to public scrutiny and criticism, not serge-clad demi-gods. Any senior police officer who has a problem with that should find employment as a private sector rent-a-cop or get off the martyr trip.
February 6th, 2008 at 10:18 pm
Who is suggesting that the Police are not subject to public scrutiny and criticism?
Of all the public servants, they receive the most, not all of it deserved and, unlike some public servants, their work is essential.