Insulting
April 19th, 2012 at 9:00 am by David FarrarI enjoy Morgan Godfery’s blog as he gives a good perspective on the world of Maori politics. Most of his posts are thoughtful and interesting.
Then some are not. Yesterday he blogged:
Prominent protesters are accusing the Police of brutality. The protesters, which include John Minto and Joe Carolan, were protesting the eviction of state house tenants in Glen Innes. Apparently Minto was beaten and female protesters were handled violently with one woman entering a seizure as a result of the Police’s heavy hands. Of course, this is exactly what the Police do with protest, especially the blue nappied babies they recruit for South Auckland.
That part is okay, as a point of view. Personally I would not rush into judgement off one party’s version of events. The IPCA can investigate any complaint of Police “brutality”.
They’re desperate for recruits so they, more often than not, recruit brain-dead males fresh from failing to gain university entrance or any meaningful academic qualification. I’ve always said, you become a cop if you’re too dumb to do law and too soft to join the military.
This is just plain insulting and stupid, especially of a professions where six officers get assaulted every day, one of them seriously. The average officer will probably get assaulted a dozen times in their career. Some get killed or stabbed doing their duty of protecting New Zealanders.
It is very easy for a university student to sneer at Police as being thick. I’ve known a few cops (and dated one), and that has not been my experience.
If people comment on this thread, don’t just abuse Morgan. Say why you think he is wrong (or right).
Related posts:
- Six police a day assaulted
- Rowan Atkinson on “insulting” free speech
- Missing protesters
- Stupid protesters
April 19th, 2012 at 9:03 am
I dunno, the ones I know are pretty stupid leavened with the occasional flash of intelligent life.
Luckily, most criminals are even dumber than the plod, and they don’t have half the kit, so we can still sleep easy at night.
Vote:April 19th, 2012 at 9:06 am
In my experience, people who make statements about despising the police for being thick, corupt, brutal etc always tend to be criminals.
Vote:April 19th, 2012 at 9:08 am
I think he’s wrong because…
I’ve never met a cop I didn’t like and respect. But then I’ve never been of the receiving end of more than a speeding ticket.
My son is a cop – and he and his colleagues are intelligent, friendly and a great crew. I suspect you get what you dish out – if you are rude and abusive, then that’s going to affect how you are treated.
Vote:April 19th, 2012 at 9:11 am
Easy to say that when sitting behind your keyboard. I wonder how he would feel if he was out dealing with drunken, aggressive dickheads who think that police deserve no respect at all. I say put him in a police uniform in South Auckland on a Friday or Saturday night and see what he thinks then.
Vote:April 19th, 2012 at 9:14 am
Minto got beaten ? A commendation for that man, who ever he (or she) was. I hope they used a megaphone when he was struck, as we know assaults by megaphone are immune to prosecution, or at least, they used to be in old Clarkistan.
Vote:April 19th, 2012 at 9:17 am
Morgan Godfery said…
.
So, Morgan Godfery thinks he’s got more brain cells in his head than members of our police force? Can someone check if Morgan Godfery is doing gender studies or perhaps a degree in orgasmology? If he is, then our police officers have got more neurons in their heads than Morgan Godfery.
Vote:April 19th, 2012 at 9:20 am
Bad form from an often good commenter. The police are often seen as easy targets for abuse, absent a good argument.
What I don’t get with these protesters (and according to Morgan UPDATE: Hone Harawira will be helping lead the protest tonight) is what they’re protesting about. The aim is to provide more housing.
It seems to be based around the concept that state house renters “deserve” what is a privilege as their own possession, and stuff those who desperately need reasonable rental accommodation.
Vote:April 19th, 2012 at 9:25 am
Two of my good mates from Varsity joined the Cops after graduating-and they certainly weren’t “brain-dead”..
Vote:I’m pretty sure new cops have to complete numerous University papers in Law and Criminology as part of their probationary training as well….
April 19th, 2012 at 9:27 am
It’s worth noting here a comment from Chris Trotter on Morgan’s blog:
And Morgan seems to have sort of moderated his initial comments…
…although that could have more than one meaning.
Protesters have a right to protest, but companies and state agencies also have a right to carry out their lawful business unimpeded.
Vote:April 19th, 2012 at 9:27 am
FF @ 9.17am
Vote:A degree in orgasmology?! Sounds awesome!
April 19th, 2012 at 9:30 am
@Pete
So another ‘Mana’ protest for free stuff.
Vote:Is this news?
Wait for Sue to make a dramatic entry-exit.
April 19th, 2012 at 9:31 am
I personally know a young guy training to be a cop and it’s hard work, both physically and mentally.
Vote:I have my doubts of “brain deads” making it all the way through…
April 19th, 2012 at 9:35 am
I had a look a the police recruitment website (get some better work stories!)
Vote:Rather than rely on school qualifications they seem to have their own testing for academic ability. You can do a practice test online to see if you meet the requirements, but to do the test you have to enter all your personal details, so since I’m not interested in being a police officer I didn’t go any further. It would be interesting to see the adademic level required though.
They have a typing requirement of 25 words per minute which is pretty slow. The rest is made up of physical requirements and personality testing. The personality testing would weed out quite a few kiwibloggers
Very interesting website, well worth a look. I would suggest doing the test before making any judgements on the intellegence levels of the police, otherwise you are just making assumptions.
April 19th, 2012 at 9:36 am
Not all trainees make it through – and that’s after some pretty stiff aptitude and ability tests.
Vote:April 19th, 2012 at 9:36 am
BC, I know that they teach papers in queer theory, lesbian theory, gender studies, orgasmology, feminist theory at University of Auckland in the Film, TV and Media Studies Department. She was a senior lecturer there at UoA till last year. I think that someone else has taken over this year in the teaching of those topics in paper FTVMS-324.
Vote:April 19th, 2012 at 9:36 am
I have only ever had good experience in all my dealings with the Police – even the time they attended an accident I was culpable for – a moment’s inattention while looking towards the setting sun at an intersection – but my fault, I should not have entered the intersection if I couldn’t see. But the Police officers that attended were polite, knowledgeable and was I left with a very good impression, even when there was every possibility I could have been charged – they chose not to. But then I wasn’t automatically anti-police before they arrived, nor did I spit, curse or yell abuse at them when they carried out their job.
Most protesters, I have found, are deliberately provocative – specifically acting in a way that engenders the need to use force by the Police, just so the Police can carry out their lawful duties. And this only so they can scream “Police brutality” after the event. The only protester I have respect for are those that follow Gandhi’s example – non-violent, non cooperation – offering no abuse, no violence themselves. If it was John Minto – the guy has, by numerous previous examples, proven himself to be a liar and hypocrite – so he is ‘the boy who cried wolf’.
Vote:April 19th, 2012 at 9:38 am
A high percentage of new recruits are women, asian, maori and polynesian.
Morgan Godfery’s not just an arsehole, he’s a sexist and racist arsehole.
Vote:April 19th, 2012 at 9:39 am
I suppose it is wishful thinking to imagine that the authoritarian talkback Taliban of Kiwiblog might walk a mile in another mans shoes. So I suppose it would also come as a surprise for people here to learn that for many Maori and lower-class New Zealanders the police force is seen at best as a a property protection agency of the middle classes and above and at worst as little more than an occupying power that relies on compliance policing via the medium of casual brutality and harassment.
And if you don’t like that – hey, you guys continually advocate for a racist and unequal society, suck it up when the consequences bite you on the arse.
Vote:April 19th, 2012 at 9:48 am
Imagine being so ‘brain-dead’ as to believe Minto and his fellow protestors about so-called poilice brutality. Back as far as student protests in the 60′s it’s a time-honoured tactic to scream you or your mate is being hurt, to make police manhandle you to remove you and to wax indignant about your rights.
Vote:Then our silly media takes the film it loves and the protestors get their 15 minutes.
I think our police do a brilliant job and deserve our support and grateful thanks.
April 19th, 2012 at 9:53 am
Hell yeah fishboy, them damn property owners and their defence forces with their little piggy eyes, how dare they puty themselves between us and the property we want to heist. How the hell are we goin to buy the P we need if we can’t flog a regular supply of honkey wide-screens, and when we do, or get a skinful and set off with the mates missus and kids to drive back to the whare there is some bastard in a blue uniform getting in the way. Bastards
sheesh
Vote:April 19th, 2012 at 10:01 am
fish_boy,
Funny you should say that, because as a member of the “middle classes” I certainly don’t expect the Police to protect my property. For any less than serious assault or armed robbery, I rather suspect the most I can hope for is, “Here’s an incident report. Now, off you go and see your insurance company.”
I further suspect that the Police probably do more to save members of the lower classes from each other than any other single group in society, and that if the Police decided they weren’t going to bother with areas like Mangere and Porirua any more the same people who grumble about them would realise how much they miss them as their areas suffer from increased gang warfare etc.*
If they want, therefore, to see the Police as the enemy there’s not a lot I can do about it.
* I’m not saying that everyone (or even a significant percentage of people) in these areas is a gang member or violent criminal. But I’m sure it only takes a few to make it suck to live in the area.
Vote:April 19th, 2012 at 10:05 am
True or not, for someone who loves South Park, and runs a blog with such “robust” comments threads, you seem remarkably quick to take offence.
[DPF: South Park is a cartoon.]
Vote:April 19th, 2012 at 10:13 am
Morgan Godfrey writes a Maori blog from a Maori perspective. That many Maori have a less than rosy opinion of the police force is a fact of life. DPF might want to condemn anyone from uttering that unpleasant reality in terms as explicitly as Morgan Godfrey does, but that won’t change the facts one iota.
Vote:April 19th, 2012 at 10:17 am
I suspect that the majority of people that see fit to criticise / try to denigrate the Police, have an axe to grind…. most likely they have fallen foul of the Law at some stage and didn’t enjoy the experience (unlucky) or they are morons in society who make a habit out of pushing doors marked ‘pull’ and think that having a list of arrests / convictions against their name is something other than a source of total embarrassment.
For my money, I have no issues with the Police / have never had any issues with the Police and this includes the few times I’ve been on the wrong end of a speeding ticket.
The Police have a tough job to do (often operating under extreme provocation) and I wouldn’t want their job at all.
Vote:April 19th, 2012 at 10:18 am
Fishboy – I know a number of people you would lump into the Maori or lower-class New Zealanders – I’ve worked alongside a large number of them and became good friends with many. Apart from the ones that, by inclination, lived a semi-criminal lifestyle, the rest of them had either a similar view to most NZer’s (your middle classes and above) or at very worse had a neutral attitude towards the Police – much better than your ‘at best’ attitude. Funny even the quasi-criminals I worked with, many of them had the ‘it’s a fair cop’ attitude to being caught – they weren’t anti-Police at all – they knew they were breaking the law, and had a fairly fatalistic attidude to being caught – they didn’t blame the Police.
It was the politically aware, very left leaning, protestor/activist -usually exports from the middle classes you appear to have the most contempt for – that I’ve found actually anti-Police. And then you, in what I see as typical naivety, paint your own attitude to these others – on the belief that had you been in that position you would think like that, thus they must think that way – most protesters/activists never actually bother to take the time to meet and live/work with these people, you are too focused on fighting for what you think they want, to bother finding out what they actually want.
Vote:April 19th, 2012 at 10:20 am
you seem remarkably quick to take offence.
maybe that’s because what Morgan Godfery said was really offensive. Knowing the very difficult work police do in areas such as at risk families just might give a sense of why it is so offensive.
Vote:April 19th, 2012 at 10:22 am
I am a University graduate.
I have a story about cops who are smarter than university graduates:
3 years ago a couple of young University Graduates working at CYFS decided they thought my wife & I might be abusing our 5 year old daughter, on the strength of a comment she made at school about having dreams about ghosts touching her bottom in the night, combined with the fact that we were at the time treating a viral skin condition on her legs with plastic tape. (Combined with the fact that we are young working parents in a pretty flash area where most school parents are property owning / company owning types, so we are already “those” parents from the wrong side of the tracks to some degree.)
To this day my wife & I are grateful for the clear heads of the Wellington Police child abuse squad, who were able to ask smart questions, sort wheat from chaff and determine that we were in fact NOT pedophile child abusers, merely a couple of young working parents making a reasonable fist of things.
Stupid university-graduate CYFS girl could not even manage to call my wife on her cellphone to tell her they wanted a meeting at the police station. So the first my wife knew that anything was going on, was when Detective Sgt (Name) calling her on the same number, introducing himself and saying he was expecting her at the station and he wanted to talk to her about her daughter.
Stupid university-graduate CYFS girl was not even at work on the day she’d arranged to meet us at the Police station, so she sent in her place another stupid university-graduate CYFS girl, who knew nothing of the case and couldn’t tell us a thing about why we were there.
Months later after it was all over, stupid university-graduate CYFS girl phoned my wife with the good news that: we’ve decided there’s nothing wrong after all, tee hee hee! At which point my wife ripped her a new arsehole.
Basically, stupid university-graduate CYFS girls are not even competent to make cups of tea & coffee for Police officers, in my humble opinion.
Morgan Godfery comes across as an ignorant young boy who hasn’t done much.
Vote:April 19th, 2012 at 10:26 am
What else would you expect from a far left,racist Maori with a French name. He’s concerned about the “maori voice”in the blogosphere where he writes in English in a medium created by the capitalist west…….
Note the insult to the police about being too soft to join the military (by so doing he implies the military is a good thing(which of course it is)
That would be Queenie Elizibattis’ military? Which of course is a foreign ,oppressive agent of the state…….fuck me these racist leftists are as thick as shit and hypocrites of the first order.
For the record our constabulary do a fine job.
Vote:April 19th, 2012 at 10:29 am
@ RRM; I cannot imagine a worse nightmare than having CYFS on your case for something that didn’t happen. And I’m glad that the police were indeed able to sort things out in a sane manner.
Mr Godfery’s rant comes across as petulant and ill-informed, especially when he cites John Minto as a case study. One only needs to watch the many police programmes on the CI network to realise just how restrained and moderate our police are, often under extreme provocation.
Vote:April 19th, 2012 at 10:30 am
Police violence, when dealing with those protesting against ‘social norms’ like the right of the privileged few to pursue policy objectives which are detrimental to the welfare and aspirations of the down trodden, is a rational tactic. They beat the crap out of people who question the status quo, with the tacit acceptance of the coordinator class, as a warning to others who might be considering joining the protest.
Most of those at the bottom of the socio-economic heap, to which Maori contribute to disproportionately, have a clear understanding that the police force exists for the benefit of the privileged few. What shouldn’t surprise anyone is that those who occupy positions of privilege and authority will be quick off the mark to act as apologists for the thuggish behaviour of their agents.
I don’t blame the police, after all, they are merely the tools of a sinister elite.
Vote:April 19th, 2012 at 10:32 am
Most of the young men that liberated Europe in World War II were younger than these ‘new cops’ – so I don’t see what age has to do with it.
Cops today have to wear vests as standard so they don’t get stabbed, and risk getting shot when they go to work.
I know and/or have worked with about a dozen cops in my life and their range if intelligence is about the same as other people I know/work with in others parts of my life – if anything cops are more hard-working and patient than others.
I also know cops are always in the public eye (including on a number of TV programs) and they almost always carry themselves with dignity and respect others.
No doubt if Morgan Godfery got pulled over for speeding or was drunk on Courtenay Place in the future, the cops will still treat him the respect, he clearly isn’t willing to give them.
Also, please tell why Morgon Godfrey, and his opinion, is even important. From memory all he’s ever done is work at Parliament once.
Vote:April 19th, 2012 at 10:33 am
“to soft for the military”.
How many soldiers have been killed by enemy action since 1975?
Now work out how many police have been killed in the line of their duty in the same time?
Having now worked out that huge difference may I suggest the military is a much safer option.
Vote:April 19th, 2012 at 10:38 am
While there’s no doubt that the academic smarts needed to become a cop are pretty minimal, there’s no need to be rude about it. I suppose in some professions (law, medicine) the entry requirements are tough enough that you can’t get in if you are brain dead. The police don’t have these requirements, so I guess that’s why it is possible to get a braindead cop, where it is probably almost impossible to get a braindead lawyer or doctor. But that doesn’t mean cops are all braindead.
Vote:April 19th, 2012 at 10:39 am
The police are at the forefront in protecting our rights. I have 2 relatives who are in the police force, one in Otahuhu and one in Mangere and (according to Morgan Queer Experts Godfery whom he labelled as brain-dead) are doing a very good job in South Auckland.
Vote:April 19th, 2012 at 10:41 am
oh dear fishboy, its a dim old world you inhabit isnt it?
Ask most cops, you will hear the same story – they deal with the bottom 5% of society, and cops who have been at the same station know their regulars by name. They do a great job in often bloody difficult circumstances. Yes, there are bad cops, just like there are bad but, if asked, who woudl I trust – minto, or a cop, I would pick the cop anyday.
The huge snse of entitlement that SOME state house tenants display amazes me. Yes, I understand the human need to ‘belong’ somewhere, a place to call your own, but FFS, its not ‘yours’, its ‘ours’ – you arent being thrown on the street, you are being moved. This isnt Stalinist Russia, you arent being shipped to build a village from scratch in Siberia. The woman on TV the other night turnign her nose up at two suggested rehousing solutions becuase she didnt like the neighbourhood, well fuck me, you really dont get it do you dear?
So, fishboy, I think you will find that most law abiding folk dont give a shit what the lower class perceive the Police to be – most of us find that if we dont break the laws, the Police tend to ignore us. Lower, middle or upper class.
Vote:April 19th, 2012 at 10:47 am
Yoda: “…the police force exists for the benefit of the privileged few.”
Oh, bollocks.
The Police exists to protect law abiding members of society from the morons and misfits who see fit to act in an unlawful manner.
And if that means that they have to use force (because their verbal requests have been ignored) to clear the morons and misfits from the path of someone wanting to go about their lawful business, then so be it.
You really need to get out more….
Vote:April 19th, 2012 at 10:48 am
Yoza: “like the right of the privileged few to pursue policy objectives which are detrimental to the welfare and aspirations of the down trodden”
If you are referring to the housing changes in Glen Ines – bollocks. Many of the so-called “down trodden” have been privileged to have been given subsidised housing assistance for many years, in some cases many decades.
Better housing for more people is hardly detrimental. If the aspiration of some of the “down trodden” is to have a guarantee of a cushy housing arangement for life then tough, the only way to get that is to own your own home, and even that’s no guarantee.
Vote:April 19th, 2012 at 10:51 am
Yoza…
“I don’t blame the police, after all, they are merely the tools of a sinister elite”
Thank you. Thats by far the funniest thing Ive heard in weeks.
Im going to assume, potentially incorrectly, that you are a taxpayer. That goes to pay the Police. Consider yourself part of the, and I quote, sinister elite.
You twazzock.
Vote:April 19th, 2012 at 10:52 am
Glen Innes is in the Auckland City Police District, not South Auckland. Best to check your facts before opening your mouth, Morgan!
FYI: http://www.police.govt.nz/district/aucklandcity/map.html
Vote:April 19th, 2012 at 11:00 am
@fish_boy
“Morgan Godfrey writes a Maori blog from a Maori perspective. ”
Don’t you love to ‘cubby-hole’ people.
Vote:You tell me what a ‘maori perspective’ is.
April 19th, 2012 at 11:05 am
Upon reflection, I wonder if his comments are just a cynical tactic to get greater media attention. Rather than the alternative, that Godfrey is just an out of touch Maori boy with a keyboard that once worked at Parliament.
Vote:April 19th, 2012 at 11:27 am
“..with a keyboard that once worked at Parliament..”
gotta love that involuntary humour..
phillip ure@whoar.co.nz
Vote:April 19th, 2012 at 11:29 am
A bunch of wannabes playing very menacing games with Tame Iti manage to get it converted to a police story.
Minto manages to convert a housing dispute to a police story.
Fundamentally wrong and indeed boring.
Why after all these years do the Media fall for it.
I have marched in protest and risked arrest. (I wasn’t)
Vote:But if that had happened I would not have been squealing outrage about the police.
My compliments to our police who do an extraordinary job in circumstances that almost by definition are always a challenge.
April 19th, 2012 at 12:06 pm
I’ve never been assaulted by police myself, but I was giving a statement as an eyewitness a few years ago and was treated to a good long look at a noticeboard of photos of protesters being menaced by policemen around the world in various ways, some but not all involving beating, with captions glorifying the activity or mocking the protesters.
I expressed my disapproval to the officer taking my statement, and he looked vaguely embarrassed and said it was a bit of fun some of the guys there had, printing out funny stuff off the internet and putting it on that particular noticeboard.
It was particularly galling for me, having had many arguments with regular protesters who claimed that many police enjoy a chance to get rough at demonstrations. I had always said they were just doing their jobs, no enjoyment in it, etc. And here I was looking at a kind of “cops menacing protesters photo of the month” noticeboard.
I disagree with Godfrey – none of the police officers I’ve spoken with (including some friends) are idiots or uneducated. And “too soft for the military” is completely ridiculous. Nor do I think police officers are selected for idiocy.
But it is certainly true that when one group of people are legally empowered to wield physical violence against another group of people, over time those two groups will grow to become contemptuous of each other. That noticeboard was just one manifestation of that inevitable contempt. Protesters calling police “pigs” and “Nazis” is another manifestation. But that glorification of violence against protesters is something that will stick in my mind for a long, long time.
Vote:April 19th, 2012 at 12:12 pm
So John Minto and Joe Carolan were hurt in their protest…….who gives a toss?
The truth is more likley to be that both Minto and Carolan are telling blatant lies about being “beaten”, both of them are well proven bullshitters.
Vote:April 19th, 2012 at 12:25 pm
Godfrey clearly succumbed to his personal prejudices on this occasion. I haven’t read his blog so I don’t know how out of character (or otherwise) this was, but this is no different to bagging all teachers as being entitled layabouts who couldn’t make it in the real world. I’m glad Trotter called him on it (even though the former isn’t averse to a bit of histrionic hyperbole himself).
Vote:April 19th, 2012 at 12:30 pm
I know one copper well and he is a smart bloke, his view when he left the NZ army ( Infantry) was that the so called Police physical tests were an absolute joke in comparison with the army, along with what the NZ police call weapon handling, example a negligent discharge is not treated as seriously as the army take it.
Women are not held to the same physical standards as the men yet the powers that are believe women are just as capable when it comes to a brawl.
Of course allowing dwarfs into the police is another joke, because the physical standards were unfair on little Asians they dropped them all together, a bit tough if you are a copper of 60 kg trying to arrest a big hori by yourself.
Hmm, more coppers have been killed on duty than military since 1965,nope, wrong.
Vote:April 19th, 2012 at 12:50 pm
> I’ve known a few cops (and dated one)
What was he like?
Vote:April 19th, 2012 at 12:57 pm
Watch out, we got a badass over here…
Vote:April 19th, 2012 at 1:21 pm
I expressed my disapproval to the officer taking my statement, ……………………..being menaced by policemen around the world
Ryan, did you get down off your high horse to sign the statement or the copper use a step ladder to bring it up to you?
I presume you have travelled off shore at some stage in your life Ryan, law and order tends to vary country to country.
Real protestors like those in Burma and China put their lives on the line, the “rent a fuck wits” here know the worst they will ever get is a slapping so they can afford to turn up for the opening of an envelope and tell their story breathlessly to some fellow traveller in the media about the “brutality ‘ of the state and how they nearly bled on their sandals.
Vote:April 19th, 2012 at 1:36 pm
What did I say to suggest that protesters here are treated as badly as in Burma or China?
Vote:April 19th, 2012 at 1:57 pm
I’m sure the vast majority of police officers are totally professional, but there are the ones who seem to be in it for the thrill of having the weight of the law behind them. I’ve had two negative incidents:
Vote:1) After work on a Friday afternoon a group of us usually go down for the local for a couple of drinks. Let me emphasise the word “couple” (as in two). So heading home after two beers I was stopped at a checkpoint. Ok, I thought, no problems I know I am well under. So the (male) officer did the usual – have you had anything to drink (etc). I said yes and said what I had, so naturally I had to be tested. Still no problem. But rather than say – you are within the legal limit, carry on – this cop said this “just as well you are on a full license otherwise I would be able to arrest you”. Now why say that? It seemed to me he thought, I’ve got one here, and became annoyed when he realised he hasn’t.
2) Driving into Pukekohe (from the Bombay Hills) you go down the Bombay’s quite steeply but there is minimal passing opportunities. Anyway I was following this car that was going 100, then 90, then 80, then 70 – deliberately slowing down, meaning with the car in front slowing and going down a steep hill I was having to break constantly. Now I will admit that I was getting hacked off, so I did get a bit close to the car in front. Next thing lights went on and I realised the car in front was an unmarked police vehicle. So I got a ticket for being to close, which as I said I did do, but I have no doubt the officer deliberately slowed down to provoke a situation where he could ticket me. He was also very rude, just wrote the ticket and threw it in the window, ie he didn’t hand it to me.
It only takes a couple of cases of men (in my case) on an ego trip in a uniform to get a bad impression. You just got to realise that most police officers do a good job and are not arrogant with it.
April 19th, 2012 at 2:39 pm
It is dumb of Morgan Godfrey to say that all cops are dumb, etc. Just as it is dumb for people to stereotype all Maori, based on their experiences with a small number of Maori. I believe that Morgan is studying law, so it appears he does not have a healthy regard for the members of society who have the duty of upholding and enforcing the law. Perhaps Godfrey is going to be a defence lawyer.
Personally, I have always found the police to be nothing but helpful. However, my eldest son thought the police did not treat students with the utmost respect. It seemed to him that students were always at fault when anything went wrong, particularly if there was alcohol being consumed. Student plus alcohol = Wrong.
Vote:April 19th, 2012 at 2:49 pm
“Hmm, more coppers have been killed on duty than military since 1965,nope, wrong.”
Produce your numbers ….
I think you’ll find that the total number of service personal killed by enemy forces is about the yearly average of cops.
Note I have stated killed by ‘enemy’. Not those that kill themselves and others with misadventure.
Vote:April 19th, 2012 at 3:03 pm
Morgan Godfrey is being hysterical ranting that the Police were heavy handed, and Godfrey’s whine about the Police is just drivel from a young emotional man.
Vote:Judge for yourself:
http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/arrests-after-glen-innes-housing-protest-video-4838910.
April 19th, 2012 at 3:03 pm
Military deaths are so rare I can name the last 3;
2000, East Timor, Leonard Manning
2010, Afghanistan, Tim O”Donnell
2011, Afganhistan, SAS soldier.
1975 – 1999, zero
Vote:April 19th, 2012 at 3:45 pm
Christopher,
There have been 5 deaths in Afghanistan alone.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10796554
Vote:April 19th, 2012 at 3:53 pm
Your problem DPF is that you expect too much from these leftist sacks of bile of which Morgan is a prime example.
He probably is French based on the name but fuck him, he thinks he’s a pure bred Maori and has the right to lord it over us LOL
It turns out he is studying, not philosophy or orgasmology but fuckign Law! Another fucking lawyer ready to shaft us all when he gets out of school.
NZ needs ness lefty lawyers and more conservative hard workers who actually PRODUCE something except oppression.
So fuck you Morgan, I hope you get arrested and thrown in the clink by some of the brave warrior-cops you so love to despise.
Vote:April 19th, 2012 at 5:38 pm
Coming to this one late in the day…In my thankfully fairly limited interactions with the Police I have found them to be anything but stupid…they managed to locate an offender (me) to charge for an offence committed 27 years earlier by tracking down the then resident of an address (as they say in cop speak) occupied by a friend of mine and which I had used – 27 years earlier – as the mailing address for “that passport”…I was fairly impressed by that. The friend now lives about 500 miles away from the said “address” – which she was renting at the time.
They also have a very high rate of clearance of murders and serious crime when compared with other forces internationally, although they acknowledge themselves that a lot of that is down to public co-operation. And that in turn only happens when there is widespread respect for them.
On the other hand…traffic policing seems to attract those who rather enjoy wearing the uniform… that story about the lecture about being over the former youth limit is not an uncommon one. Then again, it’s they who have to clean up the mess caused by those foolish enough to be over the limit and who then cause accidents.
And I wonder if “Fishboy”, university student of Wellington, will ever become “Fishman” ? What are the odds punters? Perhaps in 25 years? Never? But then I am a member of that sinister elite his mate talks about…
Vote:April 19th, 2012 at 10:55 pm
” But then I am a member of that sinister elite his mate talks about…”
Hilarious and more than just a little deluded. You are little more than coordinator class…the elite look down their noses at you with the same facial expression they use for looking down on something vile into which they have just stepped.
Vote:April 20th, 2012 at 10:44 am
Prominent protesters are accusing the Police of brutality. The protesters, which include John Minto and Joe Carolan, were protesting the eviction of state house tenants in Glen Innes. Apparently Minto was beaten…
I stopped reading about there. Whoever that cop was deserves a big hug and a solid gold medal.
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