CRUSHER DOES THE DIGGER

Bewdy! crikey we remember back in the early 80's when the local Invercargill police commander caused a media storm when he bust down the fence at the local white power Road knight headquarters - with a bulldozer..

Police have apparently learned something from the past.

Diggers used to crash down gang pad and raid the drug dealing pricks.

Excellent work.

No - more - Gangs.

POLITICAL CHALK AND CHEESE

Adolf over at No Minister has a very good, almost scholarly dissertation on the differences between National and Labour. Something for journalists to file away for reference in the coming months.

However, we think that this governments steely leadership is worthy of note as well.

Ministers like Judith Collins have managed to face down public service Humpreys who are well past their use by date. Its a tough thing to do - as our dad would say - they are cunninger than a shithouse rat.

Collins has shown clearly that while she knows front line police on the street do a great job, the strategic direction of the police force was lacking. The culture was shit. It was a boys club. She has appointed a tough bugger in Peter Marshall to set things right , he knows what she expects police to achieve and he can be sure in the knowledge that she will unfailingly back him to the hilt and give him all the support he needs when the chips are down.

Crusher Collins has shown she is not a Minister to be trifled with. It is apparent that she gave Broad and Pope a wee push out the door. She gave them enough time to gather their wits and exclaim it was all their idea when plainly it wasnt. The fact that her desire to see them gone was leaked, shows clearly the shake up of the police ivory tower was very popular with the rank and file.

We can never understand New Zealanders medias subtle condemnation of changes to the leadership of the public service with the advent of a new government. Firstly its the government perrogative to choose the CE's they want to work with. They need to know that the people they are working will support the policies they are trying to implement.

The public service is a slow acting dull beast, made fat and lazy from years of over indulgence. The smart and the passionate get mired in process designed to keep account of outputs not outcomes.

For New Zealand to get ahead of the game - that must change. Crusher , is thankfully leading the charge.

LIKE DEFROCKING A PRIEST

Well here is an excellent first. The sort of police action that sets the benchmark. A mongrel mob member has had his patch destroyed by the police.

It is akin to defrocking a priest. It strikes at the heart of all they believe in - all they believe they are.

This should happen everytime a gang member breaks the law. And they should be forced to watch it being destroyed. Gangs breed hate and the patch is nothing but a symbol of that hatred.

It will have the same effect as the gang patch ban of Wanganui. It will serve as a reminder that gangs are not normal and that their criminalty that manfests itself in i community intimidation and fear is not going to be accepted.

Police Minister Judith Collins must be delighted and proud of the Hawkes Bay constabulary.

Waikato Hospital has also banned gang patches.

Its that sort of thinking and hardline policing that will erode gang legitimacy everywhere.

Its also time for every Marae in the country to ban gang patches as well.

Gang tikanga is not Maori tikanga.

BLANKET MAN - HIS CHOICE

We have the utmost respect for the well argued debate that is lit by Rosemary McLeod in her columns. Her skill as a journalist forms the bedrock of everything she writes.

But today we think that what she writes is a crock of crap. She thinks that blanket man represents our collective shame and failure as a society . What liberal crap.

We wrote about Blanket man just the other day after he was blatantly breaking the law in broad daylight. And the authorities did nothing. They left him there with his alcohol to drink in a public place - something that is illegal. Something that a brash 18 year old could find leaves him with record.

Rosemary thinks that society has failed Blanket Man - wrong he is failing to live up to his responsibilities in society by abiding by the law. He exists because we dont treat him like a normal citizen.

He is treated like the law does not apply to him so by inference the council and the police are saying that he is okay to do what he likes. He has a status not accorded to any other citizen.

He is not , as McLeod asserts, some modern day image of the old blanket wearing Maori.

He is a lazy shit who now has an uncommon status because we dont treat him like we treat everyone else. He is now deemed to be someone special.

And Ms McLeod needs to see the disgust drip from the faces of the Maori I know who find Blanket man an appalling embarrassment.

Maori need to start taking control of their own destiny - too many are doing well, are law abiding, taxpaying, culture enhancing citizens. So the ones that aren't don't have any excuses any more. And the signal for change must come from Maori leaders themselves. They must say that the behaviour of Maori is unacceptable. That it must change. No more dope for breakfast, no more 5 day alcoholic benders. We need to see the focus of Maori leaders shift from grizzling about the foreshore and seabed and looking at what they can do to support their own people and give them direction.

So to Ms McLeod we say that Blanket man can be a part of society but when he breaks the law as he currently does then its time for him to accept responsibility for his actions and its time for Maori to take responsibility for his actions as well.

ONE LAW FOR ALL

Take a look at this wanker. Filthy Shit Aka Blanket Man the "urban legend" who is a common sight on the streets of downtown Wellington.

Now we think that the authorities lax attitude to him is just plain wrong. Every successful Maori we know cringes at the sight of him. Every unsuccessful one waves, feeds him or greets him with a "Chur Bro."

Says it all really.

But today we saw Blanket man blatantly break the law - a breach that would see anyone else fined. At the very least the liquor should be confiscated. And after a six pack of RTD bourbon, as was the case today - Blanket man would be intoxicated. We have seen him when he is pissed and he can become quite aggressive so he could also be arrested for being intoxicated.

Say an 18 year old wanders down Courtenay Place sees Blanket man getting pissed in full public view on a public street on a Friday night , then one of his mates gets chucked in the slammer for being intoxicated later that night that 18 year old would have less respect for the law and the law inforcers.

A lack of action by the authorities in this case sends all the wrong messages.

Blanket man not an icon. He is not loved by all. He needs to be treated as any other citizen. Inaction on the part of the authorities is an abrogation of their responsibility to uphold the law and apply it equally to everyone.

And I am more than happy for the police to "seize" my photographic evidence of this prick breaking the law.

ROAD TOLL - FAULTY LOGIC?

Not PC has a good blog on what the causal factors of this weekends holiday road toll were.

However, blonde as we maybe ( bleaching a little lighter every day in the Wairarapa sun) we think that there is some seriously faulty maths at play here.

Hasn't our population increased? Aren't there more cars on the road? So in effect isn't there a net decrease in the road toll per head of population?

We freely admit to being numerically dyslexic so maybe we are missing something.

So Stats meisters out there - whats the answer - are we getting better at killing ourselves on the road or are we getting better at practicing road safety?

POLICE SHOT AND THE NATION SHOULD WEEP

We have been a bit crook for the last couple of days - to the point of not even turning on the computer since Sunday. So today we we greeted with the news that yet again two good men have been shot in the line of duty.

In other countries police are feared and respected. Here we have at least two generations who show them neither.

New Zealand is also going to have to wake up to the fact that todays criminals are far more lethal than those of days gone past.

Todays tragedy and that of the siege of Napier were over simple drug busts.

Our police need to be better armed. We need to ensure that they have the weapons to handle any eventuality of any situation. They need to protect themselves so that they can protect the community.

The war on drugs should not let up. And the media needs to stop lionising criminals.

And we need to teach our kids that the police are their protectors and should be shown the utmost respect and that they hold a very important place in keeping the community safe.

YES YES YES

Collins is getting tough on gangs. Good - bout time someone did. And this is something we have more than a passing interest in

This is going to take the efforts of the whole community and it will require a multi agency approach. This is not just an issue for police and corrections - its also about Social Welfare, Maori and Pacific Island Affairs among others. It is time for zero tolerance. And it is time to really focus on P - We have witnessed its ravages and nothing we have ever seen turns sane people into lunatics in such a ferocious way.

So we are delighted to see Collins take a tough stand, she maybe the first Minister to make a real difference.

ROLL OUT THE TUMBRIL - PART IV

We have found our car. It was stolen on February 26th.
Now it has no tires and no battery - but there is a hell of a story about how it was stolen and how the police handled the issue. How it has highlighted an issue about how government departments talk to each other, or don't, to reduce crime.

Now the car is about 17 years old but mechanically sound. It wasn't worth much more than about $1000 dollars - it wasn't even worth insuring. So some maybe wondering why we have gone to great lengths to secure its return.

Well it was ours. And its like this - We like to apply the granny test to things. That means if it was your granny that was facing the same incident how would the experience have been for her.

In this case Granny would have never seen her car again. And that says bad things about how this issue was handled. In the end it proved to be a case of " not what you know but who you know" and a little bit of amateur sleuthing.

We will blog on this in full later. It really has been an astonishing journey.

STILL NO CAR

And no word from the police. They know the address where the car is registered and have the suspect on security footoage. We are getting a tad impatient.

We have a plan B.

MEURANT A FINE ONE TO TALK

We think that Meurant has had some sort of religious experience. Today he feels qualified to take a poke at the police over the shooting of a bystander in the wake of the pursuit of of a gunman in Auckland. We hope they poke back. The accidental shooting of innnocent bystander, Halatau Naitoko, is probably the worse thing that could happen to any policeman. The situation is still confused and the inquiry will take some time to complete. Meurant may know a lot about the law but its debatable if he understands the notion of justice and he like the rest of the country should stand aside and let due process take its course.
It seems nothing has changed really. He is still a big noting tosser.

HOOTONS DIGGING WILL MAKE PLODS UNCOMFORTABLE

Hooton's blog today on the police involvement ( or lack of it ) in the Brash email saga was enlightening

Stuff thinks so as well


There are many more questions that need to be answered on this.