Police Perceptions of Maori - Rethinking Crime and Punishment

And, indeed, a number of people did refuse to participate. Twelve returned their
questionnaires and another seventy one refused when contacted by telephone. This
makes for a total refusal rate of 8%. Other people expressed reluctance about
returning their questionnaires. There were a number of reasons for this.
Several said they were being asked to do too many questionnaires or were too busy.
Some of these comments also indicated low morale and a belief that front-line police
have too many demands placed upon them while receiving too little support from
National Headquarters.
A commonly expressed concern was a fear of being identified. These officers were
suspicious of the number on the envelope which enabled the researchers to identify
who had replied (to avoid unnecessary reminder phone calls) and did not accept the
assurances of the research team that the data would be treated confidentially. Indeed,
several expressed the belief that their superiors would see their responses and that this
would have an adverse affect on their career.
A second, and sometimes related, concern was that the questionnaire was biased.
Some expressed the view that the questions did not enable them to describe the
relevant factors in policing in a proper way; for instance, questions on whether people
would behave differently to a Maori overlooked more important variables such as the
attitude or behaviour of a suspect and the context of the interaction. Others
questioned the appropriateness of generalisations about views on different ethnic
groups or believed that the questions were designed to categorise them as racist. The
same views were also expressed by some of those who did respond. Some of the
comments are as follows:
Whoever drafted the survey [appears] to believe that it is possible that the
police are prone to inappropriate behaviour, especially against Maori, and
that it is considered a norm.
Any answer would reflect badly on the police and I don’t think we police
should have to be asked to take part in such a survey.
I am not prepared to answer this survey because of the racial innuendoes
within this survey and it will not be totally confidential........ I feel you are
inviting racial discrimination!!
There are more races in New Zealand than just Maori and the fact that this
study focuses mainly on them and not other races highlights this project’s
flaw.
It is time to give up with this crap about how Maoris should be any different
from anyone else in this country. And stop picking on the majority. It is not
our fault that we were born white.
I see this survey as more manure to be thrown at the police force that is
currently understaffed, unsupported, under resourced and unorganised.
A number of sections attempt to pigeon hole responses in a manner which does
not reflect my own feelings.
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