Police News April 05.indd - New Zealand Police Association

April 2005Police News The Voice of PoliceLAPD Chief calls for 3,000 more police officersFormer New York Police Commissioner,William Bratton, who is nowadays LosAngeles Police Chief, made a big callrecently.He asked the county to hire 3,000more police officers, saying that theLos Angeles Police Department’s9,200 officers were “not sufficient” toadequately police the second-largestcity in the USA.Bratton told Associated Press: “WhatI’ve learned most starkly since I’vebecome Chief is that this departmenthas always been too small to carry outits mission in every neighborhood ofthe city consistently.”At the same time as the LAPD Chief iscalling for more resources, NZ PoliceCommissioner, Rob Robinson, hasseemingly adopted a complete denialpolicy. The Association is beginningto have some sense of déjà vu here.Five years ago it signalled to Policethat methamphetamine was going tobe a major scourge upon New Zealandsociety and that action was neededimmediately to stop the flood of it ontoour streets. Now, despite a frontlinescreaming out for help by way of asignificant injection of additional staff,the Commissioner seems averse tomaking a similar Bratton-like call onbehalf of his under-pressure troops.Political constraintsThe reality is that the Commissionerfinds himself shackled by politicalconstraints such as having additionalstaff ring-fenced into targeted areas ofpolicing at a time when he should bemaking a concerted call on Governmentto give him the frontline resources tomake our communities safer.Los Angeles has a high homicide rate,especially gang-related homicides. Lastsummer Bratton told Associated Presshe needed “at least 1500 more officersand additional money for overtime”to see the kind of reduction in crimethat he presided over when he wasNew York City’s Police Commisionermore than a decade ago. While Brattonwas in New York, murders fell by 50percent and serious felonies decreasedby a third.Bratton’s comments in relation to staffnumbers came as he recently unveileda plan of action for the LAPD entitled:“The Los Angeles That Is and The LosAngeles That Could Be.”Dependent on legislationTo succeed, the plan is largely dependenton legislation known as Measure A, whichrelates to expanded law enforcement inLos Angeles County and each of its cities.Measure A seeks to raise the county’s salestax by half a cent, which would providethe LAPD with an additional $160 millionin funds, enough to hire another 1,260officers.If it passes, Bratton would then lookinto the possibility of hiring 2,040 moreofficers through other means.At time of writing, Measure A hadreceived 60% support from the public,with 40% against the proposal. Themeasure requires a two-thirds majorityto be approved.Ironically, as New Zealand’s frontlinediminishes, several police forces inWestern countries recently announcedsignificant changes in their policingmodels (notably Wales, England andthe USA) to include many more ‘visible’frontline police, with a heavy emphasison beat policing.This column is written by a frontline police officer. It does notrepresent the views or policies of the Police Association.View From The BottomQuestion: Why do so many staff outsideof our road policing units think there isinequity when it comes to resourcing?Answer: Because that’s the perception!Simple and plain – like it or not, that’swhat many police staff think. So thenext question is obviously: Is it fact orfiction? The feeling on the ground isthat it’s damn obvious and them intheir ivory towers need to get out andremember what it’s like to be here in thethin blue line and find out who’s doinga good proportion of the work.Personally, I think it’s a no brainer. Wedo a great job on road policing and it’sshown in the road toll or just travellingabout off duty and seeing that thespeed of those around you is far lessthan it used to be. The boy racers andother idiots really do stand out and I forone can’t wait to get the TON (TrafficOffence Notice) book out and kill a fewtrees on this lot.However, that does leave the rest of usGDB (General Duties Branch) and CIB(Criminal Investigation Branch) fightingover the scraps. If Dr Green were aboutBy Constable Iam Keenhe’d say it’ssibling rivalry atits height andthe youngestchild seems to have all the best toys.And my early Christmas wish? Robbie,Lynn and Steve - can you please askAunty Helen to give us big kids somemore toysHunters and gatherersDo we need to start exposing those fewweeds that don’t help out when theheat is on? I know it goes against thegrain and is definitely not part of ourculture but neither was employing staffthat don’t pull their weight and don’tadhere to the ‘team’ environment thathas been our backbone forever and aday.Me and my partner were driving to ajob the other day and ahead of us wesaw a couple of our ‘team mates’ ridestraight past a break down without evenblinking.Don’t know where they were going insuch a mad rush (40 km/ph) but it onlytook us two minutes to stop and findout the AA was on the way.No Speights for these two I can tell you.CommunicationlessMe bully tells me there is a hell of arush to get some $$$ from Aunty Helenand Co after all the drama with theCommunications Centres. I know wehave made mistakes but in the greatmajority, well done to you lot withearpieces. Seventeen-odd stuff ups outof 400 billon zillion trillion calls. I’m notmuch of a gun with the maths but thatsounds pretty good stats to me!I hear you might be getting a nice newsupport centre near the castle to helpout with all those calls and ensure weget it 100% right 100% of the time.Perhaps it’s only the media that gets usmoney?Wonder whether there will be any$$$ left for a pay rise next year to tryand keep up with the rates and powerbills – no doubt time will tell. Perhapswe should get one of the nurses’negotiators to help us out?Slight hiccup with me Red and Blacks tostart with (wasn’t wearing me lucky sox)but they’re back with a vengeance now,so look out.See ya!56