Police News April 05.indd - New Zealand Police Association

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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
New Zealand Police AssociationApril 2005Survey shows crime/violence ranks fifthin public perceptionof the nation’s mostimportant problemConcerns about race relations rank as themost important problem facing the country,according to the latest UMR survey.The survey, which was conducted inDecember, questioned 750 New Zealandersover the age of 18. It has a margin of errorof +/- 3.5%.Race relations concerns were by far the mostpressing issue with a rating of 22.3%. Publicconcern over race relations peaked duringthe February 2004 survey at 39.6%. Twomonths prior to that (December 2003) itregistered a mere 8.2% on the public radarby comparison – ranking it as the country’sfifth most pressing problem. It first appearedas the top issue in January 2004 and hastopped the survey ever since.Second a year agoBy comparison “crime/violence” rankedsecond at 10.1% in December 2003 (thegovernment’s handling of the economy wasfirst) but by February crime/violence haddropped to seventh with a rating of only3.2%. In the latest survey it is back up tofifth spot at 6.9%, but that is still well belowits highest rating of 12.8% in November2003.The second most pressing problem in thelatest survey was listed as “health care” at9.8%, slightly ahead of “the Government’shandling of the economy” at 9.1, with a 9%rating for “the decline of ethical, moral orfamily issues”.Farewell for Nigel EscottA farewell for Senior Sergeant NigelMorris Escott will be held in the RotoruaPolice Bar at 5pm on 6 May.Those wishing to attend please RSVP toChris McLeod, Rotorua Police Station(07) 348 0099. Donations for a gift canbe forwarded to Chris c/- RotoruaPolice Station, Private Bag, RD 3044,RotoruaYouth Drug Court pilot shows some promiseby Steve Plowman, Editor, Police NewsA Youth Drug Court pilot scheme, which Mr Goff said the intiatives focussed onhas been running in Christchurch, has young people at “the hard end of youthresulted in a decline in the drug and offending”, who had shown that theyalcohol abuse and offending levels of were likely to be destined for a life ofparticipants, according to a recent report crime unless successful interventionsreleased by Justice Minister, Phil Goff. could be found to turn their lives around.The report looked at the operation of thecourt over its first 18 months. The reportfound the court provided more efficientidentification of problems, improvedtimeliness for dealing with cases andproviding treatment, systematic andbetter collaboration between agencies andbetter consistency in response to offendersduring this time.The report found that:• Twenty-two of the 30 young people(73.33%) on the pilot had either stoppedor reduced their alcohol or other druguse when they left the Youth Drug Court.• The rate of offending while attendingthe Youth Drug Court was lower for19 (63.33%) youths, with seven of the19 (36.84%) accumulating no furthercharges. Nine youths (30 per cent)offended at a higher rate.• The average rate of offending for the 19reduced by around two-thirds, from9.4 offences per year to 3.4. A third(33.33%), committed offences at ahigher rate. Of these, eight committedoffences of lower seriousness whileone committed offences of equalseriousness.Judge’s initiativeThe Taskforce on Youth Offendingestablished the pilot scheme in 2002after an initiative by Youth Court Judge,John Walker, who sought to address thelinkage between offending and drug andalcohol usage.“The Youth Drug Court is modelled onsimilar courts in Australia and the UnitedStates, with its target group being recidivistyouth offenders aged 14 to 16, whoseoffending is linked with drug and alcoholdependency,” Mr Goff said.LAPD looks at ‘virtual’ policingThe LAPD (Los Angeles PoliceDepartment) wants to expand videocamera “virtual patrols,” citing a 45percent drop in crime at MacArthur Parkwhere cameras were installed as part ofa pilot project. “Basically, what you cando is virtual policing,” Assistant Chief,George Gascon, told Associated Pressrecently. “You can monitor a significantnumber of areas without having to havean officer at each scene.”He said the cameras are “an essentialcrime-fighting tool” in an era of dwindlingbudgets.With the MacArthur Park successes, thePolice Department wants to expand videocamera surveillance in crime hot spots inother areas of the city, including the SanFernando Valley. The cameras cost up to$10,000 each.Lobbying stepped upThe LAPD has stepped up lobbyingefforts with the state, the federalgovernment and private sources to gainenough funding to get cameras installed.Police credit the cameras with helping cutcrime at MacArthur Park, where policesaid 181 serious crimes were recordedThe report indicated that of the 30participants, 47% (14) had accumulatedbetween one and nine offences and 53%(16) over 10 offences before entering thepilot scheme. While involved with theYDC pilot 20% (six) did not accumulateany further charges while 57% (17) hadbetween one and nine additional chargesand 23% (seven) faced 10 or moreadditional charges.Co-ordinated approachMr Goff said that “internationalexperience” suggested that some but notall such offenders responded positivelyto intense monitoring aimed ataddressing their issues in a co-ordinatedand holistic way.A follow-up on the progress of theyoung people, 12 months after theyhave left the programme, would havea bearing on the final evaluation of thepilot scheme.Mr Goff said that “a greater investmentof resources” would be needed if thepilot scheme was found to be worthy ofwider implementation.“Given that the offenders were hardendrecidivists, these results indicatesignificant improvement. However,the final evaluation will demonstratewhether or not improvements can besustained over time,” Mr Goff said.“This will help determine whether or not,and in what form, the Youth Drug Courtmay continue to operate,” he added.The Youth Drug Court evaluation isavailable at www.justice.govt.nz orby going directly to the following linkhttp://www.justice.govt.nz/search.asp?q=Youth+drug+court+pilotover the last six months, compared with330 over the same period last year.Since the cameras were installed in mid-January, more than 150 arrests have beenmade as a result. Most involved felonynarcotics charges.But Elizabeth Schroeder, Associate Directorof the American Civil Liberties Union ofSouthern California, said the camerassimply force criminals to move elsewhere.“People know the cameras are there,”Schroeder said. “Crime tends to move.”Additionally, she said, “We are concernedabout the ‘Big Brother’ attitude. There is areal potential for abuse.”57
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