Police and civilian receive bravery awards for their - New Zealand ...

New Zealand Police Association“There is no better learning than to haveto justify actions later in Court, and thesometimes-excruciating examinationshelp us think beyond the immediatenext time.”The value of experienceThere’s not much that happens inthe world of politics, media, or evendisasters, which doesn’t have a policedimension somewhere.In New Zealand, we have Commissionsof Inquiry underway into both theChristchurch earthquakes and the PikeRiver Mine disaster.Our roles will be under scrutiny, andwith the alleged Israeli espionage issuearound the earthquake dominating thefront pages as I write this, no doubtpolice involvement will be examined.It is a tribute to the professionalism ofpolice that despite the facts having tohave been well known to a significantnumber of officers, nothing leaked fromus.Likewise, I am confident police actionsat Pike River will be shown to have beencorrect and professional.Given the problems our colleaguesin the London Metropolitan Policeare experiencing following the phonehacking scandal, it is timely for us toremind ourselves of one of the bestgovernors of behaviour: asking thequestion: “How will this look on the sixo’clock news?”How often do we ourselves, on readingor hearing of an event unfoldingwhich causes embarrassment, legaldifficulties and scandal for individualsand organisations, say: “What were theythinking?”The reality of it is that often theyweren’t.The best tool we have as cops tokeep ourselves safe, physically and interms of reputation, is to be able tolook beyond the immediate situationconfronting us. Our environmentprepares us for this because so oftenthe situation is subsequently analysedin Court by a judge and jury. Thereis no better learning than to have tojustify actions later in Court, and thesometimes-excruciating examinationshelp us think beyond the immediatenext time.That’s why experience is so important.Unfortunately, in a world where we tryto quantify everything which goes intoCVs, it’s difficult to weigh experience.Lack of experience can be easilymeasured when that is exposed by theinquiries I referred to at the beginning.I’m sure Messrs Murdoch, Whittall,and Netanyahu will all be hoping theyget a chance to apply lessons from thesituations they currentlyfind themselves in.K9 units go high tech in US and EuropeIn a sign of the changing face ofpolicing, with advancements intechnology, the days of the hightechpolice dog have arrived. Inthe USA, Canada and Europe,high-tech armour for police dogsis allowing dog handlers to seewhat their charges are doing and toissue commands by microphone,according to Jane’s Police ProductReview magazine.The dogs wear a protective vestequipped with a wireless camera,built-in speakers and a microphone.The equipment allows the doghandler to see what the dog sees andissue commands through the audiosystem attached to the dog.The K9 Storm vest and equipment iscustomised for each dog and is currentlybeing used by the US Tobacco andFirearms Agency, the Royal CanadianMounted Police, the Italian Polizia andspecial units in the Rotterdam PoliceDepartment.Long range“This will change the way dogs aremanaged in emergencies,” Gloria Slater,Vice-President and co-founder of K9Storm said. “It will extend the handler’srange to 300 yards,” she added.The Intruder is the company’s lightestcamera and audio system and weighsunder 1.5 kilograms and comes with aprice tag of $US20,000 ($NZ25,960).Andy Suyer, a dog handler in theAuburn Police Department in theUSA, said: “A suspect fled a trafficstop, and I sent my dog, with merunning after. As the dog corneredthe suspect, the man turned and firedat least seven rounds from a .45 autoat a distance of less than 10 feet. Atleast two rounds hit the vest. The dogwas not injured and continued tofight, putting the suspect down.”The K9 vest weighs between 1.5 and3 kilograms depending on the size ofthe dog and the vest ordered. The vestcomes in seven different versions andthe weight is evenly distributed acrossthe dog’s body.Article © IHS Global Limited 2010. Reproduced withpermission.August 2011187