Police News Oct 06.indd - New Zealand Police Association

New Zealand Police AssociationObituary:Ronald Stephen Francis Halpin, QSM, (1933-2006)One of the Police Association’s stalwartmembers, Ronald Halpin, a Life Member,died on 13 August.Ron’s early life revolved heavily around atrusty bike – doing grocery deliveries in themorning before switching his allegiance todelivering the Auckland Star in the afternoon.His bike adventures also extended todelivering medicines for a Parnell chemist.His work ethic was strong and he also pickedup extra money by cleaning train carriagesfor the Railways. He told one of his grandsonsJames, that his favourite colour was blackand when young James asked why, Ronwas quick to tell him it was because of theAll Blacks. He was a keen rugby man andsupported North Harbour with a vengeance.His sporting interests were wide and heparticularly enjoyed attending the OlympicGames in Sydney and the Rugby World CupFinal in Wales.Strong faithRon’s Catholic faith was another importantpart of his life. Bishop Robyn Leamy presidedover a requiem funeral mass to celebrateRon’s life. When Ron reached school age hewas sent to St Joseph’s Primary School inGreen Meadows (Napier) – the school laterbecame Reigner Primary School. Ron’s fatherwas a Senior Sergeant in Napier at the time.Ron eventually followed in his father’sfootsteps and became a police officer himself.He had a long and distinguished policecareer, spanning 33 years and seven months.At 21, he joined the police and enteredtraining in Lyttelton, Christchurch, in Marchof 1955. He was part of the first wing, whichcombined male and female recruits.Upon graduation he was assigned to MountCook Police Station in Wellington in May1955 before a shift to Auckland Central in1956. During his Auckland posting he alsoworked at Newmarket and in the AucklandCIB. He was appointed a detective in 1960and worked in Prosecutions, as a Sergeant,Watch-house Acting Senior Sergeant andSenior Sergeant during the next decadebefore moving to Napier in 1972.Last posting in PonsonbyHe spent six years there before transferringback to Auckland where he became O/CCrime Control Unit in 1983. His last postingwas to Ponsonby where he spent five yearsuntil his retirement in 1988.NZ Police awarded Ron a Good Conduct andLong Service Medal in 1969 and 20 yearslater he received the Queen’s Service Medalfor his services to policing.• Ron Halpin – deservedly put his feet up when he retired in 1988.His involvement with the Police Associationstarted in 1957 when he served on theAuckland District Committee and he was acorrespondent for the then NZ Police Journal,the forerunner to Police News. Ron served asAuckland District Chairman during 1965-66and remained on the district committee untilhis transfer to Napier in 1972. He served onthe Association’s management committeefrom 1968 until 1986.He also served as Napier District delegateupon his arrival there and in 1981 he waselected Vice-President, a position he helduntil 1986.Welfare Fund stalwartHe had a lengthy association with the PoliceWelfare Fund, being elected to its boardshortly after its inception and he servedthe Fund well until his retirement from itin 1986. He was also a liason officer for thePolice and Families Credit Union in 1982.During his 29 years of service to theAssociation and its membership, Ron Halpingave of himself and his dedication and beliefin the principles of good policing and the partunions play in benefitting their membershipis his enduring legacy.Fittingly, in 1989 he was awarded Lifemembership of the Police Association.One of Ron’s parting pieces of advice to hisgrandchildren was “to always work hard andhave fun”. He was a man who lived by thatcode and enjoyed life along the way. Thosethat knew him, worked with, counted him asa friend and members who benefitted by hisendeavours and hard work on their behalfare indeed the poorer for his passing.His wife Rosalind, sons Michael, Ross,Nicholas and John, daughter Angela and sixgrandchildren survive him.- Steve Plowman.Have boatwill chokeDown on Lake Isabella, an hour’s driveeast of Bakersfield, California, somepeople who were new to boating, werehaving a little trouble.No matter how hard they tried, theycouldn’t get their brand new 22-foot boatgoing. It was very sluggish in almost everymanoeuvre; no matter how much powerthey applied.After about an hour they putted into anearby marina to have the boat checked.A thorough check revealed everything tobe in perfect working order – so one of themen doing the inspection at the marinadecided to dive into the water and checkout the underneat of the boat.When he surfaced he was choking withlaughter…under the boat, still strappedsecurely in place, was the trailer!October 2006225

PoliceNewsThe Voice of PoliceBougainville team rise to challengesBy Kevin Riordan, NZ Police teammember in BukaBougainville is a province of Papua NewGuinea that in the late 1980’s erupted intocivil war, over the operation of a gold mine.The resulting conflict lasted 10 years.New Zealand played a major role in securinga peace agreement between the warringfactions.After the conflict there was a need to reestablishlaw and order and in 1999 theNew Zealand Police were invited to assistthe Bougainville Police in building up theirCommunity Auxiliary Police (CAP). TheBougainville Community Policing Project(BCPP) was born out of this process. It is athree-phase operation, the first contingentbeing sent in 2000, with a second in 2002and a third in 2004.• Staff were greeted with a traditional welcome at the airport.Five-strong teamThe small five-person New Zealand Policeteam work with staff from the BougainvillePolice on the project.The Bougainville Police (who have regular,fulltime employees) are only concentrated inthree main towns at the present time and asa result of the CAP being spread around thecountry, they have to initially deal with seriouscrime, which they then hand over to theBougainville (Regular) Police.The Community Auxiliary Police (CAP) is agroup of volunteers who work with their localchiefs and communities to assist in resolvingminor offending and disputes in their villages/communities. They have a power of arrest andcan bring minor offending before their villagecourts. The CAP staff are compensated byway of a monthly allowance. They are suppliedwith a uniform and regular training.• The war memorial plane at Arawa.The CAP are one of a range of law and justicegroups that work to bring about law and order.The New Zealand Police contingent works andconsults with many of these groups.Setting up CAP programmePart of the project involves setting up the CAPprogramme in areas where it isn’t runningand providing ongoing training to upskill allCAP staff. There is provision for 350 CAP onBougainville.Our work involves working closely with thetwo Bougainville Police staff assigned to• A child cleans pots at the beach226October 2006

PoliceNewsThe Voice of PoliceKiwis have built a good relationshipin their time in the Solomons• RAMSI TEAM: (Front row left to right): Tony Ah Wong, Kirsty Hurnen, Jenni Richardson, Noeline Verheyen, Sue Johnston, Lee Challenger,Richard O’Connor, Chris Goodall, Carl Neustroski and Tony O’Neill. (Middle row, left to right): Murray Lewis, Donna Bergesen and AnneCorbett. (Back row, left to right): Tod Kirker, Colin Harrison, Gary Larsen, Al Lester, Rob Carnegie, Garth Denheyer, Gary Milligan andNigel Grey.By Anne Corbett, NZ Police teammember in the SolomonsOn Saturday, 5th August the wheels ofa RNZAF Boeing 757 touched down atHenderson International Airport at Honiaraand 22 members of Galaxy 13 arrived as partof the Participating Police Force of RAMSI(Regional Assistance Mission to the SolomonIslands).At Guadalcanal Beach Resort, they joined 15other NZ Police members who have extendedtheir stay and 225 from Australia and 12contributing Pacific Nations. In addition, thereare Army personnel from Australia, NZ andPapua New Guinea.During their six-month rotation, the G13’sand those who have remained from previouscontingents will work in a variety of areas.These include National Investigations, theProvincial Policing Office, which looksafter the 17 posts on other islands, thePolice Academy, Strategic Planning,Communications, Maritime, CommunityPolicing, Joint Intelligence Group, HoniaraCentral Watchhouse, National Investigations,Staff Officer, and Executive Assistant tothe Royal Solomon Island Police (RSIP)Commissioner. Four members will also besent to provincial posts for a period of 14weeks.ChangesWe have also seen changes in the positionsof Contingent Commander and Staff Officer,with Tony O’Neill taking over from GraemeCairns, and Kirsty Hurnen from Helen Harrisrespectively.Initially, staff undergo an induction of up tofive days and, as a result, can suffer greatlyfrom information overload. The great benefitof having overlapping deployments is thatinformation and help is readily available fromsomeone who has been there and done that.The majority of the camp personnel worka normal week – only General Duties,Communications Centre staff and theProtective Services staff work shift work,although there are callout rosters for otherareas. Thirteen kilometres from the campis the Rove complex, which houses theAcademy, National Investigations, NationalIntelligence Unit, Police National HQ,Communications, Community Policing and theprison, which has Army personnel on guardto supplement prison staff. Travel is by way ofsmall vans driven by locally employed staff.RespectThe Kiwi contingents are always big favouriteswith both the RSIP, the people of Honiara citywho recognise the kiwi logo on our shirts, andthe locally employed staff who work aroundthe camp. The guys who man the gate callout ‘Kia Ora’ and often take the opportunity tochat about the All Blacks.228October 2006

New Zealand Police AssociationWe have a reputation in the workplace forgetting on with the job, possessing creativeproblem solving skills and building goodrelationships with the staff with whom wework. We refuse to get bogged down withprocesses and unnecessary paperwork,preferring to just get on with the task at hand.The mission is in the capacity developmentstage, which means that staff are activelyinvolved in coaching and mentoring RSIP staff.Such simple activities are teaching them toride bicycles for patrols in the community andto drive a troopie so they can go out on patrol– things we take for granted.PovertyThe locals are mostly cheerful and softlyspoken - keen to learn about the worldoutside of their island. They are poor by moststandards and many live a hand to mouthexistence.• RIOTS AND RUIN: China Town lies in ruins while fires blaze after rioting in April.An RSIP Constable gets paid about $500(Solomons) dollars a fortnight, equivalentto $NZ100. A 20kg bag of rice costs $100(Solomons) without any other expenses.Their housing is substandard and a constantsource of angst as they try to accommodatetheir families. Often only one person in ahousehold of up to 10 people is employed.The infrastructure does not provide the thingswe take for granted - running water, goodroads, and streetlights.The Police are the poor cousins in comparisonto other Government departments and werethe only ones that did not get any sort of payrise this year.People still make the best of things. Thereare always crowds of people around townon grass and dirt areas of any size, usuallykicking around a ball, as soccer is their firstlove. The frangipani trees bloom year roundand the blossoms decorate the groundeverywhere. By contrast, the red stain ofbetelnut juice marks everything and the whiteteeth you expect to see in a smile are oftenrotten and stained by the corrosive mix ofbetelnut and lime.CrocodilesSwimming on the foreshore and the rivers iscommon, despite the threat of crocodiles. Thereported sightings of these in our area havebeen few and far between though.• UP IN SMOKE: The Pacific Casino Hotel on fire during the riots.• SIMPLE JOYS: Local village children enjoy a gift of balloons, which were given to them by apolice staff member.October 2006229

PoliceNewsThe Voice of PoliceThe dry season (same time as the NZ winter) There is a war tour, which takes in the siteshas been a bit unusual this year – sound of old tanks and planes, and some prettyfamiliar? For the past few weeks the weather amazing walks to see fabulous waterfalls andhas been overcast and gloomy with more rain the like. The markets stock fresh vegetables,than normal. Fortunately, that allows new some coconuts, and a variety of shell jewellerystaff to acclimatise more easily before the and ornaments to satisfy the tourist instinct.hot, sunny days return. The temperature isAccommodationusually around 35 degrees but the humidityThe majority of staff share a room withis the killer – a packet of opened biscuits lefton the table will go soft within minutes! Wesomeone they have never met before and,had a couple of decent storms earlier in theas a result, you get to know people prettyyear. These were the result of the cycloneswell during your stay. Consideration towardsexperienced in Australia, but nothing that others is a big factor and very necessary inhas caused us too muchsuch close living conditions. In addition, thereof a problem as yet. Theare curfew restrictionsweather is often very People still make the in place, and everyonestill with only the odd best of things. There needs to be backsea breeze – hence we are always crowds of at base by 2300hrsare comfortable walking people around town on (11pm).around in summer clothing grass and dirt areas ofThe situation here islate at night.any size, usually kickingpretty much settledaround a ball, as soccerThe camp has facilitiesis their first love.and the rebuilding offor all sorts of recreation.Chinatown and theMost people exercise,Pacific Casino Hotel,some fanatically, some not at all. The gym has which were destroyed by fire during thejust been refurbished and is airconditioned, riots, is underway. For some time after thatthere is a track around the camp for walking tense period the relationship between theand running and you can also go outside on locals and RAMSI personnel was somewhatthe roads within a defined area and along the strained. Operation Shakem Han is an initiativebeach. Bicycles are provided and there are developed to try and re-establish pre-riottwo astro turf courts, one for tennis and the relationships. Community sporting days areother for soccer, netball and bowls. In lightbeing held to aid this process.of the abundant supply and variety of meals,exercise is definitely a requirement for thoseThe Army continues to patrol the city andwith poor willpower.provides a strong supportive presence.Deployment to the Solomons provides aRelaxation and entertainmentunique and challenging opportunity to allFor those that prefer a more sedate form ofmembers of the NZ Police. As part of therelaxation there are both paperbacks andcurrent group, there are five non-swornDVD’s available to use, along with an Internetmembers working in Intel, Communications,café for those without laptops. The wirelessStaff Officer and Executive Assistant roles.facility allows some parts of the camp toaccess the Internet in their rooms, but you see As I come to the end of 12-month deployment,people at all hours of the day and night sitting I have no regrets about my time here. It hasin some secluded spot where they can talk to been a challenging, and sometimes frustratingtheir loved ones at home.experience. My husband, Doug, has done aWeekends provide an opportunity to get outsterling job of keeping the house running andand about. There are a number of different the sons in order. I look forward to returning torestaurants that are good value and a café called my job in North Comms in October, but we willthe Lime Lounge is like a little oasis and where wait a while before we go to a tropical islandyou can get a BLT and pretty good coffee. for a holiday!You must be…A man in a hot air balloon realised he was lost.He reduced altitude to try to figure out wherehe was when he spotted a woman below. Hedescended a bit more and shouted, “Excuse me,can you help me? I appear to be a little off course.I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago,but I don’t know where I am.”The woman below replied, “You’re in a hot airballoon hovering approximately 30 feet abovethe ground. You’re between 40 and 41 degreesNorth latitude and between 59 and 60 degreeswest longitude.”Amazed by what she said, the balloonist replied:“You must work in information technology!” “Iam,” replied the woman, “How did you know?”“Well,” answered the balloonist, “everything youtold me is technically correct, but I’ve no ideawhat to make of your information and the fact isthat I am still lost. Frankly, you’ve not been muchhelp at all. If anything, you’ve delayed my trip.”The woman below smiled and responded: “Youmust be in management.”“I am,” replied the balloonist, “but how did youknow?”“Well,” said the woman, “you don’t know whereyou are or where you’re going. You have risen towhere you are, due to a large quantity of hot air.You made a promise, which you’ve no idea howto keep, and you expect people beneath you tosolve your problems. The fact is you are in exactlythe same position you were in before we met, butnow, somehow, it’s my fault.”Need a 2007wallplannerforyour team orstation?Wait!Don’t order one yet – ours will beout to you shortly.Our A2 wallplanners are beingreproduced for 2007.They will be with your local Associationcommittee for distribution very soon.The wallplanners note useful dates like Policepaydays, holiday home ballot periods, whenDaylight Saving Time begins and ends, PoliceMemorial Day, school term start and finishdates and regional anniversary days.230October 2006

New Zealand Police AssociationTHE DAY FOUR POLICE OFFICERS PAID THE ULTIMATE PRICEThe November 2005 Police News coverage of the unveiling of the monument at Kowhitirangito honour the seven people murdered by Eric Stanley Graham in October 1941, promptedretired Inspector Joe Franklin (QSM) to research the massacre. He had a particular interest inSergeant William Cooper’s role. As Joe’s account aptly demonstrates, there are still lessonsfrom the tragedy that are as relevant to today’s police as they were 65 years ago.“He had to be shotlike a tiger”The tragedy is part of New Zealand’sfolklore and is canvassed in a number ofpublications, a television documentaryand the film Bad Blood. My research tookme to a range of sources. Each dealtwith aspects or provided superficialsummaries but not the whole picture. Ire-established contact with retired SeniorConstable Barry Thomson QSM, whocrafted the Kowhitirangi memorial andthe story became clearer. He put me ontothe 1979 book “Manhunt. The Story ofStanley Graham” by H A Willis.Willis went to Hokitika in 1974 to make atelevision documentary about Graham. Hehad difficulty in getting information butpersevered and was able to produce thedocumentary. However, Willis remaineddissatisfied and accessed Police and inquestfiles out of which came his book. Much ofthe following information was drawn fromManhunt and from information providedby Thomson, along with material in Policehistories and my editorialising.“No ordinary human…”Sergeant Cooper was murdered atKoiterangi, (now Kowhitirangi) by StanGraham, described by the Prime Ministerof the day as: “No ordinary human – a manwho had to be shot like a tiger.” Grahamwent on to shoot three other policemen,an agricultural instructor and two homeguardsmen before being felled by a policebullet. Cooper was just the seventh policeofficer to die on duty since 1890, but hisdeath and those of constables EdwardMark Best, 42, Frederick William Jordan,26, and Percy Campbell Tulloch, 35,created a significant peak in the ‘slain onduty’ statistics.William Cooper was born in Irelandin 1897. He was appointed to the NewZealand Police as a temporary constable inNovember 1919, aged 22. He was postedto Invercargill in 1921 and he transferredaround the South Island eight times in 16years. He went to Hokitika as a sergeantin September 1941. On 8 October, justsix days after his 44th birthday and eightdays after transferring, Cooper and thefour others were shot and the followingday Graham returned and killed twohome guardsmen. The others shot werethe Canterbury Education Board’s ChiefAgricultural Instructor, George Ridley,54, home guardsmen Gregory Hutchison,32, and Max Coulson, 26.Youngest childGraham was born in 1900, the youngestof three children who were raised inthe area where the tragedies occurred.His parents were farmers with childrenwho never experienced hardship. As ayoung man Graham favoured individualsports such as boxing, wood chopping,weightlifting, hunting and shooting, thelatter a skill, which he would later use todeadly effect.At 30, Graham married and he and hisnew wife, Dorothy, took over a farm atKowhitirangi. They milked cows, raisedpigs and Graham bred fighting cocks.He built a house beside the main roadopposite the Koiterangi hall, the schooland the Post Office, all of which wouldbecome central to the 1941 drama. Willispaints a picture of a man with a graduallyworsening mental illness. By 1938,after having been on good terms withneighbours he had become increasinglyparanoid, attributing vicious motives andactions to those around him and obsessedwith the belief he was being persecuted.RacismHe was particularly vexed with neighbourAnker Madsen, of Danish extraction,whom he considered a ‘foreigner’. Thisseems to have been linked to Graham’smonitoring of radio reports of the SecondWorld War, which at that stage focussedon Europe and the news was not good.‘Foreigners’ were not to be trusted!By 1940, Graham’s farm was in decline.Hygiene standards led the milk factoryto reject his produce and the HealthDepartment to condemn his milkingsheds. He was also losing stock and hefell behind in his mortgage repayments.Graham loved guns and his collection didnothing to improve his relationship withneighbours or police, particularly nowhe and his wife were heard practisingshooting at 4.00am. A Governmentedict in May 1941 exacerbated Graham’sparanoia. Owners of .303 calibre rifleshad to surrender them for home guarduse. Graham’s collection included a .303calibre SMLE. He ignored a notice ofimpressment and local constable Ted Bestmade a number of calls but was met withevasion. He reported that Graham was“considered locally to be going mental”,but Best thought Graham was morepig-headed than ill. He recommendedagainst a prosecution but after furtherattempts to secure the rifle, Best lostpatience and reported that Grahamshould be prosecuted. But at the lastmoment, Graham handed Best a .303 andproceedings were halted, leading Best toOctober 2006231

PoliceNewsThe Voice of Policethe fatal belief that Graham would backdown in a crisis.ArmouryBut the Grahams had no intention ofdepleting their armoury and procureda 7mm calibre Mauser and .44 calibreWinchester repeaters and a Browning12-gauge automatic shotgun. He alreadyowned .405 calibre and .22 calibreWinchester repeaters.On 2 October 1941 the Grahams becamedisturbed at radio reports about theGerman invasion of the Soviet Unionand later the same day Mrs Grahamabused their Danish neighbours, calledthem foreign dogs and accused them ofpoisoning their dogs and cows.The Madsens complained to Best, whodecided to wait, hoping the situation wouldcool. Graham spent a lot of time indoorsnow, brooding over the inevitable sale ofhis property and his stock and having tomove away from the area he loved.Mortgage debtsOn 7 October the bank required himto take out a second mortgage to coverdebts until the sale of his farm and itseems this tipped Graham further. Therewere more runs-in with neighbours thatday including where Graham threateneda passing cyclist with a firearm and wasencouraged by his wife to “Give him thehot end of the rifle”. Best received calls ofconcern and resolved to take action thenext day.On the morning of 8 October, AnkerMadsen cycled past Graham’s housecarrying a pickhandle because of previousthreats. Graham ordered him to stopbut he rode on until halted at gunpoint.Another neighbour Bert Jamieson,driving by, placed his car between thepair, allowing Madsen to ride off andcall Best. Best now knew urgent actionwas needed and he set off to see Graham.Best found Graham excitable, pointing a.44 calibre Winchester at him while MrsGraham levelled a firearm out of the frontwindow. He tried to reason with Grahambut to no avail.Best backed off and called Sergeant Cooperat Hokitika who came to Kowhitirangilater that day with Jordan and Tulloch,two of the three constables under hiscontrol. Cooper decided Graham shouldbe disarmed.232October 2006Cooper was a distinguished cop. He hadgained considerable kudos in Greymouthby taking a loaded gun from an offender.He was good-natured and goodhumoured,but not a man to be messedwith.Gun left unloadedCooper took his police .32 calibre Coltwith him and told Best to bring his .32calibre Webley and Scott automatic,but Best didn’t bother to load his, notexpecting Graham to offer resistancewhen confronted by four policemen.It was mid-afternoon before Cooper,Jordan, Tulloch and Best arrived atKowhitirangi. Cooper stationed Jordanand Tulloch at the nearby post office,while he and Best went to see Graham.At first the conversation was amicablebut Graham became angry when Cooperquestioned him about his allegations ofcattle poisoning. Cooper and Best backedoff and drove to see Anker Madsen andanother complainant, Bert Cropper, toseek further clarification. As the policeleft, Cropper’s son Abe warned Best tobe careful but Best told the Croppers hebelieved Graham was bluffing. “When westand up to him, he’ll give up his arms”,he said.Meanwhile, Tulloch and Jordan, neitherof whom was in uniform, took it onthemselves to wander down the road pastGraham’s house. They commented toGraham over his fence, about him havingproblems with his cattle. This alarmedGraham, who didn’t know the pair werepolice officers, but probably wonderedhow strangers knew about his problems.ConfrontationCooper and Best walked up Graham’spath, while Jordan and Tulloch got intoBest’s car. Graham came out on theverandah and Cooper told him he intendedconfiscating his firearms. Graham angrilyretreated down the passage followedby Cooper, with Mrs Graham pleadingfor them to leave, as Best moved closerbehind Cooper. (It would have been farwiser for them to withdraw. Today, policeknow a frontal approach to a dangerousarmed man can be suicidal but sadlythese country coppers had neither thetraining nor specialist armed backup andworked in a culture where police did notback down.)• Sergeant William Cooper.• Constable Mark Edward Best.• Constable Frederick William Jordan.• Constable Percy Campbell Tulloch.- All photos courtesy of the NZ Police Museum,Porirua.

Suddenly Cooper was staring downthe barrel of a Mauser, but he stood hisground and asked Graham to surrenderhis weapons, then turned and called:“Come on boys!” to Tulloch and Jordan.As Cooper reached out to take the rifleGraham fired and the bullet smashedCooper’s right forearm and carried oninto his ribs. Graham next fired at Tullochand Jordan as they ran down the passagetowards him, the same bullet passingthrough both their chests, Tulloch dyinginstantly and Jordan within minutes.Seconds later Best was shot in the handas he went forward to try to persuadeGraham to put the gun down. Best wouldsay on his deathbed that soon after beingwounded, he went to help Jordan whowas moaning and Graham shot Bestthrough the stomach. Graham left thetwo wounded men in the house and wentoutside to see if more police had to bedealt with.Forced ‘confession’Cooper was in a nightmare situation withhis smashed arm and ribs, unable to gethis pistol out of his right trouser pocket.His only option was to go for help andhe got half way to the front gate whenGraham shot him in the back. As he fellto his hands and knees Graham shot himagain with the bullet passing up throughhis body, this time finishing him. Best,now the only one of the four officersleft alive pleaded with the Grahams tocall a doctor. Graham said he would ifBest signed a ‘confession’. Mrs Grahamscribbled a note on a pad, which read:“I P M Best intended to murder StanGraham.” Best signed and Mrs Grahamran for a doctor.While Graham had been wreaking hisslaughter, agriculture instructor GeorgeRidley, in the area on business, arrived atKowhitirangi and stopped at the schoolalmost opposite Graham’s property.He saw Mrs Graham run onto the roadscreaming for a doctor. He went to thepost office and ascertained medicalassistance had already been called, thenon hearing that people had been shot hearranged for police to be called. As Ridleywalked back towards Graham’s house,local deer-culler, Bert Cropp handedhim a rifle, but as Ridley went throughGraham’s gate he passed it to fellowEducation Board employee ThomasHornsby, asking him to give him cover.Seeing this, Graham shouted at Hornsbyto put the rifle down, which he did. Ridleycontinued down Graham’s front path andtold Mrs Graham he wanted to help theshot men but Mrs Graham said they weredead. He walked back towards Cooper’sbody when Graham came out and pickedup the rifle dropped by Hornsby.TussleNot wanting Graham to secure anothergun, Ridley grabbed it and the twotussled before Graham let go, and shotRidley, taking the gun from him as hefell. (Ridley was evacuated to hospitalwhere he remained for most of the next17 months, dying from his wound inMarch 1943.)Graham gathered up food, 700 roundsof ammunition and four firearmsincluding Cooper’s pistol and fled intothe surrounding bush. Police at the“I rested my rifle on a treestump. I was satisfied asto his identity and I fired.He dropped on his face. Ireloaded and on reachinghim I could see he was badlywounded. The bullet had goneinto his left side and hadcome out on the other.”- Temporary Constable James DarcyQuirke, who shot Stanley Graham.Greymouth received the shocking newsat 4.35pm and the emergency responsebegan, although slowly because of themagnitude of what had occurred and theremoteness of the district.The following morning 60 police, homeguardsmen and locals, were assembledand were briefed not to shoot Grahamon sight but to first call on him tosurrender. That evening volunteer guardswere stationed at the post office, in theKoiterangi hall and three inside Graham’shouse, against the chance he mightreturn. Initial police orders were for thesame guard to remain all night but thesewere changed by the home guard to berotated each hour, a dangerous practicein such conditions with difficulty indistinguishing friend from felon. The7.30pm shift comprised two local menand home guardsman Gregory Hutchisonwho set up a chair by the living roomNew Zealand Police Associationdoor in line of sight of the open frontdoor at the end of the passage, effectivelymaking himself a ‘sitting duck’.At about 7.50pm the guards inside thehouse saw a man in the darkness at thefront door and challenged him to whichcame the reply “What’s the bloodygame? Can’t a man go into his ownhouse?” Hutchison raised his rifle anddemanded the password. “Stan Graham”came the reply as he shot Hutchisonwho died the following day. (He said, enroute to hospital that he’d had a perfectopportunity to shoot Graham but hadhesitated.) A second guard fired butmissed and Graham withdrew to putfurther rounds through windows beforefading into the night.PanicThose in the hall had heard the gunfireand one round hit the Koiterangi Hall,causing fear and panic inside. Silencefollowed during which the men in the hallconsidered what to do until Kaniere HomeGuard platoon commander Amuri Kingasked for a volunteer to go with him to thehouse and Max Coulson put up his hand.They approached the house and Coulsonhailed the guards and told them to holdtheir fire as they were coming in. Onewarned that Graham was still about andin fact, he was hiding at the right cornerof the house, but they ran up the pathstraight to where Graham had lined upthe point where the men would step ontothe verandah. Coulson was shot, the bulletsmashing his leg and severing his femoralartery. He bled to death in minutes.King made it through the door and intothe front bedroom from where he got twoshots away, one striking the crouchingGraham’s right shoulder, tearing part ofhis shoulder blade and exiting his back.Even this did not deter Graham whoreturned the fire and a general meleefollowed with others also shooting butGraham survived and retreated.Reinforcements returned to the hallwhile police crept up to the house, but astwo hours had since lapsed, they foundGraham long gone, Coulson dead andHutchison dying.Nationwide reinforcementsFollowing the first killings, reinforcementsflowed in from all over New Zealand withPrime Minister Peter Fraser pledgingto Police, all the country’s resourcesOctober 2006233

PoliceNewsThe Voice of Policeincluding the personnel and equipmentof the armed services, even a tank! Someof the men deployed were issued withBren and Lewis guns and at the heightof the search 200 men combed the bushassisted by a RNZAF Vickers bombercomplete with 8.5kg bombs. Sick humourbegan circulating. One story had Nazipropagandist Lord Haw Haw claimingHitler had sent Graham a telegram ‘Holdthe South Island. Sending another man totake the North Island’. But the critics wereunkind. Graham was insane, incrediblytough, had an intimate knowledge of thebush and was a skilled hunter with qualityfirearms. A cautious approach was vital toavoid more casualties.Constable Best died at Westland Hospitalin Hokitika on Saturday 11 October. Inthe early hours of the following morningthe Koiterangi Hall guards saw Grahamapproaching furtively in the darkness andwatched from just four metres away as hebegan to climb the barbed wire fence. Aconstable shouted a challenge and firedbut Graham dived into a hollow andreturned a shot. Again his incredible luckheld and he escaped, but the constable’sbullet had splintered the stock ofGraham’s Mauser and damaged his lefthand and the morning light revealed a200 metres long blood trail.Grudging respectGrudging respect grew for Graham.Injured in the shoulder, with a woundturning septic and an injured hand, hewas to remain at large for another eightdays. But as tough and cunning as hewas his time was running out. The Policeoperation, which had started shakily, hadnow taken shape and each day Graham’soptions narrowed. His hunters foundsigns in the vicinity of Mt Doughboy,so resources were gathered there, coordinatedby the Army Signals Corpsradio network.Graham’s nemesis came in the form of21-year-old Temporary Constable JamesDarcy Quirke, who arrived from Aucklandon 11 October. On Monday evening 20October two sections of men were detailedfor night duty around Growcott’s farm. Inhis 1987 recollections in Owen Cherrett’sbook Without Fear or Favour, Quirke saidthe order from Sergeant Charlie Reardon,was that Graham was to be shot on sight ifarmed when seen. Constables Quirke andThomason boarded an army truck and setoff with an hour and a half of twilight left.At 6.35pm watchers on Growcott’s farmsaw a man walking towards them. He wasa kilometre away and they guessed it wasGraham. At that point, the truck withQuirke’s section arrived. By the time theygot themselves organised, Graham hadclosed to 500 metres and was carrying hisMauser over his shoulder and Cooper’spistol in his hand.Disappeared from viewGraham disappeared from view andQuirke, Constable Ross and the Growcottbrothers dashed forward to a knoll tointercept him. Quirke carried a .303calibre rifle and a .32 calibre police Colt.He saw Graham again and watched himuntil there were only 50 metres betweenthem before Graham disappeared fromview again. Quirke moved to within 15yards (sic) of him, by now separated fromhis colleagues.“I rested my rifle on a tree stump. I wassatisfied as to his identity and I fired. Hedropped on his face. I reloaded and onreaching him I could see he was badlywounded. The bullet had gone into hisleft side and had come out on the other.”(The round had struck Graham’sammunition belt shattering a cartridgecase, sending many fragments into hisbody.) “My companions then appeared.One told me to move aside as he wantedto give him another one. I brought up myrifle and I warned him I would shoot himif he pulled the trigger.” Graham was takento Westland Hospital where he died 10hours later with his wife at his bedside.InevitabilityQuirke said Graham’s wife asked to meethim. “She bore me no umbrage, stating thatthe finale was inevitable and her husbandbefore his death had accepted the way inwhich the shooting concluded”. The Policeand the Government of the day supportedthat view. Prime Minister Peter Fraser toldthe Police Association Annual Conferencein 1941 that Graham was demented. “Hehad to be shot down like a tiger. He wasnot an ordinary human and was out tokill. The only thing that could be donewas done. The policeman who fired theshot and everyone associated in thisunfortunate affair are to be thanked for theservices they rendered to the country.”Quirke’s experience was one of thecatalysts that led to the policy of notpublicly identifying police officers whofound themselves in such situations.Some of the men involved in the tragedyshowed great bravery and one wonderswhy they were not recommended forHonours. After Cooper was shot Best,sorely wounded, still tried valiantlyto resolve the situation. Ridley, anarmy reservist, knowing the danger,still approached the house to help andattempted to take a rifle from Graham.Home guardsmen Max Coulson andAmuri King deserved recognition in thatunlike their colleagues in the hall, theywent forward to help those in Graham’shouse, with Coulson giving his life.Perhaps with the country at war and withso many New Zealanders dying overseas,this battle fought at Kowhitirangi wasseen in a different context than it wouldbe today.We remember…Who passed away…CROOKS Jules 4-Sep-06 Retired member ParaparaumuGREEN Bernard John 8-Sep-06 Husband of member GreymouthBURROWS Desmond 8-Sep-06 Retired member AucklandPRICE Peter Harvey 13-Sep-06 Retired member WanganuiDEWES Alison Leith 21-Sep-06 Wife of member Lower Hutt234October 2006

New Zealand Police AssociationInitiatives to reduce cartheft may be stymiedBy Steve Plowman, Editor, Police NewsTwo key parts of a Vehicle Crime ReductionProgramme, which were approved by Cabinetin December 2004, and which show greatpromise in terms of reducing car theft, havebeen delayed and may be in jeopardy of beingwritten off altogether.Inquiries by Police News suggest that theMinistry of Transport may be having secondthoughts about the cost-benefit of theprogramme.A Ministry of Transport spokesperson confirmedthat the intitiatives “would not be implementedthis year” but would make no further comment.ApproachA subsequent approach to Harry Duynhoven,Minister of Transport Safety, brought thefollowing reply: “The Ministry of Transporthas been working on the mandatoryWhole of Vehicle Marking initiative. WhenCabinet approved this proposal, Ministerswere informed that the associated costsof implementation and compliance of thisinitiative were unknown and needed to bescoped and that additional funding might berequired. Cabinet was also informed that cost/benefit calculations would be updated.”Mr Duynhoven said that MOT officials havebeen working on this investigation and aCabinet paper is being prepared to informMinisters of these matters. The Minister saidthat details of the paper are confidential untilafter Ministers have considered it.In 2004, the Ministry of Justice’s CrimePrevention Unit (CPU) developed a new VehicleCrime Reduction Programme (VCRP). TheVCRP was designed to reduce opportunisticand professional vehicle crime throughimproving vehicle security, making parkingfacilities safer and improved collection ofvehicle theft data.Six initiativesThe Ministry of Justice presented a paperto Cabinet suggesting that New Zealand’svehicle theft rate could be slashed throughsix initiatives. Two of the major initiativessuggested mandatory fitting of engineimmobilisers and the adoption of Whole ofVehicle Marking (WOVM). WOVM was dueto be introduced this year and the engineimmobiliser programme next year. TheMinistry of Transport has been tasked withimplementation. The initiatives were toapply to all passenger vehicles imported toNew Zealand, unless they were 15 yearsof age or older. Other initiatives includedmembership of Australia’s car theft database,changes to make it harder for criminals touse deregistered vehicle information and aSafer Parking Awards Programme, designedto recognise parking facilities with good levelsof security.Possible embarrassmentIf the initiatives are canned it could beembarrassing to New Zealand’s internationalcredibility after being the first country toindicate it would institute the ideas. Severalcountries have indicated they are lookingto mirror the New Zealand moves. Taiwanis about to adopt the programme, whileRussia, the European Union, South Africa andAustralia have all shown interest in followingNew Zealand’s lead. The European Union isconsidering directing all its member states inEurope to adopt WOVM. Police News inquiriesindicate that, on the back of the New ZealandGovernment announcement, talks betweenseveral countries are being mooted with aview to adopting an international compliancestandard.Engine immobilisers are common in Europebut WOVM is a uniquely New Zealand idea,which has gained international recognition.To allow for the legislative changes proposedby the Ministry of Justice paper, the LandTransport Act (1998) would need to be• The end of the road – many vehicles end up set alight or wrecked by joy riders after being stolen.- Photo courtesy of Data Dot Technologies.October 2006235

PoliceNewsThe Voice of Policeamended. The responsibility for those changesfalls under the auspices of the Ministry ofTransport.Unique adhesive sprayWOVM involves spraying a unique identitynumber thousands of times throughout thevehicle via a microdot-impregnated adhesive.The microdot paint gives each car a unique‘fingerprint’. The microscopic identificationnumbers can be read with a specialmagnifiying device. The technology makes itvirtually impossible for a vehicle’s identity tobe concealed and will also limit the market forstolen vehicle parts.WVOM is known to deter professionalcriminals and engine immobilisers deteropportunistic thieves such as joyriders.Professional car thieves either cut the car upin ‘chop-shops’ to sell the parts separatelyand/or steal the car’s identity and transfer it toanother stolen vehicle of the same make so itcan then be onsold. Organised criminals alsosteal cars to be used as getaway vehicles forarmed robberies or ram raids.Engine immobilisers – as the name suggests- deactivate a vehicle’s engine and prevent itfrom being ‘hot-wired’ – a technique popularamongst car thieves. It takes a competent carthief less than a minute to steal a car.In January 2005, then Justice Minister, PhilGoff, announced the Ministry of Justice’sVehicle Crime Reduction Programme had• The true VIN number is identified when a false firewall plate (with counterfeit VIN number)is lifted from a stolen vehicle.- Photo courtesy of Wellington Police Forensic Photography.Cabinet approval. The initiatives were to beimplemented between 2005 and next year.The Government said at the time thatimmobilisers should cost around $400 a carand vehicle marking around $65. The importerwould meet the cost. Between 150,000-200,000 cars were expected to meet thecompliance each year, putting the costbetween $60-80 million.CostsCritics say that the costs will cancel out thesavings.Motor Industry Association Chief Executive,Perry Kerr, said at the time that the MIAsupported making immobilisers compulsorybut had concerns about WOVM. The MIAfelt the costs would be higher than theGovernment’s estimates. The MIA also hadconcerns over the logistics of marking allimported cars.The Independent Motor Vehicle Dealers’Association says the measures should be‘market driven’ rather than compulsory.The initiatives have gained the backing ofPolice, the insurance industry and somecar manufacturers. The benefits to Policeare obvious. A reduction in Police’s secondhighest crime would reduce costs, reduce fearof crime and free up resources.Detective Sergeant Gerry Bashford of theVictorian Police’s Organised Motor VehicleTheft Squad, has specifically identified thevalue to Police of WOVM as:• Viewed through a special magnifier, the microdots are revealed – giving each car a uniquenumbereed ‘fingerprint’ for easy identification. On the right is a pinhead, to give you anidea of the scale.- Photo courtesy of Wellington Police Forensic Photography.• A deterrent effect for professional motorvehicle thieves;• Easy identification of stolen vehicles andparts;• A reduction in investigation andprosecution timeframes;• Simplification of court proceedings;• Protection for innocent purchasers fromunnecessary investigation;• The return of stolen goods to their rightfulowners;• A reduction in the need for suspect motorvehicles to undergo forensic examination.236October 2006

• Assistance in the identification anddetection of vehicles involved in hit andrun collisions.• Assistance in the prevention, detectionand identification of terrorist activities andfinancing.• Assistance in the prevention, detectionand identification of trans-nationalcriminal activity.Strong supportInsurance Council Chief Executive ChrisRyan said the council strongly supported theGovernment’s move.“This technology would act as a disincentiveto thieves at the high-end of the market andin the transfer of stolen car parts to othervehicles, so in that sense it could almostcertainly, in the longer term, result in greaterefficiencies for insurance companies.”In effect, insurance premiums, based as theyare on historical levels of accidents and crime,could be cheaper as the flow-on effect is feltseveral years down the track.That flow-on effect for consumers via reducedcar insurance is already being felt in Australiawith premium reductions of up to 15% forcars with immobilisers fitted. Those savingscould be further enhanced via WOVM. Therehave been only two thefts of new Subarus inNew Zealand since Subaru introduced WOVMon new models in March 2003. In Australia,Police have seen a 92% drop in the theft ofSubarus marked with WOVM and a 67% dropin Holden HSVs being stolen.Other future applicationsDave Lumsden, Manager of Data DotTechnologies, one of the companies workingin the field of microdot application, told PoliceNews that the technology is by no meanslimited to vehicles. “This technology can beextended to household items, boats, bikesand other items that may be subject to theft.The saving in terms of resourcing and cost toPolice would be significant,” he said.In New Zealand, vehicle crime represents thesecond highest Police category of crime – with17% of all offences related to it.Vehicle crime in many western countries hasbeen falling by as much as 30% as a resultof systems such as the Crime PreventionThrough Environmental Design (CPTED)programme, which incorporates such simplethings as improved lighting, clear sightlines,increased surveillance and architectural layoutdesign improvements. The Ministry of Justicevehicle crime proposals mirror those initiativesbut would place New Zealand at the forefrontof crime prevention for car theft.Huge costsIn the year to June 2005 some 20,860 (51offences per 10,000 of people) vehicles werestolen with 47,288 thefts from vehicles (116offences per 10,000 people). The costs ininsurance claims are $110 million per year.New Zealand Police AssociationEarly indications are that car thefts may haverisen by as much as 20% this year.Eighty percent (80%) of car thefts areopportunist crimes while 20% are the work oforganised criminal car rings. Of the cars stolen,70% are found and 30% are never recovered.Senior Constable Mark Gibson, Motor VehicleCrime Co-ordinator (CIB Organised CrimeSquad, Wellington) has been catching carthieves for 12 years now and says thatthe two initiatives could cut vehicle crime“significantly”.Organised crimeGibson says that organised crime groupsare responsible for most of the crime relatedto unrecovered vehicles. “These groups arehighly organised. They change the identity ofcars to such an extent that the average personor police officer couldn’t tell the difference,”Gibson says. Identity switching is known inNew Zealand as “ringing”. In Australia it iscalled “rebirthing” and in the USA it is simplyknown as “VIN (Vehicle Identification Number)-switching”.A car theft ring, operating in Wellingtonseveral years ago, targeted a car auction andpurchased damaged vehicles – repatriatingthe ‘live’ rego, VIN (Vehicle IdentificationNumber) and plates to vehicles of the samemake which they had stolen.Faced with the highest vehicle crime rate inAustralia, the West Australian Governmentdecided to act. From July 1, 1999, it becamecompulsory to fit an approved immobiliserwhen purchasing a vehicle. The WAGovernment encouraged ‘buy-in’ by vehicleowners by offering a $40 rebate on the cost ofinstallation – making the cost as low as $79.Fall in car theftsIn Western Australia car theft fell by 34%between 1999-2001, during which time thenumber of vehicles fitted with immobilisersrose from 45% to 70%. Australia has seena 40% reduction in car thefts in the last fiveyears. Ten percent (10%) of new cars inAustralia now have WOVM.Geoff Hughes, Director of Strategy andPlanning at the (Australian) National MotorVehicle Theft Reduction Council (NMVTRC)says that the reduction has come as a directresult of initiatives to fit engine immobilisers.• A typical engine immobiliser, which is generally fitted with an alarm system. Car thefts inWest Australia fell dramatically when the fitting of immobilisers was made compulsory.- Photo courtesy of Data Dot Technologies.In 2001, Australia adopted a nationwide policyof requiring all vehicles imported after thatyear to be fitted with engine immobilisers.October 2006237

New Zealand Police Association“You should not lose your job” – Judge tells Mokauofficer who attended fatal accident after drinkingTaranaki police officer Jonathan Erwood,who was discharged without convictionafter a guilty plea to a drink driving charge,is waiting to find out whether he still hasa job.Erwood, the sole charge officer in the smalltown of Mokau, faced the charge afterattending an after-hours callout to a fatalroad accident in July in which two peopledied. He was breathalysed at the scene andfound to be 26 mg over the legal limit.He pleaded guilty to the charge when heappeared in court.The Police Association offered support toboth Constable Erwood and the officer whobreathalysed him. Association PresidentGreg O’Connor said that both officers were“merely doing their job”.DischargedIn discharging Constable Erwood JudgeLouis Bidois said in the New PlymouthDistrict Court last month that time was ofthe essence in Erwood’s decision to ferrylife-saving oxygen equipment to the scene.“You risked your career to attend thisaccident. There was nothing personal inthis for you and it reflects a commitmentto your job which you should be proud of,”Judge Bidois said in his summing up.Judge Bidois said that he was mindful thatany conviction would label Mr Erwooda criminal and that would besmirch adistinguished 16-year career as a policeofficer and would likely cost him his job.Judge Bidois said this would be “out of allproportion to the offence”. The judge chosenot to impose a disqualification periodon Mr Erwood, saying there were “specialcircumstances” not to do so.Commonsense decisionPolice Association President, Greg O’Connor,welcomed Judge Bidois’ comments as avictory for commonsense.“If you lost your job, your career wouldbe destroyed, the Police would have lost agood man and Mokau would be losing avery good police officer and a very strongmember of the community,” Judge Bidoissaid.The judge said that the situation highlightedcircumstances, which any sole-charge policeofficer, Fire Brigade driver or ambulanceofficer in the country could face at any timewhile off-duty.As this issue was going to press, Police werestill considering whether Constable Erwoodwould face internal disciplinary action.The Police Complaints Authority is alsoconsidering the matter.Difficult choicesPolice Association President, GregO’Connor, said that while the Associationdoes not condone drinking and driving,Constable Erwood’s decision to attend theaccident should be viewed in terms of thedifficult choices he faced and whether thosechoices should then cost him his job. “TheAssociation’s position has always been thatthis officer should not lose his job,” MrO’Connor said.“The Association is aware that opinion maybe divided on the matter but in this instancewe felt the extenuating circumstanceswere of such magnitude that it would bemanifestly unjust for Constable Erwood tolose his job for electing to try and save a life.We agree with Judge Bidois’ summation,”Mr O’Connor said. Following the courtcase, the Association had been in contactwith both Mr Erwood and the officerwho breathalysed him to offer its ongoingsupport.19 reasons for pause…1. When cheese gets it’s picture taken, what does it say?2. When someone asks you: “A penny for your thoughts”. And you put your two cents in, what happens to the other penny?3. If lawyers are disbarred and clergymen defrocked, doesn’t it follow that electricians can be delighted and musicians denoted?4. When someone is impatient and says, “I haven’t got all day.” How can that be? How can you not have all day?5. If a pig loses its voice, is it disgruntled?6. Is a vegetarian permitted to eat animal crackers?7. What if there were no hypothetical questions?8. Frisbeetarianism is the belief that when you die, your soul goes up on the roof and gets stuck.9. Some camping grounds have long waiting lists for camping reservations. When you have to wait a year to sleep next to a tree,something is wrong.10. Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish, and he will sit in a boat and drink beer all day.11. Before they invented drawing boards, what did they go back to?12. Procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday.13. Why do croutons come in airtight packages? It’s just stale bread to begin with.14. Have you ever noticed that anybody driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac?15. If the #2 pencil is the most popular, why is it still #2?16. Electricity is really just organised lightning.17. Women like silent men; they think they’re listening.18. “I am” is reportedly the shortest sentence in the English language. Could it be that “I do” is the longest sentence?19. If fire fighters fight fire and crime fighters fight crime, what do freedom fighters fight?October 2006239

PoliceNewsThe Voice of PolicePolice Health Plan Ltd in conjunction withour Medical Advisors, Medilink, publishesarticles on medical issues that affect ourmembers.Childhood conditions thatmay require surgeryTonsils, adenoids andears (grommets)For most children their journey through life toadulthood is a winding road. The corners in theroad are some of the many experiences your childwill meet that help to establish the kind of personthey will become.As a parent your role is to guide your child alongthis road, and to ensure the way to adulthood isclear and safe until he or she can manage his orher own journey. Some of the corners on the roadrelate to health. The most common landslidesonto the road of a young life are the bacterialand viral invasion of their tiny bodies, especiallythrough the upper respiratory tract.The upper respiratory tract has its own crashbarriers - adenoids and tonsils - that are part of theimmune system. Their role is to filter out bacteriaand viruses and encourage the developmentof antibodies to fight infections. Each timeyour child hits that crash barrier, challenged byanother infection, the effectiveness of the tonsilsand adenoids may diminish.Parental nightmareA parental nightmare begins: another night ofbroken sleep with your little person suffering afever, cough, running nose, grizzling with miseryand he or she will be convinced that food is“yuck”.Tonsils are at the back of the mouth and on eachside to the entrance to the throat. They are smallmasses of tissue, which have many pits andcrevices like skin pores. They are similar to lymphnodes. They vary in size between individuals andare often described as oval or almond-shaped.With repeated bombardment from bacteria,viruses and allergens, the tonsils enlarge andbecome red. The “pores” in the tonsils frequentlybecome clogged with either infection or deadtissue and give a white speckled appearance.A reddened sore throat is often the first sign oftonsillitis. If you have any concerns about yourchild’s sore throat seek advice from your healthprofessional.AdenoidsAdenoids are not visible when you open yourmouth, as they are high up in your soft palatebehind your nose. They are lumpy clusters ofspongy tissue.As you breathe in, the tonsils and adenoids trapsome of the incoming viruses and bacteria thatcould be harmful and cause infection. With repeatedexposure to infections your child’s adenoidsbecome swollen and may obstruct the nose. This iscommon in smaller children, especially those underfive years of age. Your child may mouth breathe,especially at night or may snore. His or her nosemay be frequently congested, which makes them“talk through their nose”.Most children have episodes of adenoidalinfections. It is only when the episodes recurfrequently and are prolonged that surgery may beconsidered.InfectionsThe ear, the organ of hearing and balance,becomes involved in this landslide of infectionsthrough the Eustachian tube, which is the longpassage that runs from the middle ear to the baseof the throat near the adenoids.The respect you get when you drive a BMWThe other day I was cruising along as usual,coming to one of my motorways, which is verybusy and has inferior cars on it.First off, I couldn’t believe that the volume oftraffic didn’t slow down for me at all as I cameoff the slip road! I had to squeeze into a barelybig enough gap between two cars in order toget onto my motorway (the driver of the carbehind me did realise his mistake and honkedan apology to me with a long blast of his horn.)Unbelievably, I had to do the same again before Icould get into the BMW lane. (Why do underlingsuse this lane? Surely everyone knows it is forBMW drivers only?)Anyway, once I was in the BMW lane and posingalong at 130kph enjoying the adulation that theinferior car drivers were giving me, I noticed aninferior car ahead of me which was not only inthe BMW lane of my motorway, but was drivingat a ridiculous 95kph. Naturally, I got to withina foot or so of his bumper and flashed myheadlights to remind him he shouldn’t be in theBMW lane and to get out of my way.Of course, once he realised it was a BMWbehind him he did just that. But I could hardlybelieve it when he pulled straight out backbehind me. He also tried to keep up with me andwhen he realised I would out-run him, he put onsome blue lights in his front grill and urged meto get onto the hard shoulder so that he couldcongratulate me on my excellent car.Needless to say, I was eager to oblige. Whenwe had stopped, the man gave me a piece ofpaper confirming what I already knew – that mycar goes fast! Apparently, he wants everyone toknow what a superior car I have, so I had to takemy driver’s licence to a Police Station to be sentaway to have some points put on! (They’re notThe external opening of the ear leads into a shortpassage, which ends in the eardrum.The eardrum is the protective wall of the chamberknown as the middle ear. This protective wall isthin and transparent, not unlike “Glad Wrap”.In the middle ear, sounds are transmitted to thehearing mechanisms of the inner ear by vibration.The Eustachian tube equalises the air pressurein the middle ear, by allowing air into it. Thismakes the pressure the same on both sides of theeardrum. It also drains secretions from the middleear to the throat.CongestionInfection in the nose and throat congest theEustachian tube, and cause thick sticky fluid tobuild up in the middle ear behind the eardrum.Once the Eustachian tube is blocked, air does notflow into the middle ear. The pressures on theeardrum are different on each side, causing pain.This congestion leads to inflammation in themiddle ear known as Otitis Media (OM). Thereare several types of OM – acute (short term),chronic (long term) and glue ear being the mostcommon. Surgical treatment for OM relatesmainly to those with glue ear. This treatment isknown as Myringotomy, and involves the insertionof ventilation tubes – grommets.Remember to take care of ear nose and throatproblems. They can signal a “corner” requiring anadult in charge of the steering wheel.If you require assistance and/or additionalinformation please make contact by Email with:helenb@medilink.co.nz or oliver@medilink.co.nz“oho”© Medilink Limited 2006free points either – I was only allowed 40 andthey were valued at $170).But the man at the Police Station said thatbecause I drive a BMW, it won’t be much longerbefore I earn the full 100 points, and then I won’teven need a driving licence, so they will take itoff me. See, now that’s the sort of respect youget when you buy and drive a BMW.- Courtesy of Motorbikes, the BMW Owners’ Register Newsletter.Use of 0800 Ten Nine phone lineAssociation representatives maintain this telephone line(0800 8366 463) on a 24-hour basis.It is to be used ONLY for matters that cannot be deferred,such as Police shootings, fatal pursuits or deaths incustody.Important and immediate industrial and legal advice canthen be arranged through the Association networks.Please do not phone this line for non-urgent matters.240October 2006

New Zealand Police AssociationThis column is written by a frontlinepolice officer. It does not representthe views or policies of the PoliceAssociation.1 2 3 4 5 6 78 9It’s a beautiful worldRoll on the Taser trial. Already the results are speaking for themselvesand bugger the civil libertarians and their accusations based on…Ah well,the jury is still out on that one. Anything that will protect our staff and thepublic and falls short of lethal force has gotta be a good thing for all thoseconcerned. Easy to sit around in the comfort of your Ponsonby, Kelbum orFendalton armchair and debate the world over a red wine, knowing that thenearest you get to encounter crime is on the Sky Box Office!Well done on this one HQ. You get a big bouquet from this countrybumpkin.The proof is in the puddingI see me Fed mates north of the Bombays are taking a hammering in the1110 field at the moment and are certainly keeping the media busy withtheir outstanding results and showing why we have the best homicideresolution rate (now ain’t that a fancy term?) in the whole damn world.Well done team. Keep up the great work and I hear a rumour that the flaghas gone up for some support from around the country so we can spreadthe load.The Flying DutchmanIt’s all about having the right people in the right positions. I see we havefinally got someone with ‘All the right stuff’ to sort the Comms staffingdebacle out. Sometimes it is about resourcing and not working smarter.I hear this big fella is saying all the right things at the moment and actuallyfollowing it up with some good positive action. Talk is cheap, as we allknow, but a bouquet for the Flying Dutchman.Brain teaserIt’s a sad old world when we have to advertise our top positions withoutrequiring the applicants to have exams. This old draught horse remembersa time when staff were gagging to take promotion and the pay andresponsibility that came with it. Perhaps the great divide between those twoitems is so wide these days that most of us don’t want it. Mind you, I hearthis ‘trend’ fits in with a proposed HR strategy of an entry level system thatwill see people in prominent positions that have never worked a day in an ‘I’car or on the beat or in the watchhouse. Oh what the future holds.Alls well that ends wellStill we have the best teams in blue and black in the world and a countrythat truly is God’s Own. Hopefully, our masters recognise this and we don’tleave the matter in the hands of the arbitrator, as there will be no winnerswhen the ashes settle.See ya!WhoopsPolice in Oakland, California reputedly spent two hours attemptingto subdue a gunman who had barricaded himself inside hishouse. After firing ten tear gas canisters, officers discovered thatthe man was standing beside them, shouting, “Please come outand give yourself up.”1012 13 1417 \15 1618 1920Clues:Across:2. Scarred us to watch a champion team (9)8. Crude way he fixed (5)9. Obtains this point in Auckland (7)10. Unseating a little something that makesyou sick (10)12. Accumulate (5)14. Boredom (5)15. Cause alarm perhaps (10)18. Erased five to make something untoward(7)19. Stale tales; least slate; all the same as thistype of theft (5)20. People who don’t want to be arrested (9)September answers:Across:1. Pros15. Riddle3. Apparent 17. Conservative9. Off duty 20. Abuse10. Avert 21. Gelling11. Arraingments 22. Misusing13. Liquor 23. Amid11Down:1. Aftermath of O.C Spray (13)2. Newsletter sent around (8)3. Wrong credit given (5)4. Method used to decide someoutcomes of Court matters (13)5. Substance to make the chargesweeter? (7)6. Move by sea (4)7. Of a clause (in real estate) (13)11. People who egg on others (8)13. Locks up in custody (7)16. Passageway (5)17. Cricket term (4)Down:1. Provable2. Offer4. Plying5. Academically6. Ejected7. Tote8. Luminousness12. Revenged14. Quorums16. Origin18. Idiom19. Calm“Consultants are people who come down from the hillsto shoot the wounded after the battle is over.”- Anonymous.“Success is not a destination that you ever reach.Success is the quality of your journey.”- Jennifer James (author).“The only way to make sure people you agree withcan speak is to support the rights of people you don’tagree with.”- Eleanor Holmes Norton.October 2006241

POLICE COUNCIL OF SPORTTo contact the Police Council of Sport, call Alison Murray at the RNZPC. Ph: (04) 238-3139SI Police (Outdoor)Bowls Tournamentin Christchurch28-29 NovemberThe South Island Police (Outdoor) BowlsTournament will be held in Christchurch from 28-29 November.Current serving members, non-sworn membersand retired members are all welcome tocompete.For any information please contact by Emailmick.tarling@clear.net.nz or by phoning Mickon (03) 3555-134 or by Fax (03) 3555-134.Women’s Policesoftball teambeing formedThe Council of Sport together with a few keenmembers are trying to get a women’s softballteam together. A women’s Police softball teamhas not been selected since Police were no longerincluded in the Inter-Services tournament.This team will be chosen with a view to entering ateam in future Services’ Games.This is a great sport which incorporates bothindividual and team skills. Any members with pastexperience either as a player, coach or manager,or any member interested in playing shouldcontact Deborah Quested via Lotus Notes.NI Police GolfTournamentbetween25-27 FebruaryThe Palmerston North Police Golf Club will behosting the North island Police Golf Championshipsnext year.The tournament has been set down for 25-27February at the Palmerston North Golf Club. Entryforms have been distributed and there has beenkeen interest in the tournament.Anyone interested in playing needs to contactDoug Seal (Palmerston North) on extension65846 or via Lotus Notes.Police sports calendarOctober5–7 Police Rugby Challenge Cup Tournament – Auckland Contact: Simon Scott extn: 940526–8 Police Squash – Taupo Contact: Geoff Duff, extn: 7430017–18 Police National Rugby and Netball 7’s Contact: Chris Turner extn: 6588029 South Island Touch Rugby Tournament Contact: Anthony Maw extn: 35783 or 027 200 1311November2-3 Cycling and MTB Champs – Rotorua Contact: David Hamilton, extn: 740605–7 South Island Golf Tournament Contact: Graeme Barsanti, extn: 3806017 North Island Touch Rugby Tournament Contact: Bryan Smith via Lotus Notes or extn: 66005 or027 4 514 81927–1 Dec Australasian Police Cricket Tournament Contact: Geoffrey Ringer or Trevor Franklin via Lotus Notes oralternatively Geoffrey on extn: 95970 or Trevor on extn: 9083128–29 South Island Bowls – Christchurch Contact: Mick Tarling, (03) 355-51342007March16–18 National Darts Tournament – Awanui Contact: Shane Godinet, (09) 409-8440Visit www.policeassn.org.nz for updated contact details for the Police Council of Sport management committee,District Sports Officers and the latest schedule of events.242October 2006

New Zealand Police Associationby Ricky CollinsA look at cleanskinsWhile in Australia recently, I couldn’t help but notice thehuge growth in the promotion and sale of cleanskins.For those of you unaware of the term, a cleanskin is awine that is sold without the wine producer’s label onit. Typically, they will have a plain label that indicatesonly the vintage, wine variety, and the region the wine comes from.So why do they exist? Thereasons can be varied, butthe predominant reason is toclear large quantities of a winethat the producer has beenunable to sell under its originalintended label. This couldbe due to cancelled exportorders, over-production, or theneed to clear previous vintages• Cleanskin wines.quickly before releasing thelatest vintage. By selling thisoverstock of wine as cleanskins, wine producers can on-sell their excess wineat a significantly reduced price without tarnishing their principal brand or marketposition.Cleanskins are a relatively new concept in the New Zealand wine market, butwe are likely to see more of them, given Australia’s bulging wine glut. Theyfeature as part of the portfolio of a few local wine retailers, most notably TheMill. I tried a few of their cleanskins recently and was pleasantly surprised.However, if you do get the chance, I suggest you try the sample wines at thestore before you buy, as some are definitely better than others. I personallydidn’t find any of the straight Shiraz on offer that appealing, but that mightjust be my palate. Below are some notes on four of the cheaper winescurrently on offer at The Mill that appealed to me.2005 Mudgee Premium Chardonnay RRP $6.99This was a fresh, clean fruit-dominant wine, with lovely melon and peachflavours and minimal oak influence. It had a rich creamy palate that lingeredfor some time. I went back to this wine a couple of days after opening it,and it still retained that fresh vibrance and fruitiness. It is definitely varietal inflavour, and great value at this price.2001 Limestone Coast Cabernet Sauvignon RRP $6.99Like the Chardonnay, this wine has had reasonably light oak treatment.However, that didn’t detract from the wine, as the fruit quality carried itthrough. It reminded me of some of the medium-priced European winesthat I’ve tried in recent times that were well matched to food. It had spicyberryfruit flavours, good length and a silky palate. Try it alongside a pastadish and you won’t be disappointed.2001 South Australia Cabernet Shiraz Merlot RRP $6.99This wine had obviously had more contact with oak than the previous two, asit displayed dusty tannins and included a touch of vanilla in its flavour profile.Other flavours to come through were mint, licorice and plums. It was wellbalanced and had a sweet finish to it that will be appealing to many. Again,great value for money.2003 South Australia Cabernet Merlot RRP $6.99This was my favourite. It had ripe fruit with cherry, plum and chocolateflavours and a hint of tobacco. It had a warm, rich mouthfeel that left youwanting another glass. It is a well-balanced, smart wine that is priced wellbelow what it could fetch under its true label.HOLIDAY HOME AVAILABILITY– for bookings see: www.policeassn.org.nzOctober November DecemberPAIHIA............................................ 9, 12, 16-18, 24-26 .......................................5, 10, 21-22, 27-30 .................................................1,6-7, 21STANMORE BAY ............................. 8-20, 23-26,28-31 .........................................1-3, 5-9,14-16,19-23, 26-30...................................1-7, 10-22AUCKLAND .................................... 18 ..................................................................1-2,5, 7-8, ..............................................................11-14, 21, 24-25WHANGAMATA ............................... 13, 15-17,24-25, 29-31 .................................1, 5-10, 12-17, 19-23, 26-30 ..................................3-7, 15MT MAUNGANUI ............................ 8, 15-19, 23-26, 29-31 ..................................1, 6-8, 12, 19,23......................................................6-7, 10-14,OHOPE ........................................... 7-11, 15-19,23-31 .........................................1-3, 8-10, 13-15,19-27, 29-30 ................................3-14,18-19,ROTORUA ...................................... 8-9, 11-12, 17,19, 23-26, 29-31 ....................3, 5-7, 9,13,15,20-22,26-29 ...................................3-15, 17,19-22TAUPO ........................................... 10-12, 16-19,24-26 .......................................1,7-8,10,12-16,20-23,26,28-30..............................5-14, 18-1922,24-25TURANGI ........................................ 8-12, 15-19,23-26, 29-31 .............................1-8,10,13-15, 19-23, 26-30 ....................................3-20, 22-25NAPIER .......................................... 9-11, 14, 24-26,29-31, ..................................1-2, 13-15, 20-25, 27, 29-30 ..................................3-7, 10, 12, 14, 17-21PARAPARAUMU .............................. 16-17, 23-26, 30-31 ......................................1-2, 5-6, 12-15,21-22, 24 .......................................Fully BookedGREYTOWN .................................... 9-12, 19, 23-26, 29 .......................................13-16,19-21, 27-29 ................................................3-8, 14,17-23WELLINGTON ................................. 17, 29-31.......................................................1-2, 5, 8-9, 13-20, 27-28, 30 ..................................3-6, 8,10-12,17-20,NELSON ......................................... 11-12, 15, 20,23-26,30, ................................1,15-16, 30 .............................................................5-7, 11-15,24-25HANMER SPRINGS ......................... 8-9, 11, 15,24, 27,29 .....................................3-4, 14-15, 19-20, 28-30 ........................................6-7, 10,CHRISTCHURCH ............................. 7, 19, 23, 30 ..................................................2, 6, 12, 26-28,30....................................................5, 7, 10, 13-14,17TEKAPO ......................................... 16-18, 24-26 .................................................9, 12-13,20, 27-28, 30 ............................................4, 7-8,10-13,17-20WANAKA ........................................ 8-12, 18, 28-31 .............................................1-3, 16, 19-23,27 ....................................................10-13, 20-23CROMWELL ................................... 8, 13, 15-19, 23-26,30-31 .............................5-9, 12-17, 22-23, 27-30 ........................................9-11,17-21QUEENSTOWN ............................... 15,23 .............................................................Fully Booked ............................................................18-19TE ANAU ........................................ 6-11, 15-19, 23-25, 27-29 ............................2, 6-9, 11-18,21-25, 27-30 .....................................5-7, 10, 13-14, 17,20-21DUNEDIN ....................................... 12,15-17, 30-31 ............................................12, 14, 23-24, 28-30 ...............................................3-4, 11-15, 21-22October 2006243

PoliceNewsThe Voice of PoliceWhen money becomes a battlegroundMoney is rarely the issue in relationships;it’s just the battleground. Usually it’s asignal for something else that’s going on,whether it’s an issue of control or a lack ofunderstanding about each other’s objectivesand goals. The issue runs much deeper thanmoney.Think about when you’ve argued aboutmoney, weren’t you really arguing aboutvalues and what’s important? How youvalue success?Sometimes the issue is control. Someoneis trying to control someone else and usingmoney as the tool. It can be Mum or Dad.It can be Mum and the kids depending onwhat they want to teach and what theirobjective may be.Unfortunately, many of us are reluctantto talk about money and in many ways,talking about money is the last taboo. If weare reluctant to talk about money withina relationship and how to manage it moreeffectively, life gets a lot more uncomfortableif the relationship breaks down becauseupon divorce generally every possible issuerelating to the household finances gets anairing.The difficult issuesThe difficult issues like the financial supportof children in blended families, being thesole breadwinner and the monetary worthof a stay-at-home spouse, debt racked upby one partner, the acquisition of thingslike boats and four-wheel drives that onepartner wanted and the other didn’t and theimpact that had on their financial life - allsee the light of day.Is it right? Well, it’s human. Is it proper?Who cares? The moment you move adynamic from the relationship arena tothe market arena, it gets fully appraisedby independent arbiters in a court of lawand overnight, personal arrangements get adollar value.By the time you hit your thirties, yougenerally have some understanding of howeasy it is to get into a relationship and howvery hard it can be to get out of one. You canlove someone but that doesn’t necessarilymean it is going to work and that you aregoing to be compatible and help each otherlearn and grow long-term.Honest about moneyMost people expect their partners to becompletely honest about money. Ninetysixper cent (96%) of 1,796 adults aged 25to 55, who were married, engaged or livingtogether surveyed by Harris Interactivesaid they believed it was both partners’responsibility to be completely honestabout financial issues. Nearly one in four(approximately 25%) believed so stronglyin this principle that they said opennessabout money was more important thanbeing faithful. Still, almost one in three(approximately 33%) admitted they hadlied to their partner about finances, mostoften about personal spending (21%) andspending on children (12%).If you are in a relationship where moneyis an issue, it is a matter of being braveenough and honest enough to confront thereal issues and generally in our experience,it isn’t about money. We can often help youget out of the problem, but often we findthat unless the emotional drivers behind theissue are addressed, the problem will moreoften than not, recur.Couples often plan weddings together, theyplan buying a home together, sometimesthey plan holidays together, but all toooften they don’t plan how they are going tolive and later retire together.Having common goals around moneyand a plan in place for overall financialmanagement are good, initial steps to takein resolving any issues around money.- © Chrissy Fletcher (Spicers).Have you moved recently?If you have or perhaps are about to,please let us know so we can update yourrecords.You can do this by:• writing to us at PO Box 12344;• calling us on free phone 0800 500 122;• faxing us on (04) 496 6819; or• emailing us at; membership@policeassn.org.nzYou need to let us know your membershipnumber, new address and if you’re aserving member - your new station.Useful Information & ContactsAssociation and Police Welfare Fund:Immediate industrial & legal advice (only formatters that cannot be deferred such as Policeshootings, fatal pursuits or deaths in custody) canbe obtained by ringing 0800 TEN NINE (0800836 6463)Police Network 44446 Website www.policeassn.org.nzFreephone 0800 500 122 Police Home Loans 0800 800 808Police Health Plan/Staffpac Insurance Police Credit Union 0800 429 000Quotes & information 0800 500 122 or (04) 472 9645or Fax (04) 496 6819 Credit Union www.policecu.org.nzStaffpac claims 0800 110 088 GSF information 0800 654 731All enquiries (04) 496 6800 PSS information 0800 777 243Vice PresidentsRichard Middleton (027) 277 9846Stuart Mills (027) 268 9416Field OfficersNorthland and Auckland Districts: Stewart Mills (027) 268 9407Waikato, BOP and Eastern Districts: Eric Newman (027) 268 9408Central and Wellington Districts: JJ Taylor (027) 268 9409Tasman, Canterbury and Southern Districts: Dave McKirdy (027) 268 9410Regional DirectorsRegion One Steve Hawkins Whangaparoa (027) 268 9419Region Two Mark Leys Papatoetoe (027) 268 9413Region Three Mel Ridley Tauranga (027) 268 9414Region Four Chris Cahill Napier (027) 268 9415Region Five Ron Lek Wellington (027) 268 9417Region Six Craig Prior Sumner (027) 268 9412Region Seven Tracey Maclennan Invercargill (027) 268 9418244October 2006

New Zealand Police AssociationWrite it here! Letters to the Editor are welcome.Signed letters are preferred, but in all cases the writer’s name and address must be supplied. Names will be published unless there is a goodreason for anonymity. The editor reserves the right to edit, abridge or decline letters without explanation. Email to: editor@policeassn.org.nz orwrite it to the Editor at PO Box 12344, Wellington. Letters under 400 words are preferred.An open letter…To Sir Paul Reeves, Marie Dyberg, Keith Locke,and others.It’s so easy to sit in a comfortable office, withthe benefit of 20/20 hindsight and cast themost moral and insightful wisdom on pastevents. It is another thing to actually makethose decisions in a time of crisis.To me, it is a question of trust. For the Policeto be effective in providing the communitywith the service they require, the communitymust trust the Police.The Police must on the other hand, deliverthat service, to maintain that trust.You trust me to go into schools, to teach yourchildren about keeping themselves safe. Youtrust me to go into the mountains to lookfor your lost brother, in conditions that nosane person would normally entertain goingout in. You trust me to search the parks andstormwater drains for your grandchild whohas not returned from school.You trust me to go into your homes to preventyour partner from beating you senseless. Youtrust me to patrol the inner city streets, whenyou have long been in bed, to deal with thegrossly intoxicated, argumentative and violentmob, who hours earlier were fine upstandingmembers of my community. To be insulted,spat on, and assaulted, not knowing whethermy call for urgent back up has been receivedbecause I cannot hear my radio due to thenoise on the street. You trust me to patrol thehighways, to pick up the body of your son,killed in a road smash, or to assist the otherservices in washing down the road, that whichcannot be picked up. You trust me to conductthe investigation into the rape and murder ofyour grandmother. You trust me to go overseasto deal with all manner of things, from tsunamidisasters to civil unrest.You expect, no demand, that I do all of thesethings unarmed, relying on little more thancommonsense and good judgement to keepthe public and myself safe. Yet you do nottrust me to use a non-lethal means of selfdefence– the Taser.You do not want the New Zealand Police to beroutinely armed. Perhaps it gives you some sortof smug satisfaction that we still live in Utopia.The stark reality is that we do not. Like it ornot, New Zealand is populated with a largedemographic of violent offenders.There is not a shift that goes by when a policeofficer is not assaulted. One of the reasons thatmembers of the public are willing to physicallyattack us is that we are unarmed, and theattackers believe that the risk of harm comingto them as a consequence, is very remote.If this increased threat is not real, then I askthis question. Why will every frontline officerbe wearing body armour early in the newyear?The answer is so simple. If you do not wantto be subdued with a Taser, do not engage inviolent behaviour.I think you realise that the New Zealand Policeare arguably the most trusted and honest policeforce in the world. There is no corruption orbribery, or systematic patterns of thuggeryor violence against innocent members of thepublic.Sure there have been, and will be, isolatedinstances of criminality by individual officers.They will be identified and prosecuted tothe fullest extent. There is no profession oroccupation in New Zealand that is scrutinisedmore than the Police. My colleagues, mysupervisors, the public, the media, defencecounsel or ultimately, the courts minutelyjudge every decision I make.So Sir Paul, Marie, Keith and others, climbdown from your high horse and walk in theshoes of a police officer for a while, and taketime to consider how you would respond intimes of crisis. I do not have the option to optout, turn a blind eye, or telephone the Policefrom behind the security of my venetians.I will do your dirty work for you. But I trustthat you will give me suitable tools to do it, sothat I can go home to my family at the end ofmy shift.Graeme Crosson(Canterbury)The Police as a political footballI read with interest the latest utterances ofKeith Locke and his crusade to disarm andemasculate the Police.During a weekend of stabbings, and savage,unprovoked assaults, including a homicide,Keith Locke is again singing the same old tune,attempting to undermine the department, andremove O/C spray from the Police, as well asdisrupt the Taser trials.In Waitakere two weeks earlier, two officers,one a female, were beaten and injuredattempting to subdue a violent and intoxicatedoffender at his home.These officers elected not to use O/C sprayinside a house, so as not to affect the occupants,and suffered serious injuries as a result.Fast forward two weeks later, within the samedistrict, and we find officers confronted withthe same situation, a violent offender insidea house with other occupants. This timethe officers elect to use OC spray, savingthemselves from suffering serious injuries.This incident is accompanied by mediaheadlines with Mr Locke jumping on thebandwagon, detailing unproved allegationsof other occupants being affected by residualspray effects. It is unfortunate if this did in factoccur, but the fact remains the Police werecalled because the occupants could not controlthe violent behaviour of one of their own.The question I have is this. Where was KeithLocke when news broke of the officers beinginjured because they elected not to use OCspray? The silence was overwhelming.It needs to be remembered that the Policeare now more of a political football than everbefore.The reason is simple, the Green Party is aggrievedthat Labour did not renew its coalition with theGreens after the 2005 General Election, andinstead elected for a confidence and supplyagreement with New Zealand First.The cornerstone of the confidence and supplyagreement is the introduction of 1000 extrasworn Police, the other matters containedwithin the agreement being simply peripheralissues of no absolute importance.By attacking Police, opposition parties arein fact attacking the confidence and supplyagreement, and therefore the de-facto coalitionthat is the result.The challenge for Police lies directly withPolice management. They are under themicroscope both from the opposition, andthe Government itself, as the Labour Party isonly too aware that the confidence and supplyagreement is governed by the requirement forrecruiting 1000 extra Police.This is the reason, more than any other, thatdesperate attempts are being made by PoliceNational Headquarters to recruit more staff,even if it means recruiting in high schools,the UK, or trolling through the employmentwaste water and panning for nuggets amongstthe gravel, desperately searching for potentialcandidates. Candidates, who in a some cases,would be simply unfit to join the Police of five,or even two years ago.Police management needs more than ever toback the actions of it’s members. By refrainingfrom comment, and waiting for the finaloutcome of politically-driven inquiries, wehave a situation that results in the media,and rogue politicians, being able to exploit adeliberately misconstrued version of events fortheir own purposes.October 2006245

PoliceNewsThe Voice of PoliceA prime example is the much publicisedstadium spray incident. When the true versionof events is published, and the membersvindicated, the sad fact remains that the storyhas vanished from public notice, and in themeantime, our members feel abandoned andpersecuted, for risking their lives and doingtheir job, a job that no one else is willing, orable, to do.Brendan Stewart(Waitakere)Motorcade thanksCollectively, we wish to thank all those whoassisted us throughout the now infamousmotorcade incident.Although it would be impossible for us to namethem all, we feel that special mention shouldbe given to Greg O’Connor and Geoff Smithfor their assistance from the very beginning.We also wish to thank those within the PoliceAssociation that we didn’t meet as well as thosemembers of Police and ex-Police staff who havesupported our families and us over the last twoyears.It’s times like these when you realise the fullbenefit of belonging to the Association. Theoverall support was humbling to say the least.The financial assistance given, which coveredlegal fees to childcare, greatly eased the burdenfor our families.You don’t realise just how much goes on behindthe scenes with the Association until you findyourself in an untenable position.With regards to the pending pay round, wehope members realise that the Association doesa lot more than fight for more money in yourpocket.We are proud to be involved with both theAssociation and its members and we thankyou again for everything everyone has given- it was and still is greatly appreciated.Ian, Rebecca, Josh and Annabel Howard(Timaru)Beware those papercuts and pinpricksDoes anybody know what world the PoliceOccupational Safety and Health Committee areliving in? I’m lost for words at some of their recentdecisions and I’m still waiting for somebody totell me that the decision to ban pins is just a bigjoke, that they were just having a laugh.Apparently, we are not allowed to cellotape aprintout of the QVA onto the dash where theairbag is. I must confess I have not read thisruling myself; I could not bring myself to doit. What is their reasoning for this? Perhapsthe extra one gram of paper will be too heavyand stop the air bag deploying. Or perhapsthey are concerned that during a car crash ofsuch force that the airbags are deployed, thepassenger might suffer a papercut.Why is it that these people can make suchridiculous decisions, when genuine issuesare not being addressed? Frontline staff inCanterbury have been told that they are notallowed to wear Police beanies and will notbe issued with them. Evidently, we cannot betrusted to decide when it would be appropriateto wear them and which jobs to take them offfor. We are, however, able to decide whetherto shoot somebody or not.We are often working in temperatures as low asminus eight degrees and in snow, but keepingour heads warm is apparently not an issue.Well at least not to the people making thesedecisions, who are probably tucked up in theirnice warm beds at 3.00 a.m. Numerous reportshave been submitted to the OSH committeeabout this but apparently it isn’t an OSH issue,nowhere near as important as pins!I’d like to see the stats comparing officers whoare off work due to colds and flu comparedto those suffering from pinpricks! Are theyalso going to ban paper so we don’t sufferpaper cuts, computers so that we don’t getRSI and while we’re at it let’s ban offenderstoo, because they pose a risk of injury whendealing with them.Being issued Police beanies is only one of manyissues that need addressing. Non- reflectorisedraincoats, fitting better brakes to vehicles andsecure communications are just a few that Ican think of immediately. I’m sure other staffwill have many more real OSH issues.We do a difficult job in difficult circumstances,often with substandard equipment and notenough staff, is it too much to ask for just a littlesupport and commonsense from the hierarchy?Goodwill is running very low on the frontlineand decisions like this do nothing to alleviatethat feeling.K Boyd(Christchurch)Heel draggingWhy are the management in this job alwayshiding behind the skirts of reviews and trialsinstead of getting on with things? I feel surethis is common in all districts.It has been over two years now Counties-Manukau District has had several personsor groups reviewing a roster change and stillthey cannot make a decision! I’m sure if I wasto take the same approach in investigatingmatters I would find myself facing disciplinaryaction for unduly withholding files.Strangely enough, the roster 93% of frontlinestaff wants is the one being worked andpositively commented on by most otherworkgroups in the district. What a kick in theteeth to your frontline staff to say you need toreview it further.Management sit there wondering why staff areleaving and they can’t stop the flow. I think itmight be a good idea to make it compulsoryfor members sitting their management papersfrom now on to do the assignment whichfocuses on recruitment and retention becauseit appears not many, if any have done this inthe past. Wake up and smell the coffee, listento your staff and stop dragging your heels.B Dobbs(Pukekohe)Pep talks and politicsWell the Commissioner’s political pep talkrally has just been to town here, and it was abit of a disappointment. I thought I would usethe opportunity to raise issues with him that Ithought were affecting us as an organisation.After expressing what I thought was a problem,I received the expected quasi-political answer,which skirted the real issue, and before Icould move on to anything else, he excusedhimself and moved back to the comfort of thehierarchy, who would pay due obeisance tohis position.Quite frankly, I was left with the impressionthat he didn’t really care, and was againanother political appointment there to passon the Government’s bidding. The Minister ofPolice did not even attend.I hope I’m proved wrong and that somereal results can be acheived by the newCommissioner.Paul George(Palmerston North)The Police’s moral crusadeI was appalled to see Lyn Provost come outin criticism of the police officer who soughtsecondary employment as a prostitute. Myunderstanding is that this “person” (also apolice officer) was forced into this situation fora variety of reasons. Ms Provost, who has noidea what it is to be a police officer or live inAuckland on a police officer’s miserable wage,feels moralistically obliged in criticising thisperson’s legal choice of secondary employmentin her own time and in private.I don’t believe either Ms Provost or theadministration has the right to tell us, whomwe can have sex with, when, how and howoften. In enforcing this moralistic view, MsProvost claims that this officer’s action wouldbring the Police into disrepute. Yet everythingwe do has the potential of bringing the Policeinto disrepute. What about the male officerwho became a female? Doesn’t that bringthe Police into disrepute? What about policeofficers evicting tenants from their rentals, orthe INCIS debacle? Doesn’t that all bring thePolice into disrepute?I don’t believe either Ms Provost or the Policeadministration pay me enough to allow themto hijack a misguided right to enforce theirmoral views on us when those activities arenot illegal. Afterall, they are my employmentbosses not my masters. If this righteous moralcrusade the administration is debarking onisn’t stopped soon we may be forced to wearpyjamas in bed and told to engage in nightlyactivities solely for the purpose of reproductionand with the light off!Dave Bermingham(Christchurch)The Police Association also believes thatthis is an entirely inappropriate employmentoption for police officers and commented sopublicly. - Editor246October 2006

Pathetic police paykeeps recruits awayI am writing after reading your articles onrecruitment and retention in the August issueof Police News. I am degree qualified and 27years old. I currently work for a retail bankin Auckland and have been in the bankingindustry for five years. I’ve always had thedesire to join the Police. In March 2005 I passedall tests and was selected into the February2006 Wing. After weighing up opportunitiesin the bank and the pay of both organisations Idecided to stay with the banking industry andnot go into the Police College.My pay is currently twice that of the salary ofa Probationary Constable and there is also atarget incentive (bonus) available. Police havingto start on a miserly salary of $43K is patheticwhen compared to private organisations. Sothe Police is now, sadly, appealing to schoolleavers because they are the only ones whowould see $43K as a decent starting salary.If I can offer some advice from the privatesector - enlist some help from a large corporatehuman resources department. Look at the waythey pay their new staff and senior staff. Iagree there should be pay bands in NZ Police- however, commonsense would suggest thatsomeone with a relevant degree, age andexperience should be put on a higher salary.I think it’s terrible that a backbench MPearns over $110K per annum while a policeconstable, who has one of the toughestand demanding jobs in the country earnsapproximately one third of that.There is no way a single person on $43kincome p.a could afford to service a home loangreater than $100k. How ridiculous is that?The answer? You need to set higher startingpay bands (above $55k) and make this flexibleto a person with solid experience relevant to apolice career.Andrew Gurney(Auckland)Speed tickets and quotasWhat a display of “self flagellation” the NZPolice administration has been giving itselfconcerning the issuing of speeding tickets.Top administrators, serving Police members,ex-Police members and others have allgiven various interpretations of “quotas andperformance criteria” relating to speedingtickets.If members of the Police are confused asexpressed in the news media, radio talkbackshows and other forms of media, is it anywonder the public are concerned and confusedas well?Perhaps the “middle class” speaking on behalfof the blue-collar workers and other NewZealanders have every right to express theirconcerns in this disastrous Police-publicrelations exercise.Is this just another reason why Police moraleis so low – Police recruitment and retentionso dismal (see Police News July issue) thatthey have slipped dramatically in the publicconfidence poll?The top administration must take responsibilityfor these problems instead of blaming theirbeleaguered, confused staff.A member of the public expressed his concernswhen recently receiving a speeding ticket fordoing 115kph on the open motorway in cleardaylight (no other vehicles on the road). Theattending officer, in the motorist’s opinionwould’ve had to travel at speeds of about 140kph to catch up with him.In travelling at this speed the officer was, ineffect, committing a far more serious breach,but again there are no judges, rules or otherguidelines for road policing matters as thereare in “criminal matters” are there?I think the motorist was expressing the ironythat sometimes the speeding police officer,in order to do his job, must be twice the“offender” as the motorist – a case of drivingas I say, not as I do perhaps?Murray Dearlove(Birkenhead)Editor’s note: A police officer, in theexecution of his or her duty, is of courseable to exceed the speed limit in order toapprehend a speeding motorist.When what you sayisn’t what you meanFor an employer who advertises in the DistrictsVision to 2007 - “Comprehensive professionaldevelopment, support and mentoring will beavailable to the district management team,all district supervisors will be provided withcontinual training and progressively developedto their full career path potential” – they don’tpoint out that each individual will have to payout of their own pocket to actually achievethese ‘career path potentials’The Police Strategic Plan says: “Continue todevelop a skilled, diverse workforce of capablePolice, with an emphasis on Police capability,leadership and management skills, retainingstaff in core operational roles and Policeintegrity.”They forgot to mention “at a cost to eachindividual”. To make matters worse since theycan’t get fully qualified applicants for somevacancies, they are prepared to take those whohaven’t even taken any promotional exams,which makes a mockery of the system. Evenwhen this isn’t enough, they are offering theseunder-qualified applicants the opportunity toretain their FTO allowances as an incentive.Then these people can get promoted, earningpotentailly more than a fully qualified personin a similar position.I know these are matters that are trying to beaddressed at the latest pay round but what ajoke! How did it get this bad in the first placeand who approve d these practices? Insteadof funding this insidious practice, why wasn’tthe money used to refund those of us actuallydoing the required exams instead of promotingwannabees who couldn’t be bothered but whoNew Zealand Police Associationwill be the first to put their hands out for a payrise and promotion? That really encouragespeople to fork out the extra $300-plus to siteach exam.Paul Gray(Auckland)Support for studyAt the beginning of this year I decided I’d doa Massey University paper for promotion.Not having been anywhere near a Universityother than to lock up protesting students, Ithought I would do the paper internally as itwas one session a week for only 12 weeks. Idiscovered it would not impact on my roster,and I thought to actually be able to attend thelectures would help my chances of passingrather than by doing an extramural course.I paid the fees and associated costs – a totalof $727.88. Having just received my results,I applied for a refund from the powers thatbe. As I suspected, I was told I would receivea refund of only $430.38. This was the feecomponent only.My gripe is that Police say they pridethemselves on being a good employer yetexpect anyone wanting to advance their careerto fork out the costs involved. It’s no wonderthey are advertising for NCO’s who do nothave their exams.The university lecturer stated at the start of thecourse that it should take each student about12 hours of study each week to be up to speed.Times that by 12 weeks and it doesn’t take arocket scientist to work out that you should bestudying for 144 hours. The Police provide 32hours study leave.My advice to anyone seeking to complete apromotional examination is to think aboutit long and hard first. More and more NCOjobs will come up where you don’t need yourexams, because no one will be sitting themdue to a lack of support from our employer.Craig Kennedy(Auckland)Accommodation in LondonRecently, while on a holiday in London, Istayed at the City of London Police Barracks.The cost is £25 ($76NZ) per person per nightand this provides either a single or double bedin the room. The rooms are a bit larger thanthose at the Police College with a washbasinand tea/coffee making facilities. A cookedbreakfast is included and other meals areavailable at very reasonable prices.Overall, the barracks are excellent value formoney and you get to meet the local officersand some from forces around the world. Thebarracks are available to Police officers andstaff as well as retired police officers. Contactdetails are:Phone: + 44 (0) 207 164 8000Fax: + 44 (0) 207 164 8008Email: bmh@city-of-london.pnn.police.ukDave Mitchell(Auckland)October 2006247

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