Labour Eroding Public Goodwill Towards Police

The Labour Government's crack down on speeding motorists could strain the relationship between the police and public, ACT New Zealand Police Spokesman Dr Muriel Newman predicted today.

"The police's annual statement of intent has revealed that the number of tickets to be issued to speeding motorists could increase by up to 25 percent between this year and next," Dr Newman said.

"This comes hot on the heels of information I revealed nine days ago, that showed traffic fines issued by the police had reached an all-time record of 400,000.

"By focussing on revenue gathering - rather than core policing - Police Minister George Hawkins is eroding the public's perception of the police, and damaging the long-established trust and respect the public has for them.

"While ticketing of motorists has increased, so has violent crime - up 15 percent since Labour took office. This comes as no surprise - the policing budget has been cut every year since 1999, while the traffic policing budget has increased by a third.

"Labour's relentless drive to make money is an absolute disgrace. By criminalising motorists, the Government has turned the police into a money-making organisation, and is failing in its duty to keep law-abiding Kiwis safe from crime," Dr Newman said.

© Scoop Media

Gordon Campbell: On the Sony cyber attack

Given the layers of meta-irony involved, the saga of the Sony cyber attack seemed at the outset more like a snarky European art film than a popcorn entry at the multiplex.

Yet now with (a) President Barack Obama weighing in on the side of artistic freedom and calling for the US to make a ‘proportionate response’quickly followed by (b) North Korea’s entire Internet service going down, and with both these events being followed by (c) Sony deciding to backtrack and release The Interview film that had made it a target for the dastardly North Koreans in the first place, then ay caramba…the whole world will now be watching how this affair pans out. More>>