_New report shows police are wasting their time
The Kiwi Party
Press Release
June 24, 2008

Kiwi Party Leader and organiser of the petition for a referendum on the Anti-smacking law said the new law is simply wasting the police's time.
The Prime Minister has claimed that the police report proves nothing much has changed.

"In part I agree with her," said Mr Baldock.

The police report does not reveal any improvement in the prosecution of real child abusers. The category of other child assaults for the past three months has remained at about the same level as it was for the three months prior to the new law.

What has changed though, and this very dramatically, is the number of police call outs to smacking and minor acts of physical discipline. In the three months prior to the law their were a combined total of 13 for these two categories over a three month period. In the last 3 months this has risen to 41.

The report confirms this when it states, "The current review period volume of 13 child assault events involving "smacking" and 65 of the total 69 "minor acts of physical discipline" events were determined to be "inconsequential" by either the attending and/or investigating Police Officer, and therefore not in the public interest to prosecute."

That means 82 call outs for only 3 pending prosecutions and one dealt with by diversion.

No wonder the police don't have time to attend call outs on real crime.

"The police should not be required to monitor parental activity. They should be monitoring the crime syndicates operating through gangs that are dealing in drugs, prostitution and violent assaults on innocent shop keepers and home invasion victims," said Mr Baldock.

When the Prime Minister claims that the law is working and not affecting good parents, she of course does not have any understanding of the traumatic experience good parents are experiencing when the police turn up at their door to investigate what their own report says 'are inconsequential minor acts of discipline.'

The anti-smacking law was not needed and the sooner it is repealed the better, said the Kiwi Party leader.

ENDS

© Scoop Media