Avoid an Alarmist View of Assaults on Police – Rethinking Crime and Punishment.

The claim by the government that there has been a serious increase in the number of assaults against the Police, is not borne out by the statistics, said Kim Workman, Director of Rethinking Crime and Punishment. While it is correct that serious assaults against the Police increased from 216 in 1999 to 412 in 2009, as stated earlier by Minister Collins, the general population increased by 480,700 during that period, and the number of sworn police officers increased by 1,766.

“The fact is that the number of assaults per sworn police officer has barely changed. There has been slight increase of common assaults, and a slight reduction in serious assaults, per sworn police officer. Nor is there any evidence that respect for the Police is on the decline.”

“Both Greg O’Connor of the Police Association and criminologist Greg Newbold have acknowledged that increased penalties won’t make any difference. Court of Appeal case law already makes it clear to the judiciary that serious assault on the Police should be regarded as an aggravating factor in determining a sentence.”

“Respect for the Police cannot be demanded, or garnered through increased police powers or sentencing changes. What is crucial is that the police continue to invest time and resources in building healthy relationships within all areas of society.”

It is important to remain steadfast to the principles which underlie democratic policing in a democracy, if increased respect for the police among socially marginalised groups is to be achieved.

“Instead of heeding to alarmist sentiment, the government should move beyond the dichotomous view of victims and offenders in this issue to thoroughly investigate the causes for assaults on the Police. If results of such research confirm that assaults on police in New Zealand are influenced by far more than a simple “lack of respect”, steps should be taken to address those wider issues.”

If we instead focused on the less serious assaults, which occur at a rate five times greater than serious assault on the Police, it could uncover information which would assist the Police to reduce such incidents.

Failure to address these areas will leave the door open for further false speculation that we live in an increasingly violent and disrespectful society, to which even more punitive quick fixes are the solution.

Reference: http://www.rethinking.org.nz/Print_Newsletters/Issue_72.pdf

ENDS

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