Police top brass working against themselves?

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10841490

The foregoing was published today describing lack of police progress in dealing with culture change toward correcting sexual inappropriateness within the force and a perceived scepticism by police dealing with complaints from the public of sex crimes.

Earlier this week there was a poll which indicated that their was public dissatisfaction with the level of trust held in the police generally and the way the police acted aggressively and over the top in some circumstances. That poll was attacked by a Deputy Commissioner and a number of allegations made against it which apparently lack any support or factual basis according to the organisation that ran the poll. In recent days there was a second a poll run on Yahoo that showed those that either don't trust the police, or weren't sure if they did or not, were in the majority compared to those that trusted the police.

Interspersed with this we had bizarre claims from the President of the Police Association that if police funding wasn't increased then gang members would infiltrate the police and a claim that there had already been efforts to do so.

The link above shows that progress has been slow in remedying a culture change. The fact that the above report is officially sanctioned may be why to this point that report has not been directly attacked, although a regular fall back positioin has been placed with the claim that progress has been made this year and a promise that police are getting on top of the situation. So three different situations where there is criticism, two are attacked by police top brass and the third is fudged.

The first poll mentioned released this week was attended by conclusions that the public wanted to see an independent authority investigating complaints against police, this drew the most criticism from police hierarchy. Rank and file members of the police don't get to speak publicly, the police hierarchy does and so also the Police Association. To be fair even politicians within the Government were highly sceptical about O Connor's, from the Police Association, claims of gang attempts at infiltration of the police force. So I think it is fair to say that police are represented by a hierarchy that is self-protective and an association that stretches reality. From an outsider's point of view those representations could be argued to deliver the reason why there is a loss of public confidence in the Police, one refuses to consider all evil within and the other seeks to create scenarios of all evil unless police funding is increased.

When the current Commissioner came into the job it was attended by the fact that he would be objective because of experiences working overseas, that he was in fact not 'culture bound', was a good manager and so on. A situation far from what we see represented today. The frustrating thing for many nzers, as the polls show, is that the police retain themselves from public opinion and expectation that the police, like any organisation, should not be responsible only to it's self. Some clues are thick on the ground that the police 'culture' that has been criticised is in fact a narrow culture of resistance at the top of police. If police management can't be attuned to modern standards of accountability, unwilling to be confident they're running a ship that is, or can be open to external scrutiny, then that is where the problem lies, not with the rank and file.

The introduction of women into the NZ Police has been significant benefit, but too soon we have seen resistance from, yet again, police administration for women finding their own way forward in the police, this is another symptom of what is wrong, not with police generally, but with police administration and public relations. The easiest way on the surface now is to no longer tolerate a police administration that resists open public accountability and instead adopts polices of 'retraining'  and other clichés to iron out problems. We saw most recently a senior police officer give evidence in an extradition case that for all appearances demonstrated to the NZ  citizens that police officer's evidence was at odds with the truth. Soon after the Commissioner spoke about his confidence in the officer concerned, not so subtly telling the public that he was the boss and what he said went - this from a public servant, no inclination toward accountability but speaking out with an authority buried deep in a closed culture.

But why does any organisation want to remain a closed shop and above the law despite public concerns that problems, conflicts, or even alleged law breaking are not dealt with in a transparent way? Why does the police brass not understand that the public have a right to know that police are liable for their actions like every other member of society. Why do police want to continue to operate under some feudal system of lords and serfs - probably because they can. Probably because they've ridden the edge of accountability so often that they simply adopt the old tried and true positions that allow them to remain responsible to themselves with only a semi-independent watch dog that has restricted powers. A watchdog which we have already seen takes an inordinate amount of time to complete findings and make recommendations which are most often answered by police with the claim that the changes have already taken place.

Clouding all of this, and added to the public unease, is that the 40 year old Crewe case is not resolved, Scott Watson remains in prison despite the evidence of scientists of hairs turning up on a blanket between critical 'searches,' Teina Pora in prison for another man's crime and a list of others that continues on. All in fact linked to a 'blind' police administration that might change personnel but never it's spots. This odd, and damaging holding of power and secrecy as if by a handed down parchment of some secret oath to self protect, while rank and file police day by day go admirably about their work often unappreciated because of a insular management inherited from one generation to another that conflicts with public perception of what modern police practices should be.

How about the appointment of an independent civil servant at the top of the police, somebody from outside the ranks to bring along the belated culture change and oversee the formation of an independent body with full powers to investigate complaints from the public about police misconduct. A manager without a recent police history of employment within New Zealand, an ex Judicial officer, high ranking civil servant or someone from the armed services with no axe to grind for or against the NZ Police - there would be nothing to lose from such an appointment but everything to gain not just for the public, but for the rank and file police working at the front far away from the ivory towers and hidden parchments.