Posts Tagged ‘police’

Napier Shooting

I am quite busy this month so I expect more time between updates in this blog. However, I still had enough time to watch the incident in Napier unfold.

Unlike a lot of backseat drivers who have never been to the site, I have no problem with how the police handled the inccident.  It is more than obvious that police wanted the gunman Jan Molenaar alive, otherwise AOS would storm the house before we know it. Unlike the Aramoana massacre, Molenaar snapped, but he poses no immediate threat to the public, therefore it's best to talk it out rather than end it with another life lost and put the Police in further danger.

The real problem of this tragedy, I think is the internal police procedures. I still prefer the polic to not carry any guns in daily patrols, but this incident was to carry out a search warrent, but the police failed to foresee the danger of such activity so failed to carry guns. It's the police authority failed to protect the safety of police force.

This was also the case in the death of Don Wilkinson. His fate was sealed when they decided not to carry guns.

The Northwestern Motorway shooting

I'm not an expert on police procedures so just a little bit of my opinion.

Herald got a nice illustration on how the whole thing happened.

First, under certain circumstances police in this country has the right to shoot to incapacitate or  kill. In this case, the offender is armed and fired shots, dangerously speeding, threatening the safety of the general public, I would guess this is one of  the circumstances that justifies the use of firearms.

So the death of an innocent civilian, 17 year old Halatau Naitoko  is a case of whether the police should took more care, not the case of whether the police should fire shots in the first place.

As the Herald report shows, Naitoko's van is stopped just behind the gunman, and within the line of fire.  The situation looked like this:

Police/AOS |------|Gunman|------|Naitoko in his van

I think the key is, whether the AOS knew the car behind the gunman got  people in it or they were just too concentrated on the gunman. The police probably should took more care but I cannot see any wrongdoing in this case - police or even AOS are not Naval Seals so you should expect some of their shoots to miss, and unfortunately, Naitoko was caught in the line of fire. Gun battles may look exciting in the American TV series and Hollywood movies, but in real life, police need, and pressured to make  split-second and sometimes random decisions, and that could lead to tragic consequences.

I don't think  there's the need to charge  whoever fired that shoot as AOS were simply doing their job. This is rather an unfortunate case for both police and the Naitoko family - if the police and gunman swap places, then Naitoko could be killed by gunman rather than the police - will that make the this case easier to swallow? Probably not, as some would still blame the police for not doing enough to protect the public.

This is one of the things that happened in the wrong place, probably in the wrong time as well.

If we blame police for doing their job then next time if something similar pops up, officers will be more hesitate to fire, worrying that if he/she got wrong then he/she may end up in jail, and put themselves and general public in a greater danger.

The Naitoko family are more than entitled to receive compensations from the crown as the police is responsible for his death, police should also apologise to the family, but hold someone accountable for doing their job is bit of a step too far. You may argue that AOS and police officers should receive more training, but that's the problem of the Police as a whole, not the responsibility of individual police officers.

Well, life still goes on... for now.

I was quite disappointed that the world didn't end after the scientists turned on the LHC yesterday morning at Geneva. Well, that's it, I guess, life still goes on, so I still need to hand in my assignment next week.

Anyway there is a saying goes like "Mankind's greatest hope always lies in the future" - I've just learned that LHC's first high speed collision is not on until late next month ... Another window of opportunity - maybe I can escape the final exam, and auntie Clarkie can avoid the embarrassment after her defeat in the General Election.

However I guess it might be a bit too late for our Foreign Minister, Mr Winston Peters. He denied any wrong doings in last night's privilege committee meeting, gave evidence contradicting to what Mr Owen Glenn said.

But Mr Glenn got hard evidences: telephone records, several witnesses' accounts ... what Peters got? Nothing really, I haven't see anything. Although "billionaire" and "politician" both are the kind of job that is with my least respect, I think there's nothing for a billionaire to gain by lying to the public - so I trust this one, well, for this time.

By the way, my sincerest condolences to the family of the police officer who was died on duty this morning.