Kerre Woodham: Police cop it from all sides

COMMENT

As a middle-class, generally law-abiding white girl, I've never had a problem with the police. My only dealings with the boys and girls in blue have been positive, although it helps that I don't do drugs, and I don't have a fatal attraction for violent men.

When I was picked up for drink driving 10 years ago I wasn't treated with the contempt I undoubtedly deserved. The officers were business-like, efficient and made sure I had a ride home, and I have no complaints there.

When I had an intruder come into my flat a few months later, the police were there within minutes. I'd sent the oik packing with an adrenaline-fuelled torrent of abuse, and the police dog lost his trail, but I felt a whole lot safer knowing that help was only a phone call away should it ever happen again. And I think most of us know that if we are in mortal fear for our lives, then the police will come.

Whatever your misgivings about police resources, you know that if you're in danger, the police will be there in a heartbeat and willingly risk their own lives to protect yours. There's been an awful lot of talk recently about the failings of the police, specifically surrounding the disappearance of Iraena Asher. Police chiefs have admitted they stuffed up and five staff are to be disciplined for the way they handled Iraena's call for help.

The admission of failure seems to have opened the floodgates for everybody with a gripe against the police to give them a serve.

Working in talkback, I've heard a lot of the complaints. Some of them date back 20-odd years, when a bully boy cop gave a kid a hard time, and now that kid's grown into an aggrieved man who's using this case to wallow in self pity.

One particularly self-righteous bint rang me to say that as a "very successful" professional, who drives a European car, surely the police should be out finding Iraena rather than wasting time giving her tickets for speeding.

Another man rang to tell me he'd dialled 111 on numerous occasions - once when he saw a man taking the tyres off a car - and when they indicated they didn't consider the matter to be their highest priority, he told the police he paid their wages and they'd better come quickly.

With those sorts of attitudes I'm surprised there aren't more instances of police brutality. Yes, the police have a responsibility to take 111 calls seriously, but surely we, the community, have a duty to use that life-line responsibly. Call me old-fashioned, but I assumed 111 was there for matters of life and death. Everything else can wait, surely. I also assumed the speed limit was there for all of us, not everybody except "very successful" idiots in their "very safe European cars".

I also believed if people had mental health problems, mental health professionals would be the best people to ring, not police. But given the lack of funding for mental health in this country, perhaps that was a naive assumption.

The police are human. They are drawn from our own imperfect community. They make mistakes like the rest of us. And sometimes, given the nature of their work, their mistakes have disastrous consequences. Mercifully, it doesn't happen very often. And when it does happen, as in this case, the police have moved to try to ensure these stuff-ups won't happen again.

Certainly there are lessons to be learned from this. Perhaps it would be best, in terms of long-term public relations, if the police and traffic duties were kept separate. Members of the public can help out by using 111 only when it's essential.

Certainly the Government should consider more funding for emergency response mental health facilities. And anyone who feels the police are doing a bloody awful job, and that the force is full of thugs and idiots, should feel free to pick up the phone and dial 0800 COPS. They're always looking for new recruits and if you think you can do a better job, they're waiting for your call.

Sharp end of the mother tongue

I got a call, while I was doing my talkback radio show, from a lady who wanted to know to whom she could complain about newsreaders commencing their broadcasts with "kia ora".

I asked her why she would want to complain and she said she didn't like this obsession with things Maori, and besides, we all spoke English in this country. I pointed out that te reo is one of the official languages of this country (English of course being the other), and she said she didn't care, she didn't like it, and she wanted it to stop.

The conversation came to a halt shortly after that, and left me reeling. Undoubtedly she's the sort of woman who would also be bitter about the inclusion of a Maori verse in our national anthem, and complain that if it had to be there, the English verse should come first.

Truly, there are people who think like that. It must be awful to be so fearful of change. I hope this woman never reads the census figures. According to all predictions, Polynesians, including Maori, are going to be the dominant culture in this country within the next 50 years. Which is the natural order of things, when you think about it, given that we live on islands in the middle of the south Pacific.

I've always thought that if you didn't feel comfortable around Pacific Islanders and Asians you'd be better off migrating to Norway rather than living in the middle of the Asia/Pacific region. Fortunately, every single call I had after this particular woman was from men and women, young and old, who felt she was living in a time warp and probably needed to undertake a project to give her something else to think about. Take her mind off growing old. Maori language lessons, perhaps?

- THE HERALD ON SUNDAY