Public on side with police

We want them to be caught, to be taught a lesson, to hopefully be put back on track before it's too late. PHOTO/FILE

ANY BLAME towards the police for the pursuit and crash that killed Hoani Korewha and Pacer Willacy-Scott has, in my observation of social media, been minimal, practically non-existent, and rightly so.

Social media has been a back-and-forth of demands for respect for the dead, versus people saying the youths were constantly in trouble and knew what they were doing was wrong.

I have had phone calls to the newsroom with a litany of ills against youth in Featherston in general and these teenagers in particular. But at no time has anyone expressed concern about police actions on Sunday night in Masterton.

It is a very laudable procedure for police to break off their pursuit if a fleeing vehicle is going too fast. It does seem to be the case that immaturity, panic, adrenalin and shouted advice from mates probably seals the fate of those in the car anyway.

I know the police will flinch when it turns out that through simple cause and effect, people die after being properly challenged by police doing their duty. I'm sure that when police pull back from a pursuit, they hope like hell that nothing's going to go wrong.

The irony is that I'm sure among citizens, we always feel a vague sense of frustration when police do back down from a chase, because of the dangers to all involved. We want the police to catch criminals, not lose them. We especially want police to collar juvenile delinquents, the ones who think they are impervious to law and order because of their age and their belief in their own invincibility and driving skills.

We want them to be caught, to be taught a lesson, to hopefully be put back on track before it's too late.

In this instance in Masterton it seems that the public is looking at the situation with their eyes open. The police have done their best to avoid a tragedy, by following procedure, but the deliberate actions of teenagers in a stolen car led to two people dying.

Of course the police will review the situation, study the CCTV footage, investigate and critique their officers. But I don't think the public is in any doubt about where the blame lies.