KEY POINTS:
Slogans chalked on Wellington's central police station on Thursday night may have gone but the controversy surrounding the anti-rape protest has not disappeared as easily.
A march to mark International Women's Day quickly became an angry protest over two historical cases involving sexual allegations against policemen.
The police
station was one flash-point, with Wellington City commander Peter Cowan opting to deploy a line of women officers to defend the front door of the building.
The High Court was a second trouble spot, with protesters burning an effigy of a police officer and spraypainting slogans on the building.
No arrests were made as police took a low-key approach to the unauthorised march.
However, yesterday they examined surveillance camera and TV footage of the High Court incidents with an eye to taking action.
Mr Cowan, when told his comments that today's policewomen were talented and motivated were regarded by some as patronising or sexist, said everyone was entitled to their views.
"I reiterate again that what I was doing was simply showing the new face of the New Zealand police in the 21st century. I've heard those allegations throughout the day.
"However, my view is the opposite: Why on Earth do women have to stand behind men? These women can more than handle any protest activity, they don't have to rely on anybody."
The seven officers had been rostered to work on Thursday night and three of them were members of the strategic response group, which handles protest marches. Any officer who had not wanted to take part would not have been ordered to.
Mr Cowan said: "The whole point of the exercise was not about being patronising, it was simply to 1) defuse what was potentially going to be an emotionally charged protest, and 2) show the face of policing in the 21st century. I think it worked brilliantly.
"We had numerous people in the protest coming up and thanking the women for doing a fantastic job.
"If I had put a string of big burly [male] police officers out there I would have been criticised for that as well, so there you go."
A protest organiser, Lenka Rochford, yesterday accepted the presence of the women officers had defused tensions but was still critical of them being sent to the frontline.
"Female officers have little say in the police force, they were being used as tools," she told One News.
Criticism is nothing new for Mr Cowan, who hit the headlines when, as a senior sergeant, he prepared a pamphlet alerting Kilbirnie residents that a convicted paedophile was living in the area.
The man sued police for $80,000 damages and was awarded $25,000.
Mr Cowan, now an inspector, said he did not dwell on that incident and was not sure if it meant his decisions now came under closer scrutiny.
"I balance every situation with the facts at hand. I try my best at all times to put public safety first and foremost, and every decision I make is always scrutinised by myself. I'm just trying to do my best."
The angry scenes at the police station were sparked by a protester reading out her complaint of rape and then trying to enter the building to deliver it. She was barred.
Mr Cowan later accepted her written statement.
Yesterday, he said he did not know if the woman had accepted his offer to return to make a formal statement.
