Thoughts of course must go to the officers and their families. Facing any violence during your job is not acceptable and the peaceful outcome is Policing at its best.
I don’t think it would have been wise to allow family to collect Rhys Richard Ngahiwi Warren, because you can’t give someone more hostages in that situation. However using the family and reaching out to Whanau to de-escalate this was essential to the peaceful outcome which raises questions about the manner this situation was prosecuted from the beginning.
Would it have been better to engage family and whanau from the beginning after they reported the first shots? The family’s deep distrust of the Police that led them to camp out probably saved Warren’s life.
Questions need to be asked as to how this all unraveled so quickly. The Police initially claimed their cannabis spotter plane was shot at which has in later reports been watered down to ‘shots were heard’. This matters as it crucial to the justifications for bringing in armed police.
We can be thankful that no one is dead and it can not be a justification for arming Police as those Officers at the address were already armed when they entered.
Lot’s of questions are still out standing.
1. My thoughts are with the injured cops and their families.
2. Nothing justifies shooting at police, the fact that 4 were shot is indefensible.
3. In my view, this event simply reinforces the fact that police will be routinely armed in the not to distant future.
4. The family of the gunman were invited for their comment and stated among other things that the helicopter flying over the gun mans house through the night would have frightened him. They made no comment or effort to wish the cops a speedy recovery or or offer any sympathy.Absolutely pathetic of them.
5. Best wishes to the police involved.
I heard the mother on TV1 news expressing her concern for the injured police officers.
I mean to think the family is going to let this guy off the hook real easy is far from the truth.
The chief negotiator said it quite plainly when he addressed the media for the first time when he said:
He had been on the job for 30 hours.
The four officers in hospital are the heroes.
You don’t often get the oppertunity to deal with these types of events and that he was proud of the over all professionalism of all staff involved.
That’s a pass in my books. I’m not surprised that a lot of people seeing this type of tragedy for the first time feel the need to use these types of forums to act out and show displays of emotion.
Truth is in this case police procedure worked. Of course they could always do with more money. But what are you going to do when most comments are about how awful all this makes every one feel
They made no comment or effort to wish the cops a speedy recovery or or offer any sympathy.
How do you know that? where you there, at the interview?
I suspect that all you really know is whatever the MSM chose to air of the interview, after its editing process. Be wary of jumping to conclusions.
for he mentally ill this would be scary…in fact it would be scary for anyone
actually you muppet the family of the shooter did offer their sympathies to the officers and their families do some more searching before you open your trap!! https://www.facebook.com/tekareremaorinews/videos/1057010971029933/
We didn’t hear/see in the media about “Step One: how it started”. What we did see/hear was: “Step ?: nearing completion” and “Step ? : conclusion”. It seems a lot went unreported.
I know some will disagree but if i can use the following analogy. Police are given cars to use despite the fact that sometimes they will crash and by consequence cause injury or even death, but in the end it is better than police not having cars as it enables them to respond better to help the public. Route arming of police would do the same, it would enable a better police response in them helping the public, protecting us and them from the likes of the armed and dangerous criminals in our community. I know that not all will agree but therein lies the benefits of living in a democracy and access to blogs such as this that enable a variety of views to be aired.
This siege was sadly only one incident in an increasing number of incidents where guns have been involved. Of course the police and their Association will continue to press for wider arming of police, following this, the discovery of over a dozen automated guns in the hands of drug running gangs and a shooting in Papakura last night.
Fact is, whether we like it or not, little ol New Zealand has changed and is changing fast, by the day. With more population, with a divided society created by neoliberal, self interest and competition promoting governments, less informative discussion and a dog eat dog society, many at the bottom feel they are facing a cliff, so they use all means to do what they see fit to get it their ways.
This includes people that may grow some marihuana in the hills, it includes those responsible for more serious “business”, it includes even the ordinary WINZ client, facing unhelpful, draconian systems enforcing case managers, and denying people support.
It was with dismay what I observed in that court in Christchurch, where Russel John Tully was facing a trial, for a double murder, for which he has now been found guilty by a jury.
From the outset he was labeled as “demanding”, “intimidating” and so forth, having to be trespassed. I wonder though, despite two earlier convictions many years ago, whether he was of a killer mindset kind of a person, who loved going around shooting people, or whether the society we now have, does not contribute to more feeling isolated, feeling left out, feeling they cannot make a living without resorting to some forms of criminal behaviour?
At least here in Auckland social divisions are clear to see, and any person, who has had a bad start in life, will always be reminded by the judgmental and “silent majority”, what they did wrong, so how can any person be rehabilitated?
The government presents us dressed up figures about rehabilitation in jails, but the reality will look rather different. Just as different the reality about “fight clubs” is to what we are usually told about the “luxury prisons” some go on about.
I heard some rednecks go on again, about the privileged Maori, when the news about this particular incident broke, and how it ended without more bloodshed.
So the ones that struggle and get discriminated most the time, they are “privileged”? No wonder we make no progress, while other countries like Finland have made more progress in rehabilitating people.
Arming the police will hardly solve the problems, we only risk an escalation, following yet again Uncle Sam’s model, in the mighty USA, where they have the worst record for people locked away in the developed world.
Arming the police is only part of the solution. Teaching them to be less trigger-happy is another part . . .
The only orginisation that has except able standards of weapons handling in a very low threat inviroment while firing off rounds in highly populated areas is the 1st NZSAS.
Even the armed offenders squad has shown very poor marksmanship by not properly identifying targets and expelling disproportionate amounts of ammunition resulting in collaterals injury and fatality.
Going one step down and arming all beat cops is a stupid idea. Given that it costs 2 million just to get an SAS trooper up to standards, I wouldn’t want that training to be any less for other orginisations carrying weapons in a very low threat environment.
The Tories-NACT certainly DO want an armed Police Force. Every modern dictatorship has been propped up in its infamy by armed ‘stormtroopers’.
The PM has armed protection squad, why should the rest of the dictatorship cabal, not be protected from ‘flying dildos’, shoes and being booed?
It’l be a slippery slope into entrenched dictatorship once the police are armed.
Just read Josie Butler’s account of the TPPA Roadshow in Chch. Her account quoted below is why police should NEVER be given guns.
I smiled at him and yelled “not good enough!” and squirted him, a lot, in the face with the water pistol. It was all very friendly, and we both had a good laugh. Suddenly I was grabbed from behind by a police officer, I had my arm twisted behind my back, heavy flexion put on my wrists and was marched down the street. He shouted at me “you are under arrest for disorderly conduct!” I was incredibly shocked by this heavy handed approach to a bit of playful protest. The MFAT official came over and told the police officer that it was fine, and that he most certainly did not want to press charges. Our film crews came over and started recording. The police officer continued to put heavy flexion on my wrists, repeating that I was under arrest. I asked him to please loosen his hold on me because he was hurting me. He ignored me. I appealed to him again and said that I was not resisting or any risk to anybody, and would he would please stop hurting me. I reminded him the cameras were recording everything, and that he was potentially about to make a martyr for our cause by arresting me. He confirmed that the MFAT official did not want to lay charges, and then let me go, telling me to “pull my fucking head in”. It is worth noting that apart from this specific police officer, all of the police on site were polite and pleasant, and seemed supportive of our cause. – See more at: https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2016/03/12/guest-blog-josie-butler-why-i-attacked-the-tppa-roadshow/?utm_content=bufferad14e&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer#sthash.hjukktSR.dpuf
NEVER give the police guns, otherwise NZ’s decent into New Keyland, will be totally complete
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