Police Association Wants Blanket “Police Are Racist” Claim To Be Retracted – Police Association

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The New Zealand Police Association is calling for the Race Relations Commissioner to retract his claim made on radio today that “Police are racist”.

Meng Foon made the claim during an interview in which he was discussing the future of the television show Police Ten 7.

“This blanket assertion from Mr Foon, is nothing less than a body blow to the many hard working police officers, including Māori, Pasifika, Asian, Indian, Pakistani and those from other diverse backgrounds who make up the New Zealand Police, but have now been lumped in one “racist” basket,” Association President Chris Cahill says.

“This claim also detracts from the increasing diversity of recruits going through Police College every graduation, and whose very presence will be extremely influential on the future of policing in Aotearoa.”

“As Race Relations Commissioner I would have thought Mr Foon would use his position to promote an informed debate about the many issues which contribute to the over-representation of Māori in negative statistics across our society, including justice, education, health, family violence, drug use and mental health, Mr Cahill says.”

“Many societal and family failures for Māori are already well in play by the time they come to the attention of Police.”

Mr Foon quoted statistics from Police’s 2019 Tactical Options Report which show Māori are more than seven times more likely than Pākehā to be subjected to force such as Tasers, pepper spray and firearms, but Mr Cahill says such data is out of context without the background behind the offending, and he would expect Mr Foon to be well aware of that.

“That this country’s Race Relations Commissioner would put the blame on police, and then double down on that, is a waste of an opportunity to consider all parts of this picture,” Mr Cahill says.

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“It seems Mr Foon, now on record with a sweeping claim about police being racist, has excluded himself from bringing the skills and knowledge of his position to any future work Police may want to do on an issue it is committed to addressing.”

9 COMMENTS

  1. No irony at all, that the Race Relations Minister, labels by definition, all ethnicities in the Police racists.
    Everyone who is in prison right now, must be released immediately as they are innocent and only there because of their skin colour, this is a travesty that cannot be tolerated.
    Now if only we can get a government agency to control law and order in this country and ensure citizens can go about their daily lives, relatively free from the affects of crime. Mmmmm?

    • Pedro – you are playing the same game as Cahill only in his case, it is disingenuous which may not be the same for you. The Race Relations Commissioner said that Police are racist. He did not say each and every Police Officer is racist, that most are racist or that all are racist. His statement was based on enough evidence, both hard and circumstantial, that the agency has problems that he was obliged comment on.

      Of greater concern are Cahill’s statements, “That this country’s Race Relations Commissioner would put the blame on police, and then double down on that, is a waste of an opportunity to consider all parts of this picture,” and “It seems Mr Foon, now on record with a sweeping claim about police being racist, has excluded himself from bringing the skills and knowledge of his position to any future work Police may want to do on an issue it is committed to addressing.” Without question, The Commissioner did not make the statement lightly and had considered all parts the picture, including the statistics from Police’s 2019 Tactical Options Report which showed Māori are more than seven times more likely than Pākehā to be subjected to force. When Cahill then states that the Commissioner’s comments preclude his bringing the skills and knowledge of his position to any future work Police may want to do on an issue it sounds as though he is making a threat on behalf of his members, that being that they would refuse to work with the Commission.

      From memory, this is not the first time, by a long way, that the HRC, along with other relevant organisations, has been concerned about the institutional racism of the Police, which even a previous Police Superintendent acknowledged. It would have paid for Cahill to have kept quiet rather than than open up the Pandora’s box of giving the impression that his organisation has primacy over the administrative structure of the Police, who need to sort out the issue through their selection and training procedures.

  2. That’s is exactly how many Maori feel about the police who put us all the same basket. The NZ police do to us the very thing this article claims is being done to them calling them out. This country was founded on racism.

    • So your a crime advocate and apologist now? Personal responsibility never comes into any of the drongoes actions that the cops have to deal with daily, it’s all about skin colour?
      See this preconception that every persons action and motive is based on their skin colour versus someone else’s skin colour, lobs you squarely in the racist category.
      Perhaps you need to speak to some victim support groups.

  3. Pedro I am a victim twice over as for victim support they aren’t that good and that is putting it nicely. Now I know they are doing there best with what they have. Many brown and indigenous races get tarred with the same brush and unless you are brown or indigenous yourself you would not be able to relate to what I am saying or have been through. Also there comes a time when saying sorry is not enough especially when the same old shit keeps happening and saying sorry starts to wear thin. I have had many encounters with the police have you? And based on these encounter I can tell you many of them have entrenched racism.

    • Yep, had many run in with the cops and everytime I was in the wrong, you take it on the chin and learn from it, don’t you? Become a better person, parent, member of society.
      I’m not prepared to start apologising or should the police to crims whether first time offenders or recidivists, regardless of ethnicity.
      You break the law, you break the law, it ain’t a grey area, open to interpretation.

  4. Pedro I am a victim twice over as for victim support they aren’t that good and that is putting it nicely. Now I know they are doing there best with what they have. Many brown and indigenous races get tarred with the same brush and unless you are brown or indigenous yourself you would not be able to relate to what I am saying or have been through. Also there comes a time when saying sorry is not enough especially when the same old shit keeps happening and saying sorry starts to wear thin. I have had many encounters with the police have you? And based on these encounter I can tell you many of them have entrenched racism.

  5. Pedro I am a victim twice over as for victim support they aren’t that good and that is putting it nicely. Now I know they are doing there best with what they have. Many brown and indigenous races get tarred with the same brush and unless you are brown or indigenous yourself you would not be able to relate to what I am saying or have been through. Also there comes a time when saying sorry is not enough especially when the same old shit keeps happening and saying sorry starts to wear thin. I have had many encounters with the police have you? And based on these encounter I can tell you many of them have entrenched racism.

  6. It is a very very sad thing to see the evidence of a rift such as this. Police, Corrections, DHBs, Mental Health, their whole culture stems from the colonialism imported by I dunno, some remittance men and women or something. Race relations is the buzz of the year however skin colour is no indication of class.

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