I’ve said from the beginning that Covid is a triple peaked crisis, the first was the physical impact on physical health, the second was the economic impact and the third was the impact on mental health.
Human Beings are social creatures, the worst punishment is isolation – we’ve all gone through a unique universal experience and it’s damaged many.
We are seeing that mental health pressure exploding everywhere from the Dumb Lives Matter protest on Parliament’s Lawns, to domestic violence, to fights in Supermarkets to a spike in crime to the Wellington Middle Class Marxists screaming to send in the military to bash protestors they didn’t like.
Everyone has been impacted mentally by these unprecedented times and the true cost is yet to be felt.
Polling for the Mental Health Foundation found 36 per cent of people surveyed were experiencing poor emotional wellbeing, up from 27 per cent a year ago.
Which brings us to the sudden spike in ram raids and angry frightened editorials and media coverage…
Editorial: Ram-raiders need stopping in their tracks
The audacious and affrontive attack on East Auckland’s Ormiston Town Centre shopping centre on Monday night must be a wake-up call to anyone not yet aware that we have a ram-raid crime wave on our hands.
…I appreciate and fully acknowledge seeing children commit organised crime like this is genuinely concerning to the wider community.
But I beg us all to take a deep breath, appreciate the uniqueness of this moment and the extreme pressure on so many people right now.
That’s why I think Mark Mitchell’s suggestion to revoke the Police chase policy is probably the single worst thing we could do behind arming Police with heat seeking missiles.
Don’t get me wrong, I have a certain appreciation for Mark, I thought the Police Minister was petty and beneath the Mana of the Minister when she denied him access to speaking with Police Commanders, and we’ve enjoyed vigorous debates in the past, and while his point that these kids seem fearless and live under the false illusion there are no consequences to their actions, announcing a change in Police policy at the height of this ram raid crisis is only going to scare the fucking bejesus out of these adrenalin pumping kids and will almost certainly result in fatalities.
We don’t need dead people added to this problem.
Of course every effort must be taken to catch every perpetrator and have them dealt appropriately through Youth Court processes or social agencies, but understanding these ram raids are the psychological and economic symptom of a deeper malaise that is running through post-Peak Covid NZ is a far greater starting point in terms of decision making than allowing our fear and anger dictate policing policy that might make things worse.
This is but the beginning of the post traumatic trauma this country is working through, we have to de-escalate and act like adults here, not become a fucking Lynch mob!
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School attendance falling on a cliff with lockdowns compounding that. Plenty of kids for a bunch of reasons have been left to their own devices over the covid whether it be their parents been essential workers and needing to go to work or having to work from home to keep the roof over the head.
My local dairy go ram raided couple of weeks ago, very young kids stole lollies, chips and soft drinks… didnt even try for cigarettes.
Really need to put alot of effort into getting kids back to school and succeeding by any means necessary.
How likely is it that the increasing frequency of youth/children in property crimes is because their parents send them out knowing that their children wont be charged as adults if caught.
The Police Minister’s refusing Mitchell access to police commanders appears to be part of the government pattern of refusing to let voices be heard, eg, at the Parliamentary protest when the Greens and the National Party both corroborated with them on this, and latterly the shocking AUT decision to clamp down on the voices of women.
The socioeconomic impact of coronavirus may not be personally relevant to well-heeled politicians leading sheltered and protected lives oblivious of the impact at everyday level to everyday people. I think the PM actually said that only she or the government spoke the truth, which, apart from being a rather chilling to say, devalued what others may consider needs to be expressed. Government has acknowledged the economic impacts upon business, but the reality is that money speaks, which is not much use to people who don’t have it, and whose lives have become distorted and unfulfilled or unhappy, and who feel discounted, but about whom politicians may be clueless and not really care until it comes to soliciting their votes at election time. If bad things happen they simply call in the police and make them their fall guys and tools of oppression and recipients of bruises or worse.
Agree SW . Even the Greens are denied access to Ministers . It is certainly prove of the old saying power corrupts.
I would have thought that Mitchell and the Natz would have celebrated this as “poor people helping themselves”
From KB:
“Southern Raider
Based on media and social media comments across the left about about ram raids I’ve been able to deduce
– it’s not the Govt fault
– it’s not the Police fault
– it’s not the parents fault
– we don’t need to treat the raiders as criminals as we need to focus on the underlying drivers of crime
And the main people at fault are the business owners who have failed to invest in their own security”
Mitchell was only a police dog handler. He may have a limited perspective on these worrying issues.
Probably why the police minister denied him access to the commander, he would only have made things worse. Some voices make things worse, predominantly ZB hosts and their handpicked National MPs.
Is that why he barks so much is past job has rubbed of on him.
Covid is pa. Mark’s always been into dogs. Woof Woof. That’s why he went into postwar Iraq – ask Tracey – he’s a one man SPCA – a richer one.
“that woman” – apparently that’s a misogynist dog whistle now – at least that’s what was claimed about it’s use when referring to Jacinda.
BTW your grammar is a mess Sam, your post is ambiguous as a result.
Do you agree that woman (women?) have (has ?) gone to far and need (needs?) to get back to the kitchen? Guess you’ve had it up to here*** with woman (women?)
Hurow. Anyone who agrees woman can be misogynist is the one not worth listening to.
I take your point though. My engush is more a country version by design. I mean good on the Mr University professor. Perhaps one day I to will identify as a university. 🙂
Covid has hurt the poor more than anyone else and these so called young criminals don’t think of the consequences when they do these ram raids. When you are as desperate as many now are you do what you have to do and worry about the repercussions later. Its not about getting away with it that rhetoric is utter bullshit. When you live on the margins like many NZers now do you do what you have to do to survive even if its wrong.
Covid has hurt the poor more than anyone else and these so called young criminals don’t think of the consequences when they do these ram raids. When you are as desperate as many now are you do what you have to do and worry about the repercussions later. Its not about getting away with it, that rhetoric is utter bullshit. When you live on the margins like many NZers now do you do what you have to do to survive even if its wrong. Mark Mitchell is all about lock em up a very high cost to our country building billion dollar prisons and fill them up with our Maori whanau.
Yes Martyn the cost of living for these juvenile delinquents means they are forced to obtain liquor,cigarettes and expensive clothing by resorting to ram raids and armed robberies,safe in the knowledge that the consequences will be …minor.
Very good point
Every single problem that is turning NZ into South Africa can be attributed to Adrian Orr and his wealth divide acceleration. Robbo tells Orr what his priorities are and Jacinda tells Robbo. Worst government ever.
To centrally command, or not command. That is the question.
There must be away of blitzing some sort of post colonial Marxist reform via He Papua’s co governance for the purposes of deinflationary pressure.
Regardless of whatever reasons are given for this it boils down to shit parenting from a group of people that probably shouldn’t be parents. Talk to anyone driving around in a squad car in Auckland and they can tell you where the blame lies. Mainly young Polynesians, often gang affiliated. No interest in education, hard work or living by the social norms of a civil society. In other words they are so far removed from making any possible contribution to society they will be costing us for years. I guess they will morph into the next lot of Headhunters, Nomads, Mongol Mob etc, etc. Can’t see anything changing unless there is a major initiative to turn things around. This government is useless across the board and the other bunch are so obsessed with “getting tough on crime” and doing nothing when they get into government that we are probably doomed. Plenty of poor people around when I was growing up but no one was ram raiding businesses.
Sylvian do the statistics support your statement? Are young Polynesians really where “the blame lies”. Perhaps the squad car was driving around in the wrong area.
They don’t reveal the ethnicity of the offenders. Maybe the people I spoke to were lying. But I don’t believe they had any reason to.
Sylvian Your points about parenting are very relevant. For many children their “parenting” is a potpourri nowadays.
Some are put into daycare at 12 months old or earlier, where the logistics mean that one on one interactions at this important life-learning time are impossible. Thence to another preschool. Before they even start primary school they may have been exposed to varying degrees of parenting from a variable group of paid outsiders. Some parents have few choices about this. Some children have little care, apart from perhaps older siblings. Some have a fragmented family life with low income parents having to work several jobs between them and rarely home at the same time – that’s the kids who do have two parents.
The research done here in New Zealand on the effect of outside commercial daycare for the under two year olds is sobering, and the prognosis is not generally positive. The stresses placed on the family unit itself whisking kids off to care at early morning times and picking up after work are another negative, and the fact is that young children in care, or at preschool, can have fewer home-time hours than a teenager at secondary school does. In an ideal community, all care of children in their formative years should be nurturing, but we do not live in an ideal social community in this country.
The police are called out at shocking daily rates to domestic disturbances. Babies, children, and women, get abused and killed in world-leading numbers, and apparently young constables with sparse training in mental health issues routinely attend suicides and attempted suicides, including of young children talking of suicide. This is heartbreakingly tragic.
The gang issues which you mention are another realm altogether, but folk warbling to “get a job” etc may do so unaware that even that may be beyond the coping skills of children disadvantaged from birth at many levels.
” shit parenting ” yup . Here in Mangere you see bare headed teens riding trailbikes with cut-off mufflers on the roads , sidewalks , parks with no consequence . Before covid we had a regular saturday morning parade of their fuckwit fathers making horrendous noise with their cut-off mufflers . Seems to be kids emulating their fathers . Martyns right we need a dedicated gang unit to deal with these pricks and their spawn .
These ramraids will undoubtedly cost the taxpayer. Martyn, that means we still need China to buy our goods and sustain our GDP.
These ram raids have been going on for years in the provinces. Well before this cost of living thing. But now because the raids are happening in the city I guess it has become fashionable to talk about it.
Mark Mitchell understands the issue at the deepest psychological level.
It’s spelled V O T E S.
I suppose if we are not going to hold youth to account (and I understand some of the reasoning behind our youth courtl system) we should change the law to make parents responsible for their child’s behaviour. Although after seeing a woman getting evicted the other day for barking at her son in the dock I’m not sure the horse hasn’t bolted.
And what is learn the hard way x straight, is it lock em up build more prisons we know this does not work and it costs the tax payer more in the long term. We have seem the long term damage borstals, homes like Epuni boys, mental institutes administering electric shocks and our current prison system does to people and families. And furthermore are those that need to learn the hard way are they going to be treated the same by our courts as the recent Chinese fraudster who got home detention for 10 million of fraud. Don’t talk to me about learning the hard way when pedos get of lightly in our country and white collar crims get a smack on the hand and bailed to a luxury motel.
And what is learn the hard way x straight, is it lock em up build more prisons we know this does not work and it costs the tax payer more in the long term. We have seem the long term damage borstals, homes like Epuni boys, mental institutes administering electric shocks and our current prison system does to people and families. And furthermore are those that need to learn the hard way are they going to be treated the same by our courts as the recent Chinese fraudster who got home detention for 10 million of fraud. Don’t talk to me about learning the hard way when pedos get of lightly in our country and white collar crims get a smack on the hand and bailed to a luxury motel.
And what is learn the hard way x straight, is it lock them up, build more prisons when we know this does not work and it costs the tax payer more in the long term. We have seem the long term damage borstals, homes like Epuni boys, mental institutes administering electric shocks and our current prison system does to people and families. And furthermore are those that need to learn the hard way are they going to be treated the same by our courts as the recent Chinese fraudster who got home detention for 10 million of fraud. Don’t talk to me about learning the hard way when pedos get of lightly in our country and white collar crims get a smack on the hand and bailed to a luxury motel.
And what is learn the hard way x straight, is it lock em up build more prisons we know this does not work and it costs the tax payer more in the long term. We have seem the long term damage borstals, homes like Epuni boys, mental institutes administering electric shocks and our current prison system does to people and families. And furthermore are those that need to learn the hard way are they going to be treated the same by our courts as the recent Chinese fraudster who got home detention for 10 million of fraud. Don’t talk to me about learning the hard way when pedos get of lightly in our country and white collar crims get a smack on the hand and bailed to a luxury motel.
And what is learn the hard way x straight, is it lock em up build more prisons we know this does not work and it costs the tax payer more in the long term. We have seem the long term damage borstals, homes like Epuni boys, mental institutes administering electric shocks and our current prison system does to people and families. And furthermore are those that need to learn the hard way are they going to be treated the same by our courts as the recent Chinese fraudster who got home detention for 10 million of fraud. Don’t talk to me about learning the hard way when pedos get of lightly in our country and white collar crims get a smack on the hand and bailed to a luxury motel.
And what is learn the hard way x straight, is it lock em up build more prisons we know this does not work and it costs the tax payer more in the long term. We have seem the long term damage borstals, homes like Epuni boys, mental institutes administering electric shocks and our current prison system does to people and families. And furthermore are those that need to learn the hard way are they going to be treated the same by our courts as the recent Chinese fraudster who got home detention for 10 million of fraud. Don’t talk to me about learning the hard way when pedos get of lightly in our country and white collar crims get a smack on the hand and bailed to a luxury motel.
And what is learn the hard way x straight, is it lock em up build more prisons we know this does not work and it costs the tax payer more in the long term. We have seem the long term damage borstals, homes like Epuni boys, mental institutes administering electric shocks and our current prison system does to people and families. And furthermore are those that need to learn the hard way are they going to be treated the same by our courts as the recent Chinese fraudster who got home detention for 10 million of fraud. Don’t talk to me about learning the hard way when pedos get of lightly in our country and white collar crims get a smack on the hand and bailed to a luxury motel.
And what is learn the hard way x straight, is it lock em up build more prisons we know this does not work and it costs the tax payer more in the long term. We have seem the long term damage borstals, homes like Epuni boys, mental institutes administering electric shocks and our current prison system does to people and families. And furthermore are those that need to learn the hard way are they going to be treated the same by our courts as the recent Chinese fraudster who got home detention for 10 million of fraud. Don’t talk to me about learning the hard way when pedos get of lightly in our country and white collar crims get a smack on the hand and bailed to a luxury motel.
pfft – storm in a teacup – a few wannabe gangsters doing gangster shit. if you choose to be held to ransom by 1% of the population I suggest you look at the 1% on the other end of the social spectrum.
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