The Authority has decided to conduct a general review of the Police response to the “Let Women Speak” event in Albert Park, Auckland on March 25.
The Authority received 162 complaints about policing of the event. Of these, 34 were from people who attended the event, and the rest were from concerned citizens who appeared to be responding to media and/or social media coverage. The common themes of the complaints were lack of Police action to protect Ms Parker and allow her to exercise her right to freedom of expression, and failure to prosecute in respect of assaults on Ms Parker and another woman (the Authority notes that charges have since been laid in respect of both assaults).
Terms of reference and timing of the review are still to be confirmed. However, the review will likely cover Police planning for the protest, and the Police response and actions as the situation unfolded.
The Authority will publish its report once the review is completed.
That took a while.
JKT. A ‘general review,’’ as opposed to responding to individuals’ specific complaints, seems an interesting dialectic. Presumably a general review doesn’t preclude responses to individual complaints, one of which will be from a UK citizen who would not unreasonably be expecting to receive one.
With the Parliamentary demonstrators’ multiple complaints, a general review could have theoretically disclosed the part played by the Speaker and Parliamentary Services, in what happened then. Here, with reputable UK media’s ongoing interest in the occurrence at Albert Park, a review will have to provide factual analysis and answers, and not just recommendations – no tiptoeing through the tulips.
It may have been more edifying had the police themselves speedily decided to review what they did at Albert Park rather than their watchdog having to do this now.