Disgraceful

Some of you may recall a couple of years back in October 2004, a young uni student and part-time model called Iraena Asher and her increasingly desperate calls to the police for help on the night of the 11th.

For those not in the know, Iraena called police saying she had been pressured for sex, possibly had been given drugs and felt in danger.

She made 3 calls to the police, each call more desperate than the previous.

The normal and correct response to this, as outlined in NZ Police Protocol, is to have an officer investigate, and ensure that the complainant is indeed safe.

But it would appear that NZ Police arent big on protocol. Their response was to send a taxi.
Which, by the way, went to the wrong place.

You're probably thinking "Yeah, so what?"

Iraena has never been seen again.

Her parents went a bit beserk, and rightfully so. They jumped up and down and after a bit of clashing-of-horns with various members of the police heirachy, finally got an investigation going.

This investigation uncovered huge gaps and frequent ignorace of policy within the police, and the Emergency Call (111) Service, which prompted various opportunistic politicians to jump on the bandwagon and try increase public favour by speaking up against the Emergency Services.

So things have changed a bit around here, but somethign still reeks. Emitting that effluvium that I just can't help but to jump on.

Ever since that investigation, Iraena's parents have been struggling with police to find out exactly what went wrong, and why it went wrong. And recently, they have managed to get their hands on the transcripts of the calls to the Emergency Service.

Now, these are supposedly highly-trained operators, who are trained to stay calm, and calm the callers down, etc. Apparently this includes calling them "a fucking stupid bitch".

Way to go, Dispatcher. Say, how's your financial aid application coming along? Because I seriously doubt you'll be employed for much longer.

And christ, what a fight the Ashers' have had just to get this tiny bit from the police. After the initial investigation, they've been through the Police Complaints Authority, the Chief Ombudsman, and now have been referred to the Privacy Commissioner.

All to try get some sort of answer.

Makes you wonder, doesn't it? As Iraena's father Mike asks: what are they hiding?
It says something when the rest of your family leaves the country because they don't feel safe here.

Welcome to New Zealand.

Now, as usual, *I* have something to say about it all. It's a total disgrace that the people we rely on to keep all of us safe can't do that at all. It's even more disgraceful that when they fuck up, they run around covering their own asses behind miles of red tape. These people employed by the government to give us "Safer Communities", as their pathetic and inaccurate slogan goes, are nothing but a bunch of hopeless incompetents.

And before some of you get all angsty and start telling me I don't know what I'm talking about, I'll take this opportunity to remind you my father was a seargant before he left the country. Oh, and one of my ex-landlords was a head of Victim Support up north. I've seen the shit they get up to. Even inside Auckland Central, where I spent a good part of my adolescence. I mean you really have to wonder about a major police station that has a bar incorporated into it.

So there you have it: the NZ Police are a joke. You'ce heard of the saying "a few ruining it for the many"? Swap it around: many ruining it for the few. There's a few good cops out there, but a whole lot of retards.

Keep fighting, Mike. I hope you eventually get the answers you want. Or need, really. Remember that while they think the red tape protects them, it also limits their options. Don't give up. Ever.