“My first response to going inside Kohitere was one of anger and disbelief… Anger that no one understood that the offenders of today were almost always the victims of yesterday.” — Tā Kim Workman reflects on his long career in the criminal justice system.
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The Jevon McSkimming affair “is yet another distraction, a smokescreen, from some truly worrying developments at the other end of the criminal justice sector”. — Denis O’Reilly on the soaring prison muster (and its soaring costs), and the meth crisis.
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“It’s not about picking out individuals who are racist and act on their biases. It’s about fixing the systems, culture and training the police operate under, and making those approaches consistent across the board.” — Tā Kim Workman on researching police bias.
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“I don’t remember even talking about race when I was in the SAS. I certainly didn’t have to deal with racism there. But, boy, I got it back in spades when I went into the police.” — Vitale Lafaele, in A Canoe Before the Wind.
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“I can remember every fatal accident I’ve ever been to. And every murder. Date, time, and place. And, when you go past a particular place where something serious has happened, the memory just comes back.” — Sergeant Wayne Panapa on his 50 years in the police.
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“We’re looking at what the evidence shows about systemic bias, which is about the policies of the police, the procedures, the practices, the legislation.” — Tā Kim Workman who’s leading the largest ever investigation in this country on police bias.
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“In the multiple chapters of Pacific peoples’ story in New Zealand, the chapter of the Dawn Raids stands out as one that continues to cast a long shadow.” — Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s speech in full.
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“The attitudes of the special squads which had been formed to do this work was appalling. The latent racism, usually judiciously concealed, was blatant and paraded for all to see, with constant talk of ‘getting the coconuts’.” — Tā Kim Workman.
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“The evidence is clear that the white supremacist who was threatening slaughter should have been charged from the get-go and been treated the same as the brown Mongrel Mob members.” — John Tamihere.
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“To the uninitiated, it can be jarring to learn that, in Aotearoa, the state outsources the prosecution of moderate and serious crime to 17 commercial law firms throughout the country.” — Tim McKinnel.
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“The origins of the racism that is tearing the United States apart has deep parallels with New Zealand, and the origins are the same.” — Aaron Smale.
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“I know, and work in, communities where the feeling is that we are much closer to the precipice than we care to admit.” – Tim McKinnel on why we need to resist militarised policing.
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“If history is anything to go by, I fear any confidence would be misplaced.” — Pounamu Jade Aikman on whether police will apply their Covid-19 powers fairly and evenly.
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“There’s a litany of examples, including admissions by the police themselves, of unconscious bias. Or racism, as we called it in the good old days.” — Moana Maniapoto.
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The recent election had its usual predictable talk about law and order — and that talk ranged from...
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