Police Brutality charges before court

Four police officers are being charged with using pepper spray on a detained uncharged individual. Read the article. The New Zealand police have had the spot light upon them for gang rape relating to incidents in the 1980s. The prison service has come under the spotlight for moving Liam Ashley in a van alongwith a psycho killer who killed him. And now, reading this tale of extraordinary bullying and punishing behaviour of four police officers subduing a prisoner with close pepper spray torture and batton hits. It is not even clear if the man was arrested or just detained, but he was certainly not informed of his rights or given a lawyer - but detained - possibly for questioning.

There was an enquiry into the police and a culture of abuse. But if police are seen as sadistic and cruel, it does not improve justice, indeed, it seems the all too familiar ground of parents who, having lost control of their children, now look upon the police as the last guard or final super nanny of them all. Unfortunately that won't work. The police are there to protect us from real criminals, not agitated youths aware of their rights who are prepared to say so.

It is a matter for the court but paints a more sobering picture. If New Zealand lurches to the Right, as is quite predictable, what measures will the conservative politicians be able to politically survive - bringing honour back to the New Zealand Police may require more trials of this nature.

The danger is, using criminal justice system to filter out bad police is just another ambulance at the bottom of another cliff. Weed them out in the recruiting process! Thugs do not belong in the police and idiots do not belong in the prison service.