“Māori” aren’t objects needing 'acknowledgement' they are individuals needing accountability
Commissioner Coster steadfast in refusal to condemn Police Officer doing press-ups on Māori youth's head at the Parliament protest.
KEY 5 POINTS
Māori males aged 17-40 are just 3 percent of New Zealand's population but make up 34 percent of use of force incidents by police.
Police Commissioner Andrew Coster states a goal to: change Māori perceptions of Police.
When footage went viral of a 17 year old Māori male (not resisting arrest and being pinned to the ground by three large male officers) having two press-ups done on his head at the Parliament Protest he chose to stay silent.
A year later he tacitly approved of doing press-ups on this restrained 17 year old’s head stating “there is nothing I am going to call out to say I would do this differently - actually I am really pleased how all of our people responded.'' and "I don't think that there is any call there for an apology”
The Independent Police Conduct Authority found the against the officer. Police refused to prosecute the Officer and an employment investigation cleared him.
The incident happened on 10 February 2022 when peaceful protesters were trespassed from Parliament grounds.
The IPCA summarised:
The second of these cases involved a 17-year-old male who was not resisting arrest after he was placed onto the ground. He was lying prone on the grass and the footage shows three officers quickly had the male under control, one each on his arms and one on his legs. The male’s arms were secured behind his back at the time or very shortly after the officer came to assist and pressed down on his head in a press up position. The officer’s use of force was unnecessary and excessive.
Referring to him as a 17 year old male is only half the story - a 17 year old is a “child” pursuant to United Nations human right’s laws that New Zealand is party to and a“youth” in our justice system.
This is how it was reported the next day:
Superintendent Corrie Parnell said police would not comment on individual cases of arrest, and added that images and videos did not provide the full context of what police officers were facing.
Fortuitously there is video from two angles showing the full context of a restrained teen having press-ups done on his head and it only ceasing when another Officer intervened.
This is a public footage from the side and this is the Police footage from the front.
I accept it is possibly not the mandate of the Superintendent to comment on “individual cases” but what about the Commissioner?
When you are paid $700,000 a year to lead the Police and you see a video of a 17 year old having press-ups done on his head you do comment on individual cases.
What other role in New Zealand receives this level of public money and entitles silence?
For comparison here is the Minneapolis Police Chief’s response in the wake of George Floyd:
Chief Medaria Arradondo said the way Chauvin restrained Floyd was not in line with training and "certainly not part of our ethics and our values".
The chief had fired Chauvin and the three other officers involved days after Floyd's death last May.
In a remarkable example of commenting on ‘individual cases’ Commissioner Coster spoke at a vigil for George Floyd at St Peter’s Church in central Wellington.
He told the crowd Floyd’s death was an opportunity to address our own situation in Aotearoa and acknowledge that criminal justice outcomes for Māori were appalling, something he said he wouldn't, and we shouldn’t, ever accept.
“Fundamental in this is ensuring that there is fairness in the way we go about our mahi, whether in relation to prosecution decisions, use of force, and how we direct discretionary policing effort,” he said.
A golden opportunity arose barely 6 months after this solipsistic sermon. It even included a Māori woman having her neck knelt on by the same Officer (the IPCA found against the Officer in that case as well - and I will write that case up soon).
As part of the investigation, police sought advice from Dr Judy Melinek, an internationally respected forensic pathologist.. She said pressure placed on the head and neck was “potentially life-threatening” had it resulted in injuries, although she said it was impossible to tell how much force was applied.
But he chose silence. Perhaps he assumed a Police Commissioner in a country with no relationship to the event would take the time for sober ‘acknowledgement’ on his behalf.
Just as Police Chief Arredondo knew that kneeling on a neck for nine minutes wasn’t in line with training Commissioner Coster knew that head press-ups on restrained children weren’t either.
Yet it took almost two years (and considerable legal support) for the Police to publicly admit that.
https://www.police.govt.nz/news/release/police-acknowledge-ipcas-parliament-protest-findings
Police have confirmed that head control techniques are not part of the Initial Training Curriculum at the Royal New Zealand Police College (RNZPC), and that the technique used in these three arrests is not taught as part of Police Integrated Tactical Training (PITT).
It took the same amount of time to determine there would be no prosecution of the Officer and that the use of force was fine resulting in no employment issues.
THE WRAP UP
The new Minister for Police, Mark Mitchell, has been publicly critical of Commissioner Coster years. He belatedly stated he has confidence in the Commissioner but only after publicly releasing a letter to the Commissioner with a list of “expectations”.
What Minister Mitchell must prepare for are the inevitable calls for improvements in Police relations with Māori (as individuals).
Given political claims that the new Government is somehow ‘anti Māori’ any opportunity by opponents to suggest the Minister is not doing enough will be taken.
It’s entirely predictable someone will question him how he reconciles a Commissioner stating a goal of improving Police relationships with Māori while endorsing, without reservation, a Police response including doing press-ups on a fully restrained Māori lad’s head.
The Commissioner is already on the ropes for Police illegally photographing and taking fingerprints of Māori children and for writing an article that some suggested correlated young Māori with terrorists. He also fronted up on the Royal Commissioner of Enquiry into Abuse in Care which disproportionately affected Māori.
Commissioner Coster:
“acknowledged” the broader findings in relation to the photography
“acknowledged” inadequate Police service for survivors from the Enquiry
“acknowledged” areas for improvement in the IPCA report on the Parliament Protest.
Commissioner Coster was sold to the public as providing a “new generation of policing”.
There’s no doubt he’s done a lot of ‘acknowledging’ (seriously, google “Coster” and “acknowledged”)
But when it comes to accountability to an individual Māori impacted by the Police there’s nothing new at all.
I’m calling on him to ‘acknowledge’ that, apologise and resign.
We have to remember that human rights are for good times, when everyone can comfortably say "of course I support human rights because that's what good people do and I'm a good person".
Human rights are not for emergency times or for when government is drastically over reaching its power while the fourth estate acts like the fifth column.
At those times you have to shut up about your stupid human rights and put your mask on and take your bloody vaccine.
If you believe in the human right of bodily autonomy, or the right to peaceful protest you're obviously a far right white supremacist fascist because human rights were invented by nazis. And you are also stupid. And ugly.
And the only way to fix those things is to give you a good old fashioned head press up.
What the hell happened to our country?
Very well said!!