Police out of control | The Jackal

31 Aug 2013

Police out of control

Today, the NZ Herald reported:

Arthur Allan Thomas has been re-interviewed by police investigating the 1970 murders of Harvey and Jeanette Crewe, one of New Zealand's best-known unsolved crimes.

Mr Thomas spent nine years in prison for the killings, but was then pardoned.

The Weekend Herald can today reveal that in the past few weeks, Mr Thomas, two of his brothers, his sister and her husband have been interviewed by police - and some have been asked to provide alibis.

This is clearly a case of Police harassment.

A rifle belonging to Mr Thomas' brother was taken away by police for testing.

Officers have told the family that they still believe Mr Thomas' rifle was used to shoot the young couple at their Pukekawa farm in June 1970, despite his being cleared of the double murder.

His family say they are horrified that the police are still pursuing and "harassing" them, instead of finding out who really killed the Crewes.

Good point. Instead of looking for the real killer/s, the Police are intent on trying to save face by pursuing a guy they had stitched up.

The problem is there's no proper Police accountability in New Zealand. Arthur Allan Thomas has been cleared of the murders and should therefore be left alone to get on with his life. But instead of doing the right thing, the Police are determined to pin the murders on him or his family when there is no evidence showing that they were involved.

Another recent case that shows the Police are out of control is their decision not to pursue charges over the GCSB's illegal spying. Despite the law being clear, the Police are claiming that there was no intent to break the law and this somehow makes it OK. There was obviously intent to break the law, because requests were made for the illegal spying to be undertaken.

Then we have another story from this week whereby the Police broke a confidentiality agreement with the mother of Halatau Naitoko, a new father they killed in a shootout in 2009. He was an innocent victim who was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. The agreement the Police broke also threatened Ivoni Fuimaono with three months jail time if she revealed the name of her sons shooter. This shooting is not an isolated case and Police in New Zealand are never held to account for accidentally or intentionally taking somebody else's life.

So who is meant to have oversight? Firstly there is the Independent Police Conduct Authority, an organization specifically set up to protect the Police from prosecution. Take the case of them refusing to investigate the Police ignoring evidence that clearly shows Malcolm Rewa is guilty and Teina Pora was wrongfully convicted. If the Police had acted upon the evidence from one of Malcolm Rewa's victims, more than twenty rapes and perhaps a murder would not have occurred.

These are not isolated cases of Police incompetence and corruption. Although this is not a criticism of all police officers, as many of them do a fine and difficult job; how is it possible for rogue cops to harass, beat, kill and stitch up people and get away with it? How are they able to be involved in high speed car chases that lead to death and never be at fault? We called off the chase just seconds before the accident... Yeah right!

The Police aren't being held to account for their illegal activity by the IPCA or the Minister, Judith Collins. She will be actively involved in the harassment of Arthur Allan Thomas and his family. Instead of accepting that he was pardoned, Collins is determined to ignore the courts ruling and believes she is a law unto herself. Unfortunately that arrogance is infecting the entire Police force, an infection that must be remedied before the public can have faith in our guardians of the peace.