Hats off to Neil Miller. (Aug. 22, 2015)

22 August 2015 at 12:01 pm

Hats off to Neil Miller. * Not many people would be so magnanimous after being made to look so foolish.
The Panel, Radio NZ National, Friday 21 August 2015
Jim Mora, Andrew “Dire” Clay, Neil Miller

Should the police be armed or not? Neil Miller opined that New Zealand is an “out-lier” on this issue, but that nothing will change until not only policemen, but members of the public start getting shot. Of course, members of the public are getting shot—by the police. Sadly, however, neither Jim Mora nor Andrew “Dire” Clay had the presence of mind to remind him of this.

Miller then announced how much of a fan he is of police using tasers. Clay, who often refers to himself as a “liberal”, endorsed Miller’s view, burbling: “I’m a big fan of tasers.”

To introduce some informed comment on to the program, the producers had arranged for Mora to cross to Deakin University Associate Professor in Criminology Dr Darren Palmer, who quickly and eloquently showed that neither Clay nor Miller had a clue what they were talking about. Politely but devastatingly, he showed that every single point that they had made was fallacious.

Neil Miller had nothing at all to offer by way of counter-argument. However, once Dr Palmer had departed, Miller said sportingly: “Very sensible comments from an academic, I must say.”

If only Neil Miller’s sportsmanship and honour could be emulated by the likes of Cameron Slater or Jordan Williams or David Farrar or Barry Corbett or Stephen Franks or Michelle Boag or Denise L’Estrange-Corbet or Nevil “Breivik” Gibson.

* Yesterday this writer, i.e., moi, misheard Neil Miller’s generous comment and posted that he had called Dr Palmer’s comments “cynical”. Thanks to our vigilant friend Gabby for pointing out my grievous error. Here’s the original post….
http://thestandard.org.nz/open-mike-21082015/#comment-1061375

• Tautoko Mangō Mata6.1

  22 August 2015 at 6:02 pm

  Here is an interesting article on policing in USA.

  “More than one thousand people are killed by police every year in America,” the group states on its website. “Nearly sixty percent of victims did not have a gun or were involved in activities that should not require police intervention such as harmless ‘quality of life’ behaviors or mental health crises.”http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/pdf/taskforce/Interim_TF_Report.pdf
  http://www.commondreams.org/news/2015/08/21/campaign-zero-blueprint-ending-police-violence

  The article refers to an Interim report from the task force on policing in USA and this paragraph caught my attention.

  “In 2012, we began asking the question, “Why are we training police officers like
  soldiers?” Although police officers wear uniforms and carry weapons, the similarity
  ends there. The missions and rules of engagement are completely different. The
  soldier’s mission is that of a warrior: to conquer. The rules of engagement are decided before the battle. The police officer’s mission is that of a guardian: to protect. The rules of engagement evolve as the incident unfolds. Soldiers must follow orders. Police officers must make independent decisions. Soldiers come into communities as an outside, occupying force. Guardians are members of the community, protecting from within.”

  This makes sense to me and I wonder what path Greg O’Connor is wanting to take our police down?
  • Morrissey6.1.1

    22 August 2015 at 6:15 pm

    Thanks for that, my friend. I share your concerns about Greg O’Connor. Whenever he appears on television or radio, his views seem poorly thought out and reflexively right wing.

    It just goes to show that not every union rep is of the calibre of Helen Kelly or Richard Wagstaff. O’Connor is a union rep more in the mould of Tau Henare, who sneered at cleaning women at a select committee hearing and reduced them to tears.
  • Kevin6.1.2

    22 August 2015 at 8:29 pm

    This looks like an interesting movie about this topic:

    http://www.peaceofficerfilm.com
  •