Shoot First, Police Arrive Later

"Zhuofeng 'Titan' Jiang, a Tokoroa takeaway owner who shot a masked gunman in the leg after wrestling a semi-automatic .22 rifle off him could end up being charged for defending himself.
Aotea Chinese Takeaways owner Zhuofeng "Titan" Jiang, 25, grabbed the rifle as the gunman pointed it at Mr Jiang's 19-year-old cousin and demanded money from the till about 9.45pm on Monday.
The gunman had already fired a warning shot into the floor. Another shot went off as the men wrestled with the rifle.
When Mr Jiang got hold of the rifle he fired two shots, one into the floor, and another into the man's leg, to stop him from being attacked.
The gunman screamed in pain after being shot and fled.
Mr Jiang said yesterday that he was not a hero. "I was not scared. I would do it again. I hate these people. I will never give them any money." - Dom Post 29/4/09

Titan is a sterling example of an independent and free-thinking citizen. A "fat man, 6ft tall, wearing dark-coloured clothing." points a semi-auto Sterling 20 rifle at his kid cousin, and he responds with decisive skill, disarming the low-life and putting him out of action. However this comment from the Detective Senior Sergeant Todd Pearce of the NZ Police is alarming,

"This situation could easily have resulted in a fatality and it could have easily been one of victims that had been shot or killed... Fighting back, when firearms are involved, dramatically increases the dangers to everyone present and should not be considered or attempted." - NZ Herald 28/4/09

To heck with that. If you find yourself in a situation like Titan, it is up to you to weigh up the situation and determine whether or not you have a decent chance of overpowering the attacker. As a citizen, you have the freedom to defend yourself and the other innocent people caught up in an assault. It is an incredibly dangerous mindset to fall into, that we put our trust in the police (the state) to save us whenever we are under threat of physical harm.
Anyway, the police apparently took 18 minutes to turn up on the scene - by which time the incident was over and the attacker had run away. In most assault cases, all the police can really do is to turn up with the body-bags. I am in no way dissing the Police-force; they do a great job, but they are not omnipresent.

To Heck with Tasers

...arm all New Zealand policemen with guns.

46-year-old Sergeant Don Wilkinson and his 44-year-old colleague ran for their lives down the road being chased by two men. What has New Zealand come to, when the symbol of justice; the police-force is chased down the road, helpless and un-armed. As they ran, they radioed for assistance. Sadly, they were too late, and the men caught up with them and trapped them. Don was shot in the heart and died instantly. His fellow police-officer was assaulted and received multiple gun-shot-wounds. He is currently in Middlemore Hospital recieving surgery.

Click here for the Herald's coverage of this tragic story.

Murdered: unarmed Police Sergeant, Don Wilkinson

What are they going to tell Don's family? "Sorry kids... your dad worked hard to defend innocent people and apprehend and arrest criminals. He died because (embarassed cough)... well, he should have been wearing his bullet-proof vest..." And what is going to happen to the two men that have been arrested and charged with the murder of Don and the assault (attempted murder) of his colleague?

For even daring to shoot at a police officer, they should receive a life sentence of hard labour. For killing a police officer, they should be hung.

But what will happen? A typically soft sentence will be handed down - a slap over the wrist with a wet bus-ticket for the murderer. And then let him out on bail after he's completed part of his sentence, because "prison's aren't the answer", and they're over-crowded anyway.

Use a Real Gun Next Time

On Monday 4 August, two apparently drugged up young (Polynesian) men wearing blue bandanas over their faces ran into the dairy on the corner of Orrick Crescent and Wainoni Road in Christchurch.  One was wielding a long knife, and the store-owner Nike said that the offenders were frantic, and life-threatening.  Below is the order of events

A dairy owner who wishes only to be known as Nike said he armed himself after Indian liquor store owner Navtej Singh was murdered by robbers in South Auckland in June.  Two robbers who he described as Polynesian, aged in their early 20s or late teens charged into his store on Wainoni Road about 8.30pm on Monday.  They were wearing blue bandanas over their faces, and one carried a long knife. Nike was cleaning out his cash register when a man ran at him and slashed at the air near his throat and chest, then backed him up against a cigarette rack. Nike's wife handed him the air pistol. Nike fired the air pistol at the robbers five or six times, hitting one of them. "I definitely shot one of them in the face. "Usually in the movies they say 'give me the money' but they tried to kill us from the very start. It happened really fast. They ran in holding the knife out and started trying to chop me."

Nike said he suspected the men were on drugs as "normal people don't act like that". "We would never have used (the gun) if they weren't so threatening. "They were frantic."

Detective Constable Grant, of the New Brighton police, said Nike's actions were "certainly not good practice". Grant said they were "discussing" whether Nike's actions would have further repercussions.

Asian Anti-crime Group campaigner Peter Low said the robbers were lucky it was only an air pistol and if they came into his store he would shoot them with a real gun. "The scum gangs have got to learn and the police need to wake up. They have invaded our rights. We have to defend ourselves. It's logic, it's common sense."

Compiled from the article on www.stuff.co.nz.

As is so often the case the emphasis is put on the victims of the assault, and we hear that the Police will be investigating (clears throat loudly) excuse me, who?  Yes, believe it or not, they are going to launch an investigation into the actions of the brave dairy owner, who defended the lives of himself and his wife.

When it is illegal for good law-abiding citizens to defend themselves, it means that the criminals often get their way.  Think back on the Virginia-Tech Massacre for a minute.  It was illegal for anyone on campus to be armed, and so when the murderer ran about the place with a gun, killing 33 people, there was no one able to stop him.

Bob McCoskrie of Family First responded to the incident,

"The safety of families should be paramount. If families are resorting to vigilante type actions, it begs the question – why aren’t we doing more to protect them?"

Use a real gun next time mate.

---

Hat-tip, NZ Conservative

Related Reading: 25 years murder-free in 'Gun Town USA', Folly of "Gun-Free Zones"

Policeman Escorting Girl to School Daily

You know there is something horribly wrong when you hear of (yet another) Government program which has been created to ensure that children stay at school. The "Rock On" scheme is a 16-week programme, aimed at cutting truancy levels in New Zealand.

"There's an informal conference held at the school, where some of the agencies get together, along with the school, and discuss what the issues are." - said Senior Sergeant John Robinson, who's duty it is to escort a fourteen-year-old girl to Linwood College, Christchurch - every single morning.

Family First spokesman Bob McCoskrie responded,

"A dangerous precedent is being set by the police by taxiing a truanting 14 year old to school every morning, and fails to deal with the underlying problems... In this case, reported from Christchurch and under a new scheme called Rock On, the police are simply fulfilling the role of the parent and are providing a short term solution to a potentially longer term problem.” - www.familyfirst.org.nz

However, Linwood College principal Rob Burrough said,

the student was back at school and doing well. "She's not a bad kid; it's just she hadn't been turning up to school," he said. "Sometimes the tough-love approach is the best way because it is a shock to students when mum or dad is going to get prosecuted because they're not going to school." He was delighted with the support of the police in taking the girl to school each day. - www.stuff.co.nz

I find it intriguing, but typical that the Government are so desperate for every last child to be attending school. They offer 20 hours of free state-funded child-minding for all three - four year-old children, so that mothers can get out of the home, away from the children, and back into the workforce. They also punish parents who do not send their children to state schools, by charging them for the service anyway. The agenda is coming through loud and clear, our present government is sold on the idea of social change (to put it politely), achieved through the state-schooling system.

Kiwi Party Law and Order Policy

The Kiwi Party has just released their law and order policy, which I have copied below, with my comments in blue. Click here to download the policy. As you can see, we hardly see things the same, though there are areas where I can agree with their policy.

Law

• Return the minimum drinking age back to 20.
It has been a mistake to lower the legal drinking age while simultaneously increasing the availability of alcohol. It is time to reverse this social experiment and work on reducing the access young people have to alcohol while imposing tougher sentences on parents and others who supply alcohol illegally to minors.
Nope. There is nothing wrong with alcohol, it is when people misuse it that we have a problem. Harsher sentencing for drunkeness in public, or crime committed while under the influence would be a far better move than the far-too easy option of simply criminalising all young people.


• Those convicted for murder and the manufacture and sale of Class A drugs should be locked up for the course of their natural life.
No parole should be considered for a minimum of 20 years and then only if the public safety is not threatened by the prisoners release due to confirmed rehabilitation within the prison system or old age.
I'm not sure if selling drugs should necessarily be a criminal offence. But those convicted of murder - and where there is crystal clear evidence, including witnesses should be put to death. Parole is just a joke, and as for the public being safe from prisoners out on parole, well just take a look in your newspaper for evidence why this does not work.


• Criminalise the buying of the services of a prostitute on the street and re-criminalisation of ‘living off the proceeds of the prostitution of others’.
Studies prove that legalising prostitution has not solved the social issues it creates. Cities like Amsterdam famous for liberal sex trade laws are now reverting back to criminalizing the sex trade.
Since the Prostitution Reform Act was passed in 2003, the number of prostitutes does not appear to have increased in New Zealand. Individuals should be free to make agreements between each other, and the State probably does not need to interfere at this level. As for soliciting on the street, at the very least, prostitutes should have to aquire a license as do other street vendors. And even then, licenses should be granted only in certain situations and vicinities.


• Hold a binding referendum on New Zealand’s attitude to the sale of sexual services.
A nation’s law should reflect the will of the people. A referendum will reflect the values and will of the people, which government must respect.
A referendum probably wouldn't hurt. Legalising something such as prostitution may result in that thing becoming normalised. However there is a huge different between a potentially harmful activity being legalised, and that activity being actively endorsed as a viable career option. It's a real tough one.

Policing

• Change drug policy from harm minimisation to harm elimination.
A multi-pronged strategy is needed to overcome a problem that has its roots in social orientation but ends in crime. Research shows that faith based and community centered models run by those with experience and neighborhood connections deliver the best results. The Kiwi Party would promote successful community coalitions, drug testing within workplaces and schools, screening and intervening to interrupt the cycle of drug abuse, providing quality drug treatment services and establishing drug treatment courts.
We can't eliminate harm, we can only ever attempt to minimise it. Drug-use in public, in schools or in the workplace is obviously innapropriate. Government funding of community initiatives which encourage people to give up their drug-habit would definitely be a step in the right direction.


• Introduce separate identification of police and traffic safety officers.
While acknowledging two forces share some common concerns and so need to retain strong connections, with regards to public perception and police effectiveness, the Kiwi Party would initiate differing uniforms and patrol cars.
Sounds like a good plan. Seperate the two jobs and privatise the traffic policing for a start.


• Establish a special task force to address the rising level of gang related criminal activity.
The Police Association has been calling for this task force for several years. The Kiwi party fully supports this.
Sounds fine.


• Establish a uniformed voluntary policing force.
Establishing a uniformed voluntary policing force of retired persons similar to Maori wardens to help support police by attending to routine work and also assisting in being the “eyes and ears” in every community. We support communities who take initiative to care for themselves.
Sounds fine.

Corrections

• Increase the number of addiction recovery and detox facilities.
It is estimated that 27% of our youth over 15 years of age are using drugs. Many good parents are eager to place their children into programmes but cannot because of a lack of facilities. While it is difficult to rehabilitate a drug user who does not want to change, anyone convicted of a crime committed while on drugs should first be required to undergo treatment that completely eliminates drugs from their body and maintains them in a drug free environment for a period of time. Those then choosing further help on the road to recovery can be referred to appropriate services. Those refusing treatment may find themselves in prison as a consequence.

It is imperative that our prisons become drug free. If the Government run Department of Corrections cannot achieve this, the Kiwi Party supports establishing a task force to investigate how this can be attained through the transfer of our prisons management to private contractors as has happened in other nations with circumstances similar to ours.
Compulsory drug-rehab for prisoners sounds like a good plan.


• No home detention and no parole for those convicted of serious violent crimes.
Society should not risk the re-offending of those who have committed heinous crimes. A system of recognizing and rewarding a prisoner that is making progress in rehabilitation and overcoming their violence should be established within prison walls before release and not in the community.
Of course! Serious and violent or not - if you do the crime, you do the time.

Justice

• Establishment of night Courts.
There is a huge backlog of cases that could be heard and processed by night Courts. Criminals need to be confronted with efficient and rapid convictions for their behaviour rather than spending months and years going through the revolving door, being charged, then released on bail thus creating the possibility for re-offence before they are sentenced. Also the lives of the innocent are put on hold before they are acquitted of false charges. Night courts would also avoid the disruptions to work and other commitments of those involved.
That sounds like ACT policy, released about two months ago. Good policy.


• Ensure there are powers for Judges to pursue truth.
The goal of our justice system should be to reveal truth. A criminal should not be allowed to get away with a crime through hiring a lawyer with an ability to abuse a loop-hole or the short comings of a defence attorney with an overloaded schedule. If common sense deems it feasible to further investigate a situation, a Judge should have the means to do so.
That sounds a bit draconian, pragmatic. Common-sense is a dangerous term.

Judges should also have the power to award against the Crown, the costs of a person charged and found not guilty. Otherwise our justice system is creating victims of those being wrongly accused.
Absolutely.


• Victims rights before criminals rights.
All victims of property crime should be entitled to full restitution and the awarding of costs along with an appropriate apology. This is natural justice.
Not just full restitution, repayment should be made two-fold or three-fold. As for the apology, it's not up to the state to force people to apologise to each other.


• Imprisonment for property offending should be confined to a small number of the most serious cases.
Imprisonment costs the taxpayer around $90,000 per annum and removes the capacity of the offender to recompense the victim – and adds costs to the State if the offender’s family requires welfare.
That's why prisoners should pay their way through prison. Why should the taxpayer be hit with the bill?


• Compulsory DNA testing for all those convicted of crimes.
It has always been accepted that a convicted criminal be fingerprinted and records be kept for future identification. Advancement of technology has made DNA samples an improved alternative.
No problem with this.


• No bail for those being charged with serious violent offences.
Of course not.

don't do party pills

Stephen Bellingham was high on party pills on the night of Friday, 28 September 2007. He grabbed a hammer and went off down the street in Christchurch smashing up cars. Concerned neighbours rang the police who arrived on the scene. Confronting the crazed maniac with a pistol, the police officer told Stephen to drop his hammer. The drugged up criminal ran at the police officer with the hammer raised over his head. When Stephen was within a meter of him, the police officer stopped him in his tracks with a bullet to the chest and another to the leg.

If the police officer had had a tazer gun, then Stephen would not have died, and neither would the police officer. However if the police officer had only had a baton, then he would have likely been badly wounded or even killed. "Oh, the police officer should have retreated" you hear the bleeding hearts whine. Well as my friend Andrew so consisely put it, "It's not a good thing when a police-officer retreats, how does that look?". He's dead right. The principle of it is that we citizens should obey the law. If we don't, if we choose to run at a police officer holding a loaded weapon, then we suffer the consequences and rightly so.

The media are having a field day, making out that the police-officer and the police force are heartless thugs who use excessive force and abuse their power. As a matter of fact, when it is a matter of life or death as the police-officer obviously observed that it was in this case, the life of the police-officer is worth infinitely more. He has a wife and children who he is supporting, and why should he sacrifice his life just so that some drugged up punk can see what it feels like to stove another man's head in with an axe. I am sad that Stephen has died, however it was his own fault and as a country we should learn from this: give the Police the authority and tools they need to do their job well, and citizens, just do what the police tell you ok.


Stephen Bellingham

Below are 3 Letters to the Editor from The Press, 3 October 2007.

Lisa is a bit hard line, however in some situations it is necessary to stop criminal activity by some level of force, however wherever possible, fatalities should be avoided...

I suggest that all police weapons be withdrawn and that police be given feather dusters with which to defend themselves.
Police dogs should be fitted with sponge rubber teeth, and, to prevent any future dangerous high-speed vehicle pursuits, all Ford Falcon and Holden Commodore cars should be withdrawn from service and the police supplied with pedal cars.
There would then be no further claims of police brutality. We could all feel safe, couldn't we?

S. Kerr, Christchurch
There is something wrong with this country when the police have to justify their actions against the rubbish on the street.
No wonder we have an astronomical crime rate and drug problem, when the police are made to look like the villains and the criminal a victim.
As a law-abiding citizen with a young child, I want to feel safe and know that the police are protecting me and my family - that is, taking out the criminals in any way they have to. If shooting them is the only way to bring them down, so be it.
What kind of country is this going to be when my child grows up? The criminals will be running the country at this rate.
If somebody was smashing my car with a hammer, I would shoot him.
Keep up the good work, New Zealand police.

Lisa Leary, Christchurch
If Stephen Bellingham had been Tasered, he would still be alive today - deservedly shocked but still alive.
If blame must be apportioned in this case, perhaps we should start with the Green Party and the rest of the civil liberties bandwagon who opposed the use of Tasers for incidents such as this one.
We expect the police to protect us from an increasingly feral underclass, but what do we do to provide them with the tools they need to carry out their thankless task?
David Jones, Christchurch

The moral of the story would have to be: don't do party pills.

Heh, while I'm on the subject, ban party pills! Yeah, go crazy you libertarians. But it is generally accepted that such things as methanphetamine and murder are illegal, and so should party pills.