He suggests that the mail order form which she was shown filling out on TV is not the one that was used to order the firearm, that based on handwriting analysis…

Seriously Ian, when we have reached a point where we have preteens hanging themselves in our primary schools, a media gagged from factually reporting the issue, a Government unable to publically debate…

we must remind ourselves of the extent in which this case was also quite ordinary. That is to say, of the fact that the Police acted the way they did because…

Please, I beg you, warn the overly imaginative of us when putting images like this out there.…

This is an episode of Columbo. We already know who did it, that's always the first scene. It's not meant to be a mystery, but about how no-one can withstand endless questioning from an idiot. First proved 2400 years ago in Athens.…

They must have some stock phrases and words they use for gathering an overview for graphological analysis.

It is not as if HDPA has denied doing it…

Heh. Different treatment because he wasn't a suspect?

Oh, wait.

Soper told the Herald police had made…

(Sorry about Hager spelling, just know it rhymes with lager, and will take care to spell correctly in future)

+1

Possibly one of the side effects of trying to inculcate corporate management style into the public service.

Which on reflection is being generous. We are unlikely to ever know (ie proven rather than stated by a spokesperson) if…

Most likely they didn’t…

"Police will also be updating the research agreement, including removing any language that may be interpreted as restricting the independence of academic research.

“I want to stress that this was neither the intent nor purpose of the agreement."

Someone really needs…

Has anyone seen any details of what they're actually changing?

I think one aspect he didn't touch on which could also be of concern is the apparent rise of privately funded research institutions which are engineered to focus their research in a promotion of…

That’d be interesting. I came away from reading the Cave Creek Platform Commission of Inquiry disappointed that some people at the top of DOC weren’t held more…

This is true, but (like you and other here) I’m having trouble making it stack up. The Prime Minister, at least symbolically, has the ultimate public sector responsibility in the land, yet his salary is only…

Has an NZ government employee ever been held liable in this way, except when they’ve engaged in out and out fraud or malpractice? I don’t think Don Elder’s paying us back for any of the money he blew gambling on…

I agree. I also know that senior executives have some legal liability responsibilities that deserve compensation. And the some of the jobs they have to do are just shit.

But that might add up to $200k maybe $300k.

I really like…

Hear, hear. I don't think the PS should be paid…

The US caps salaries – nobody in the (federal)…

I can vaguely appreciate arguments that commercial competition pays absurdly ridiculous amounts to its CEOs and so government must compete, but where’s a Police Commissioner going to go and receive…

Well, machine translations and lazy pro-forma text search and replaces without proofreading do. Which is what looks like happened here. It's so mechanical that they will make up a bullshit boilerplate excuse that they actually have a computer program doing it.

So many types of wrong but. Gilbert needs others shouting for him, not hiding.

Yes, a surprising turn. Not for the first time I would like to know who wrote a Herald editorial – but in this particular case their reasons for anonymity…

https://twitter.com/GraemeEdgeler/status/669336496785063936
https://twitter.com/GraemeEdgeler/status/669337091101200384
https://twitter.com/GraemeEdgeler/status/669337547932241920
https://twitter.com/GraemeEdgeler/status/669337858642214912

This must be the thinnest-skinned bunch of Ministers we've ever had. Can't handle anyone saying embarrassing things. Diddums.

“While national curriculums and tests have been introduced since 2000, results are not published, there are no league tables, and so schools are not constantly worried about their reputation.…

Ditto. While Police can be a collective noun, expressions like "Police has" just sounds silly, as nobody speaks that way in the real world.

Today's ODT has the perfect example…

Call me a grammar nazi, but I find the use of "Police" as a singular noun in this release disturbing. Also the capitalisation. It may seem picky, but goes to state of mind, m'lud.

I knew that title would come in handy :-D
Go you!

Hypothetically, what would happen if Police attempted to veto someone's publication, but they went ahead and published anyway?

Would Police have much of a show in court if the…

All Jarrod needs to do is to get the wording checked by Parliamentary staff who deal with petitions…

Police even do it themselves

Police have been caught out tampering with South Auckland's burglary statistics,

Kypros Kypri seems to be the poster boy for the issue of academic gagging by government departments.

That it has taken so long for an academic to come forward shows how well the threat of withdrawn access has worked. The same dynamic is wrecking the accountability of our government…

True. I had assumed that he would have mentioned it if he had but assumptions are rarely gospel. Come to think of it though, the Gospel seems to assume a lot.

Me too. I know two people who were serving police officers and left the force for different reasons, mainly to do with the culture. There's probably a decent research project in this, finding out why people…

To me there are two separate issues here. One is that Dr Gilbert has been refused access to data for research. The other is…

That might be true if they were a private company. But they are The NZ Police, funded by taxpayers. As such they have no right to withhold data (except where privacy is an issue).

They…

Apparently not according to Manu Caddie an earlier poster.
I’ve been working closely with Police and local gangs but haven’t been denied any information requested

Because earlier comments have been…

A bit like the police in general, it goes along with “Policespeak”
“The accused was observed operating a motor vehicle on a public road whilst being brown, he assaulted a police officer by hitting the officer in the foot with his testicles in an attempt to evade…

If it wasn't so important to get it right this would be a popcorn moment.

…society?

That phrase and various others in the press release look like subjective opinions e.g.

research is accurate, balanced and constructive. Police reserves the right to discuss research findings with the academic…

Amusing definitional debate that will never end. Like "terrorist". Control the language, control the thought!! We've always been at war with gangs.

He will never pass through the core so don't be getting your hopes up there.
;-)

Why?

Except for this one time? Or was the limitation of access for Dr Gilbert from a different clause?

This sentence in particular seems very menacing. An academic is not an expert researcher and analyst, not even a person!

Police statement on academic research applications
Wednesday, 25 November 2015 – 1:40pm
National News
Statement – attribute to Mark Evans, Deputy Chief Executive, Strategy.

Police places a high value in academic research which provides evidence to improve Police policy and…

Police (and firemen,…

Criticising public bodies is an important part of my job – the Education Act defines one of my duties as being a "critic and conscience".

In this column and on my blog I have held to account the Police Commissioner (for saying a cop…

Citizens. Every time, citizens. Not civilians. Massive difference.
As a principle it is sound, but it is very definitely not what you have been arguing.

Yes.
And this, from the British Home Office... regarding surveillanceSurveillance by consent should be regarded as analogous to policing by consent. In the
British model of policing, police officers are citizens in uniform. They exercise their…

By whose definition? The definitions of civilian I can find all include both police and military personnel as the exceptional class, and many also include fire fighters. Even the International Committee of the Red Cross, promulgators of the laws of armed conflict, bundle…

But they are still civilians by definition and they work for us, we is the boss eh.

Ask them and find out.

On the face of it the original request for data that triggered this would be covered by OIA.
Is this police "contract" a new thing?

Or a s23 OIA request for reasons for a decision.

Presumably it wasn't a simple request for his own criminal record because he would know that already.

That would be great, but a backdown in Dr Gilbert's case isn't sufficient: the whole policy needs to go. It's completely unacceptable. As an academic who regularly uses government-sourced data, I would never sign an agreement like that. Earlier this year I was seeking…

* All advice and communications (including emails) on the development of that contract.
* A list of the occasions in the past year where police have identified "negative results" and sought to "improve [the] outcomes" under…

Actually quite plausible, if there's no tie between the time/case management system where staff record their time and the accounting system that tracks AR/AP. What possible utility is…

Yup. When I was working at the Drug Foundation we put in some OIA requests about the cost of drug-related operations. After ignoring it for a month, and then asking for an extension for another month, they…

Stuff is running this story as their national news lead entitled Police 'censor' researcher. That report includes this line.
Police had contacted Gilbert to say “that further…

Hopefully their reconsideration of their attitude to Jarrod Gilbert won't…

http://www.jarrodgilbert.com/blog/the-police-research-contract

Its absolutely horrifying.

Why would you think that? It's never been their history, nor is it something that anyone (police or otherwise) welcomes from the outside. I would not expect any organization to be happy about being…

I sometimes wonder if it's like the editor of the UK Indy and the Daily Mail jostling for the control stick.

Now he’s coming in to bat for Dr Gilbert. On closer inspection, DPF previously put out a rare mea culpa. He denies smearing Dr Gilbert, but first impressions…

Well, they're scheduled in the Ombudsmen's Act, but s13(7)(d) forbids the Ombudsman from investigating "any decision, recommendation, act, or omission of any constable", and the existing remedies…

And, perhaps even more notably, for placing it high on the Herald home page this…

Yes – and that's the core problem. We have a government agency behaving like…

This thing. We give the police a near-monopoly on the legal use of violence, forsaking the Hobbesian model for something a little more genteel. With great power,…

I hope that we don't have to haul Tony Fitzgerald out of retirement.

Agreed. And I can't help but feel that this is ever so counterproductive from the Police's perspective. It might be naïve of…

Not only did they publish his column, David Fisher also wrote a genuine article.

This is the really bewildering thing. You'd think the Police of all people would welcome sound research informing evidence-based policy that…

By this stage, of course, Farrar almost certainly knew he was wrong, but right and wrong is not his concern. His only concern is a political agenda – protect and promote the National party, no matter what the truth is. Deceive and…

It's apparently something they do the same to people who have worked in prisons, too. From a friend who's a sometime clinical psychologist:

__A variation of the same thing but if you've…

Except the police force is not a commercial company. They are public servants who fulfill a very specific and privileged role in society. That role needs constant scrutiny because of the power that…

The Police hold a lot of power in our society and the need for transparency and oversight is accordingly great. The Police actions are contrary to the principles of open government and the Official Information Act and must cease immediately.

I am even more…

Blocking academic research and perverting the OIA system undermines that trust in a critical area.

You don't get a better police force by preventing research into the success of their…

If I ever say anything so absurd, please feel free to redeem this voucher for one free slap. But being the cynical cuss that I…

http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/282617/how-cynical-has-nz-politics-become

On top of that, ministers now have political advisers who act as intermediaries with their departments. Their role is to identify potential political fish hooks for the minister in his or her portfolio area.
The introduction of a no-surprises policy by the previous Labour…

I do stuff with Ministry of Health data – they like to see the research before it's in the news (so they don't get blind sided)…

Sorry, I missed the bit where Labour has the power to instruct the Commissioner to stop censoring academics. Could you explain it to me, please?

Given the OIA doesn’t require a requestor to explicitly invoke the OIA when requesting information (and specifically says it's not necessary), but rather…

The current regime, Matthew?…

Easy for me to say, but they really should – if the University of Canterbury won’t stand up for the integrity of their academic work and public access…

In terms of support, might I suggest everyone buy his Gangs book? I shall do so now