Ethical police - oxymoronic?

Post date: Aug 06, 2012 10:8:51 AM

Hiya. Thinking about Mark right now I think he will be starting new job about now. Hope it lives up to all your hopes and expectations. V exciting.

On my return from Auckland tonight I went to a Spirited Converation, Kim Workman speaking about whether Police in NZ had to live by ethical standards.

Kim is a fascinating man, was a policeman in Masteron in the 1960s, moved up through the Prison Service till he was eventually the head of the Proson Service in the late 1980s, then an Ombudsman, then the head of Maori Affairs (before it became Te Puni Kokiri). As he was nearing retirement he took on the roles NationalManager for Prisoners Aidand when he did retire 10 years ago he set up the re:thinking crime group and the faith based unit at the Rimutuka Proson. His energy for restorative justice Is amazing. Tonight he was asked to reflect on whether there is ethics on policing. He had an interesting perspective on how this has changed over 50 years. In his view the most ethical period of policing was in the 1980s when discretion and diversion were more widely used. He also talked about the changes in police training, when he undertook training in the late 1950s it took 18 months as a Police cadet. As part of that training the group engaged in moral discussions on the implications of police mistakes - using historical examples. Quite a bit different than the 18weeks the current training is. Interestingly prison cadets shared training with Police - but their training now is 6 weeks. Not much time for ethics in 6 weeks.

Nana came with me and loved it.