The horrendous attack on Senior Constable Bruce Mellor has conveniently been used as an excuse to call for wider arming of our police.
And God forbid our media actually subject this idea to basic logical analysis (even when the Police Commissioner himself seems to get it. Doesn’t stop him calling for more guns in cop cars though.)
So here it is, as simply as I can put it.
Scenario 1: Bruce Mellor has gun in lockbox in car. He doesn’t get it out because it’s a basic freaking traffic stop.
Bruce Mellor still gets attacked from behind by young thugs with a machete, Bruce Mellor still ends up in hospital.
Scenario 2: Bruce Mellor gets gun out of car for routine erratic-driving stop.
We now live in a South Africa-esque environment where cops treat every interaction with civilians as a potential gunfight. Young people who are randomly and viciously violent continue to be randomly and viciously violent towards lone cops.
Scenario 3: Bruce Mellor doesn’t pull his gun at every opportunity, but vicious youths in car are “more aware” that as a cop he may be armed.
Apparently this is the entire point of giving cops more access to guns. Congratulations, O’Connor, Broad and Collins, because in this one the attackers don’t reach for a machete, they get their own guns and shoot Bruce Mellor in the back.
Scenario 4: Greg O’Connor/Judith Collins fantasyland edition
Citizens are humbled by authority of mighty police force! Curfews for all! Bow before your uniformed gods lest they smite you down! Paradise on earth ensues, at least for smug white privileged people! New Zealanders “grow up” and just come to accept Police shootings so Greg O’Connor’s gun/authority-boner may be satisfied! Beatings shall continue until morale improves, and then having been demonstrated an effective morale-booster shall continue on! ALL HAIL GLORIOUS POLICE STATE OF AOTEAROA/NEW ZEALAND, LAND OF THE LONG WHITE PEPPER-SPRAY RESIDUE.
I do not understand how your average dog-whistled does not get the concept of escalation.
Next thing you know, the cops will be needing nukes to keep the general populace at bay…
Taking bets as to when the gun will be used against lone copper.
I thought this option was quite viable:
Bruce Mellor gets gun out of car for routine erratic-driving stop. Once he turns his back on the driver/passenger they bash him to the ground smack him with their machete. At this point they remove his gun and shoot him dead.
Result – one dead cop, two idiots accommodated at the taxpayer expense for 20 years each.
Let’s not arm the police.
Another very valid point, AC! You and Stef were clearly thinking alike in the comment queue.
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I love this. If only the Granny Herald would publish this instead of their usual shit.
In my dreams! Well, not Granny Herald obviously, but I’ll take what I’m given …
/chuckle
Damn you’re brilliant!
And I thinking along the same lines, only less sarcastically due to happy pills. Also, we already have armed cops, who are trained not only how to use guns, but also when to use and not use them, and with the recent case, a second cop would’ve been an utterly better idea than a gun.
But Niiiiiiiick, extra cops would coooooooost too much and it’s not economical and we all know that public safety is actually not as important as balancing the books. Which this government can’t do anyway.
(so I’m late…)
Who needs balanced books when you can just saddle the next Labour government with a dysfunctional mess?
But yeah, the whole arming cops will solve x is possibly a cynical attempt to get out of funding rural policing properly on top of the other funding and police culture issues.
Greg O’Connor – if anyone deserved a good bashing it is him! All technological innovation given to the police have had a net result in increasing the sophistication of the criminals.
Sort poverty out and the crime will reduce.
I certainly don’t advocate anyone “getting the bash”, Ian – I just wish our media would stop taking seriously anyone whose point of view is blatantly SHUT UP AND OBEY YOUR UNIFORMED MASTERS.
Initally I read that as SHUT UP AND OBEY YOUR “UNINFORMED” MASTERS – had to read it twice. Actually, I think what I read is closer to the truth.
It works on all the levels.