Notable Policing Events
During the 1981 Springbok tour, the Police formed two riot squads known as Red Squad and Blue Squad to control anti-apartheid protesters who laid siege to rugby union fields where the touring team was playing. Police were described as being heavy-handed with their batons as they tried to 'subdue' protesters opposed to the Springbok tour. The tour had a significant effect on public perceptions of the police who since this time, "have never been viewed with the same general benign approval".
In July 1985, the New Zealand Police arrested two French Security Service operatives after the Rainbow Warrior was bombed and sunk in Auckland harbour. The rapid arrest was attributed to the high level of public support for the investigation.
In October 2007 at least 17 people were arrested in a series of raids under the Suppression of Terrorism Act and the Arms Act 1983. The raids targeted a range of political activists allegedly involved in illegal firearms activity. The case dragged on for nearly four years and cost taxpayers millions of dollars. Much of the surveillance evidence was found to be gained illegally and charges against all but four defendants were dropped. The remaining four were charged with firearms offences, found guilty and sentenced to terms of imprisonment and home detention.
On 20 January 2012, the police flew in by helicopter and arrested Kim Dotcom and three others in Coatesville Auckland, in an armed raid on Dotcom's house following United States indictments against him for online piracy via his internet file sharing company, Megaupload. Assets worth $17 million were seized including eighteen luxury cars, giant screen TVs and works of art. According to Dotcom, about 80 police officers were involved in the operation; the New Zealand police claimed it was between 20 and 30. The incident became controversial when a district court judge ruled that that the warrants issued for the property seizures were invalid and it turned out the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) had broken the law when asked by police to spy on Dotcom.
Read more about this topic: New Zealand Police
Famous quotes containing the words notable, policing and/or events:
“Every notable advance in technique or organization has to be paid for, and in most cases the debit is more or less equivalent to the credit. Except of course when it’s more than equivalent, as it has been with universal education, for example, or wireless, or these damned aeroplanes. In which case, of course, your progress is a step backwards and downwards.”
—Aldous Huxley (1894–1963)
“Some days your hat’s off to the full-time mothers for being able to endure the relentless routine and incessant policing seven days a week instead of two. But on other days, merely the image of this woman crafting a brontosaurus out of sugar paste and sheet cake for her two-year-old’s birthday drives a stake through your heart.”
—Melinda M. Marshall (20th century)
“Reporters are not paid to operate in retrospect. Because when news begins to solidify into current events and finally harden into history, it is the stories we didn’t write, the questions we didn’t ask that prove far, far more damaging than the ones we did.”
—Anna Quindlen (b. 1952)