PRESS RELEASE
LIBERTARIANZ PARTY
Law & Order

Clark is Wrong on Police Inquiry

Helen Clark's police inquiry is off to a very poor start according to Libertarianz Law & Order Spokesman Robert Palmer. ''Clark blunders from issue to non-issue,'' says Palmer, ''confusing the roles of the criminal investigation and the politically-appointed commission of inquiry.''

Asked if the commission would be wide enough to consider the involvement of politicians, Helen Clark said there had been "no political role." Palmer says this is just plain wrong. "Public confidence in the police has been eroded more by the actions of politicians than by the rank-and-file members of the police."

The culture of the police does not require a commission of inquiry, says Palmer, just some honesty from government. "Can they ignore the results of the creeping nannyism of the last forty years? Speed cameras; quotas; gun laws; drug laws and any other number of victim-less crimes enshrined in law - the list just goes on and on. Taken together these laws force the police to act against otherwise law-abiding citizens, driving a wedge between the police and the public, and engendering a laager mentality amongst the policing community. The Nanny State is not just overbearing, it is fatal to the realtionship between police and public."

Attorney-General Margaret Wilson states that the terms of reference have yet to be drawn up. Palmer suggests she should ignore the confused Clark utterances on the inquiry and ensure the term of references include the political actions that have served to alienate the police from the public.

END

for more information contact: Robert Palmer LIBERTARIANZ SPOKESMAN ON LAW & ORDER Phone: 021 635 701, e-mail: rpalmer@xtra.co.nz

Libertarianz: More Freedom - Less Government http://www.libertarianz.org.nz

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