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WANT TO HELP? If you have bothered to check this page out, there is a fair chance that you are worried by the lawless state we appear to have reached. When I was younger, in the early sixties there were virtually no robberies. It was big news for days if a bank was robbed. In fact, I was very close to being shot by an armed robber when the Avondale bank was robbed. After he was released from Prison the offender was involved in a shoot out with the Australian Police. He lost the gunfight! Since then, the population has roughly doubled but crime has increased disproportionately. Charges of kidnapping were unheard of. Recently an offender was charged with 39 charges of kidnapping, aggravated robbery and demanding with menaces. The possible penalty was many times 14 years in prison. He received less than ten years and with the new Sentencing and Parole Reform Bill 2002 the Labour Party really went soft. They allowed parole after 1/3rd of the sentence. The offender will be out within 3.66 years. Not bad for about as serious a crime there is short of murder. Worse still, the Justice Ministry notes on Clause 8 of that bill states that it will give ”clear sentencing guidance that sentences near the maximum should be imposed for offences near the worst instance of their type”. 39 charges as above is about as bad as it can get. 3.66 years is a long way from being near the maximum of 14 years. Somewhere along the line, the whole Justice system needs revisiting. Is it the Judges, the Justice Ministry or the Government? It is hardly the Police – they struggle on and are fighting a losing battle. It would appear that there is no fear of consequences as there are very few consequences. No one has drawn a line in the sand and said, “if you cross that line, you will not enjoy the consequences”. I believe we should not introduce any laws retrospectively but that we should give ample and clear warning that after a certain date any crimes or offences committed will have definite consequences. To quote a retired Detective Sergeant I know, “Crime will not cease until being an offender becomes as unpleasant and dangerous as it is to be a victim”. So, how can you help? Writing to the Editor is one way. Members of Parliament watch the letters to the Editor, especially in their local paper. I have written many letters and emailed them to many papers over the last few months. About five letters of my letters per month are published in the N.Z. Herald and many others in papers that I am unable to monitor. If you wish to help in this area, I would need to know the details of your local paper/s. You and I could then work out how you could take over this role locally. It is really easy and you could be making a valuable contribution to fighting crime. Papers are more likely to publish a letter from a local person. Contact with local Members of Parliament or candidates. They don’t want to be off side with the majority and although they will all say “We will work toward better law and order”, very few will actually do anything constructive or say how they will do it. Pressure needs to be brought to bear both in getting them to commit to promises of what they will do and then follow up with pressure for them to perform. Although there are some good people within the current Government, overall, they have been pretty useless on the law and order issues. We are going through a political correctness phase that does not have any bearing on reality and if we are not careful, anarchy will prevail. You don’t have to be outgoing or a public speaker to help. Make contact through the “Contact us” button and we can talk by email or phone, whichever suits you. We very much need people out of Auckland to help (Aucklanders are welcome as well) and any age group or background can be useful as long as you want more effective law and order. Don’t we all? Radio Talk back is another area. Although I am not afraid to speak publicly and have done a considerable amount of this I can understand hesitancy to speak publicly. Those of you who can speak publicly, here is an opportunity to further the cause. It is all very well to clamour for stronger law and order generally, but here we have a method of making it effective. A few years after implementation, there will be less crime and fewer people in prison. Isn’t that what we want? Even talking to your friends or using the “Tell a friend” button on this site will help. If you want to help, to be part of the reformation of our legal system, to make it safer for everyone, – talk to me. We can do it and it won’t take all that long. Thanks, Adrian
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