Why do the Police always spy on unions and not the bankers?
Far be it for me to be critical of the NZ Police force, but shouldn't we all be a wee bit more concerned with the vast abuses of power the Police seem to be getting caught out committing on an almost monthly basis now?
It's bad enough that NZ gave the NZ Police vast new search and surveillance powers where they will be able to break into our homes and spy on us with the barest of judicial oversights.
It's bad enough the Police have given themselves a military drone with zero debate.
It's bad enough that the Police collude with the Banks to molest your credit rating.
It's bad enough the Police tried to subvert the power of the Court by including them in a legal masquerade to create a false back story for an undercover cop in the Red Devils case.
It's bad enough that the Police blew $14million on the Urewera fiasco and had retrospective legislation rammed through Parliament to make their illegal spying legal.
It's bad enough that the NZ Police have become the puppets of Corporate Hollywood and the FBI in the Kim Dotcom meltdown.
And let's not forget the allegation that Rob Gilchrist sent the Police naked photos of young activists with absolutely no word from them that they destroyed those images or thought it was acceptable for a Police payed spy to be sending naked photos of teen activists.
That's all pretty bad, but consider the revelations this weekend...
Police software mines social media
Police have developed a specialist software tool which mines social media for information.
Police paid witnesses in murder case shock
Experts on criminology convinced an innocent man has been serving a life sentence for 20 years for his alleged role in notorious rape and killing in 1992. Police paid witnesses who gave critical evidence in a rape and murder case for which an apparently innocent man has been in jail for 20 years.
Spy's claim: A decade of deception
The details of Rob Gilchrist's double life infiltrating protest groups and leading trade unions are contained in a draft claim for more than $500,000 from police for lost income, for humiliation, distress, and loss of reputation.
...so in a weekend we find out the Police are now spying on social media, used paid informants to frame an innocent man and they spied on Unions.
I hate to point this out to a cop worshiping culture like NZ, but the NZ Police are out of control and the checks and balances meant to keep the buggers in line don't exist.
The only ray of light is the IPCAs desire to launch their own investigations against the Police.
I am involved in the current complaint against the NZ Police in their bullying and intimidation of Steven McIntyre that led to his suicide last year. One of the interesting developments in that process is that the NZ Police launch their own investigation the moment IPCA are involved. This investigation by the Police has nothing to do with looking into the wrongs committed by the Police, the investigation is to generate evidence to hide police abuse. Their investigation runs parallel with IPCAs and the threat that was used in the McIntyre case to gain access to witnesses was that there would be no investigation by IPCA if everyone didn't agree to participate in the Police investigation.
This was a falsehood I quickly pointed out and the Police back tracked. If a person is not confident and knows their rights, the current process to investigate the Police can be manipulated despite the best attempts by IPCA.
If IPCA were able to launch their own investigations into the Police, it would mean the Police didn't have the opportunity to white wash or interfere in it.
Many Police are good cops who do a thankless job well, but there are also corrupt buggers in the Police force and the massive amounts of power they have amassed without any checks or balances is not healthy for a democracy.
Criticism of the Police is not anti-authority whinging, it is the responsibility of every citizen in a free country.
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posted by Bomber @ 11:22 am
3 comments
3 Comments:
A guy I know (Mr X) last week was accused by Police for stealing a car, all of which is absolute nonsense.
The Police claim they found a cigarette butt in the stolen vehicle and matched DNA on it to him. The car was stolen in Masterton and found in Taupo during July 2012. The court case commences this week.
This allegation is nothing but sheer garbage. There are numerous witnesses that can vouch for his innocence, including myself. At the time he was in Wellington looking for work, attended birthday celebrations of his brother-in-law and helped a friend install a slide door in his house.
Living in the Wairarapa/Manawatu, where employment opportunities are dismal, WINZ in all their infinite wisdom cut his benefit while he was in Wellington looking for work for two or three weeks. He couldn’t afford to go home which is why he made an appointment with WINZ in Wellington to discuss the situation and seek funds to return home. Therefore WINZ is another witness.
What was particularly ridiculous was the way in which the Police approached him with the charges.
Four officers arrived Thursday last week in the afternoon, three male one female. The three male officers were cool but the female officer approached him and aggressively asked “Where’s the cannabis”. He presented to them the one cannabis plant he has and then received the news of the stolen car. The Police searched the property and found nothing else incriminating.
The small plot of land on which he lives with his brother and owned by their parents, was raided three years ago for cannabis cultivation, the brother was the guilty party at that time, Mr X was not resident but working in Wellington. The sentence for that case was community service. These events occurred about this same time three years ago.
Like three years ago, recently there have been light aircraft flying in erratic flight paths around the area which suggest a search for drugs.
Is this what it’s now coming to? Police casually searching properties they suspect for growing drugs however minor a past offence may have been? When not satisfied with the find you’re accused of a crime you didn’t commit? What is the motivation for this? Are they desperate for drugs or prisoners to fill their new corporate gulags? Or are they desperate to seize assets?
While some people enjoy their cannabis and cultivate it for personal use; with the increased Police powers, particularly under this government, I advise those cannabis enthusiasts out there not to grow it because the cost today is far too great. You can wind up possibly finding yourself in a working prison or lose assets. Another of life’s pleasures lost because of rising authoritarianism.
From recollection, up to 2012 Police seized about $74 million worth of assets, including three or four farms due to drugs produced by “organised crime”, an “organised criminal group” being three people who know each other. Correct me if I’m wrong.
The story about the Police social media software, I find strange. It isn’t exactly a revelation made this weekend; a story detailing this software was published in The Dominion Post 19 December 2012.
'Handy tool' lets police monitor group trends (19/12/12)
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/8098006/Handy-tool-lets-police-monitor-group-trends
Idiot/Savant on “No Right Turn” pointed out the concerns with the system on 20 December 2012.
Big Brother is Watching You (20/12/12)
http://norightturn.blogspot.co.nz/2012/12/big-brother-is-watching-you.html#links
Another worthwhile story I can remember reading from The New Zealand Herald.
High tech planes fight crime (17/01/13)
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10859635
Air force planes kitted out with high-tech military equipment are being used to help investigate crimes.
[...]
A Royal New Zealand Air Force publication revealed one of the aircraft had been kitted out with full motion video gear to assist with the Rugby World Cup - although it was never used.
The Herald sought further details of how the plane was used in domestic policing operations. The air force refused to supply details, saying it could hamper efforts to detect, investigate and prevent offences. Details could also affect the ability of people facing charges to receive a fair trial.
Defence chief Lieutenant General Rhys Jones said the requesting agencies were responsible for ensuring surveillance warrants were obtained and that it was within the law. He said the NZ Defence Force was not covered by the legal definition of "law enforcement agency" under laws which controlled powers of search and surveillance but was "mindful of the need for compliance" with the law when helping others.
[...]
Police headquarters refused to reveal details, saying operational support from the military was a long-standing arrangement. A spokesman said: "Such requests are made on a case-by-case basis and are subject to approval at senior level by both police and NZDF, and must comply with all legislative requirements."
Brought to my attention thanks to Idiot/Savant on “No Right Turn” 17 January 2013:
Our military is spying on us (17/01/12)
http://norightturn.blogspot.co.nz/2013/01/our-military-is-spying-on-us.html#links
The Herald articles about the Police software and Air Force aircraft used to assist Police are both by David Fisher, one of the few assets of the Herald that make reading that publication worthwhile.
Little strange how he published the article of the Police software this weekend, even though it was present in the media on 19 December 2012. His 17 January 2013 article also alludes to it:
What other surveillance tools do the police use?
Remote-control drone aircraft have been used on some operations. They also use a social media scanning tool called Signal, which lifts publicly accessible details from the internet. Other technology includes automatic licence plate scanning and cross-referencing with police computers.
I’m amazed that without assistance from the blogs, stories such as these can escape my daily browse of the news online. Do the media intentionally bury them in obscure places? A testament to the power of the blogs.
This government has demonstrated their authoritarian vigour by empowering the Police as we’ve witnessed.
Excellent post, any chance of having Idiot/Savant contributing to The Daily Blog?
Notice how the Police Signal software and NZAF Orion upgrades were supposedly used as protective measures for the 2011 Rugby World Cup. Recall at that time the Occupy Wall Street movement and revolution spreading throughout the Middle East, social media such as Facebook playing a major role.
Regardless of the flawed polls by the media of National’s popularity, the reality is many are facing difficulties due to this government. Are these surveillance systems tools to prevent a Kiwi equivalent of the Arab Spring? Is the government that paranoid?
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