Shaping our minds. More racism from the police. (pn658)

(PHOTO: RICHARD TINDILLER/RNZ)

 If you were casually walking down the street and a policeman photographed you or  asked you to take a DNA test, what would you think?  

 I'd have thought: What the hell's going on here? There must be a mistake.  I've done nothing wrong.  

 Now, for another question.  If you were shown an identity kit of a person photographed or stopped, what do you think the chances are they were: Māori? Pākehā? Chinese?

Let's try another.  The incident is reported on TV. How many of your fellow citizens would express any surprise that the person was Māori? I suspect, very few, because we all "know" Māori commit crimes.  But we would be surprised had they been a violinist, a businessman or a school dux.

It could be called conditioning or brainwashing or mind control. The shaping of our minds to draw certain conclusions.  Some might also call it racism. -- ACW

The Spinoff reports that research released by justice advocacy group JustSpeak shows that racist, structural bias is still a huge problem in New Zealand Police. Researchers found that police are 1.8 times more likely to take legal action against Māori than Pākehā, and seven times more likely to charge a Māori person with a crime, even when that person has no police or corrections record either.

The blog No Right Turn reports these on the DNA and photograph incidents in this posting:

A decade ago, the police were abusing their power to coerce DNA samples from young Māori. 

Today, they're abusing their power to coerce photographs.

Police in Wairarapa have admitted to illegally taking photos of youths after RNZ alerted them to multiple reports of officers stopping and photographing young Māori on the street. Whānau describe their sons walking alone in broad daylight, when police have approached and insisted they take their picture.

Its the usual story: people minding their own business being "asked" for a photograph by uniformed cops, with an explicit threat that if they didn't agrees they'd be arrested. 

In such circumstances, police claims that these photographs are given by consent are meaningless, especially as they are targeting young people who legally cannot consent to being questioned without a parent, caregiver, lawyer, or other adult present. As for the police's "justification" the law they cite - s214 of the Oranga Tamariki Act 1989, which sets out the strong presumption against arresting children and young people - seems to be of dubious applicability. 

Instead, it just looks like outright racism: treating all young Māori as criminal suspects, regardless of whether there is any evidence or not. And that is simply not something we should tolerate from the police.

Related

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Race Relations Commissioner: racism alive and well.