New Zealand Police Manual ala Wiki

The New Zealand Police force, according to a write-up by the NY Times Magazine in its 7th Annual Year in Ideas article, is using a Wiki-style website to enlist the help of Kiwis (people from New Zealand) to rewrite its antiquated (1958) police practices manual.

This is great because who can complain about police tactics if their tactics are specified by the people? The article mentioned one item sure to make it to the final version: police recruits must be 25 years of age because only then is the brain fully mature. Of course, here in the U.S. we can add such things as, "if you don't see a gun, you do not fire your weapon." Or, if the suspect takes off, you jut down the license plate number, car description, etc. and you pass it along to neighboring municipalities who will then do some old-fashioned police work and "tail" the suspect to his/her home.

The Wiki "police manual" is not binding on legislators because, yes, they have this innate sense of what's best for the people who elected them, or so they think. Anyway, it's a step in the right direction.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

New Jersey's Department of Personnel

I'm 57 years old. That alone makes it very hard to penetrate the job market. However, NJDOP has a website where you can browse available jobs and submit an application along with $15. I did that and I waited and waited for the process to reach the stage where the actual hiring agency would give out interviews for the position. 2 months into that last stage (the DOP said that the hiring agency had 90 days in which to interview candidates), I got anxious and decided to call the municipality. They were supposed to pick from the top 3 candidates but they told me in no uncertain terms that they were going to give it to "the person who was already doing the job." When I questioned the ethics and legality of their decision, I was told that they really hadn't finalized things. This person was hoping that I would go away but, sadly, NJ is a state where ageism and/or crony-ism is condoned. Stay tuned, I'm waiting to see if I get an interview and if I don't get the job,...
Read more

Size and other Characteristics Matter in Trumpville

Why was Comey fired? He towered over Trump, that's why. It's a no-no. That other dude that knew his job well was tall, and I suspect the administration knew all the time of his spousal abuse history but it only became a problem for him when his height got on the president's nerve, OUT. This height obsession is a conflation of the President's own tallness and NY real estate where the bigger the edifice, the bigger your status. Look at whom he holds on to--Sessions, plenty of reason to fire him but he's all so diminutive that Mr. Trump feels he might be charged with child abuse if he were to act against him; besides, Sesssions takes it on the chin and will forever hold the distinct "honor" of being the first mainstream Republican to embrace the President's candidacy. This represents two pluses. The short and tough-looking General Mattis stays while the bigger and better looking Tillerson goes. Mustaches: if you have one, you're out but a whit...
Read more

I Doubt My Mother-in-Law will ever get Covid Even at 90+

You see, she has never been a germaphobe and that means her immune system is tip top. When you're not a germaphobe, you subject yourself to all manner of germs that immunize you against similar organisms. My German mother-in-law cleans her home meticulously but she has no compunction with sticking her hands into the sewer and unclogging it by hand. "But Midge, I have a snake for that. Ah, what's the big deal, she says to me." Never argue with your mother-in-law. When your mother tells you to wash your hands before supper, is she doing you a disfavor? I think so. In countries with many parasites or in our present pandemic, you want to wash them off your hands but, if not, you want lots and lots of germs to keep your immune system on guard. This brings me to the factoid that Women are less likely to get or die from Covid. Duh, obviously, who subject themselves to more germs as a parent? The one who plays in the parlor with the kids or the one who cleans their diaper...
Read more