Well seen as this at least the third time these cops have been accused there are probly others . I was wondering after the march up queen st whitch I joined late due to running late and trying keep the berka on .
I went dressed as supressed information hence the berka. The thing is I overherd someone saying that there were at least another 13 cops facing charges so is it the same guys or is there 13 other cops, This would not suprise me .
I have been wondering for awile why I have been geeting no where with my comlaints now I no . I just found a picture of a cop in uniform His brother got at me when I was a kid, so I have been complaining to the very people who are suposed to help I no loger have any faith in the system aspeshily after wot they have done to louise nicholas I feel very hert for her

Not everyone is saying this, and I am happy for that, but those of you who are saying “this should have been a conviction even if the evidence was shoddy, the witnesses were less than you’d hope for, and so on” should ask yourselves: if it was you on the stand, would that be acceptable? If it was your life in the balance, would “we’re sure she’s guilty, so hang her!” be good enough? Is the fact that the cops had an unfair advantage reason in and of itself to ignore due process? If so, would it be if YOU were accused of having an unfair advantage?

I’m all for better forensics, institutional reform of the police (a huge deal, and not just for rape cases,) and other things that will make a concrete difference without requiring that we take unreasonable risks of convicting innocent people by throwing out due process and so on. I think the era of unpunished rape is coming to a close in the first world for technological reasons, albeit too late and too slowly, and I’m very happy to see this coming along. I am not in favor of throwing away basic protections in our legal system just to get the result someone is looking for. Ever.

(An aside about that technology: in addition to the obvious DNA testing we all know about, we’re rapidly making progress towards a day when our mastery of our biology will allow us to eliminate STDs and control pregnancy more or less at will. This will obviate the condom, which won’t upset anyone I know. The particular upside for rape is, it means rapists WILL leave physical evidence even if they don’t want to. I have a feeling the rape rate will drop dramatically, and the conviction rate go up correspondingly.)

Nyk

Women fail to report rapes
27 May 2006
By YVONNE MARTIN

The negative attitudes of police officers towards rape complaints and fears of a bruising court trial are putting women off reporting rape.

Police have recognised that women not using the criminal justice system is a major concern and are setting up a specialist squad to deal with rape cases in a bid to improve their image.

The initiative comes as the Commission of Inquiry into police conduct, investigating the handling of the Louise Nicholas case and other matters, is extended for the fourth time until September 30.

Prime Minister Helen Clark announced the inquiry in February 2004 and it was due to report next week.

A spokesman for Internal Affairs Minister Rick Barker said the latest extension was granted to ensure the report was “robust” and complete.

A special report by The Weekend Press, published in today’s Mainlander, has found that women are avoiding and dropping out of the criminal justice system at phenomenally high rates.

Support groups estimate that only one in 10 rapes is notified, and only a fraction go to court.

Victoria University criminologist Dr Jan Jordan said the doubting attitudes of officers dealing with women reporting rape complaints were a factor in the high rates of attrition.

Jordan, who has done extensive research on rape and police practices, said a culture of disbelief runs through the force, tainting how it deals with complaints.

Officers trained as sexual-assault investigators have told her that they believe up to 80 per cent of rape complaints police receive are false.

“If the expectation is there that, chances are, a complaint is more likely to be false than true, that is going to be conveyed non-verbally, even if not verbally, to any complainant coming in,” said Jordan.

“Some of the police will say, `We are not going to say that to her’, but there are other ways that that scepticism gets conveyed ““ by their body language, the stance, the way in which they ask the questions and what they ask.”

Nicholas struggled to get her rape complaint from the 1980s actioned, but her case was more complex than most as the allegations were against police officers.

Assistant Police Commissioner Clint Rickards and former policemen Brad Shipton and Bob Schollum were acquitted in March of charges of raping her.

But a second woman has emerged with historic sexual-abuse allegations from the 1980s against the same men, and they will stand trial again.

The police’s new national co-ordinator of adult sexual assault and child abuse, Detective Senior Sergeant Neil Holden, did not dispute Jordan’s findings.

He agreed police had to be seen as more receptive and approachable to encourage women to report sexual assaults.

“We need to tidy it up to say we are really addressing the matter, we are wanting to make it a lot better, so bring more work to us,” he said.

“We need to make sure our processes are very clear, very transparent ““ there is no secrecy behind them.”

Holden also hoped the sexual-assaults investigation unit about to be launched in Auckland would set a new standard of professionalism. A sergeant and four detectives would work alongside community agencies.

Dr Kim McGregor, director of Rape Prevention Education (formerly Rape Crisis Auckland), said her group had pushed for years for a full-time, ring-fenced squad, similar to those investigating child abuse.

“I have worked in this field for 20 years. While there has been some changes made over that time, in practice not very much has changed for survivors of sexual violence,” she said.

Daniel Rae, one of two activists involved in last month’s Christchurch rally in support of Nicholas, has been questioned by police over the distribution of pamphlets containing suppressed information about the case.

Rae gave a statement and said police indicated they would be laying charges in relation to the alleged breach of suppression. He would fight any charges.

Friday May 26, 2006
By Nicola Boyes

The three men acquitted of raping Louise Nicholas face another High Court trial in relation to alleged sexual offending against another woman.

Assistant Police Commissioner Clint Rickards and former policemen Brad Shipton and Bob Schollum are alleged to have committed the crimes during the 1980s.

The three were acquitted by a High Court jury in March of 20 charges, including the alleged rape, sexual violation and indecent assault of Mrs Nicholas when she was a Rotorua teenager.

The Herald supported the right to publish the fact that the three men are to face another trial before the High Court at Auckland.

The complainant, who has name suppression, is a different woman from Mrs Nicholas.

In a reserved judgment released yesterday, Justice Tony Randerson has allowed the media to publish the fact of another trial.

However, extensive suppression orders remain in force surrounding the upcoming case and the Nicholas trial.

All that can be said is that the case relates to allegations of sexual offending by all three men against another woman in the 1980s.

A trial date is yet to be set.

The editor of the Herald, Tim Murphy, said the judge’s ruling was a victory for the public’s right to know and to understand what went on in the courts. “The Court of Appeal has made it clear that matters before the courts ought to start from a position of openness.

“The public’s right to know what happens in court should only be curtailed when publicity would demonstrably prejudice the case.”

Mr Murphy said the “complex web of suppressions” had been more damaging to the interests of justice than it had been effective in preserving the rights of the accused.

Lifting the suppression on the fact of a further trial would help remove speculation on the case.

The acquittals in the Nicholas case set off a storm of protest, with women’s groups distributing information that the court had suppressed.

Discussion threads were started on websites and public marches and demonstrations were held.

Rickards, who has had a meteoric rise through police ranks, from undercover police officer to Auckland district commander, has been stood down from duties since he was charged last year.

He has been studying law at the University of Auckland.

After the verdicts in March it was said that discussions were to begin regarding Rickards’ future employment, with Deputy Commissioner Lyn Provost and Rickards’ lawyer, John Haigh, QC, holding talks.

Mr Haigh could not be reached last night.

Police spokesman Jon Neilson told the Herald that Rickards would remain stood down from duties.

“The court process takes precedent. Nothing changes,” Mr Neilson said.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10383627

Internal Affairs Commission of Inquiry into Police Conduct

http://www.confidentialforum.govt.nz/diawebsite.nsf/wpg_URL/Services-Commissions-of-Inquiry-Commission-of-Inquiry-into-Police-Conduct?OpenDocument

23/02/2006) The Commission of Inquiry`s Reporting Date has been extended until 31 May 2006. Link here to a copy of the New Zealand Gazette Notice of the Order in Council

It’s hard to know what else to say since no-one wants to give these sleazebags any excuse to provide a judge with an ‘out’, but I must say that when this is all over it would be interesting to hear why the prosecution and the courts agreed to let this saga be prosecuted at separate trials.

I’ve never heard of any other defendant up on a mob of charges for the same offence be allowed to divide them up like this and put a fence enforced by nearly blanket suppression around each trial and complainant.

Imagine how much it would cost if the next person charged with serial burglary or bankrobbery insists on a separate jury trial for each robbery with total suppression on the trials lest his/her name become so familiar in the court pages it may prejudice a jury.

Another victim…..

Revealed: Louise Nicholas accused face sex trial over new woman

5.00pm Thursday May 25, 2006

The three men acquitted of the rape of Louise Nicholas face another trial this year in relation to alleged sexual offending against another woman.

Assistant Police Commissioner Clinton John Tukotahi Rickards and former police officers Bradley Keith Shipton and Robert Francis Schollum are alleged to have committed the crimes during the 1980s.

The Herald won the right to tell the public about the second trial by going to the High Court.

In a reserved judgement, revealed this afternoon, Justice Tony Randerson allowed the paper to report limited details about the case.

The complainant, who has name suppression, is a different woman from Louise Nicholas. Mrs Nicholas’ allegations of rape were considered by a High Court jury in Auckland in March.

The jury in that case found the three men not guilty on a series of historic charges of sexual violation and indecent assault against Mrs Nicholas.

The acquittals set off a storm of protest, with one women’s group distributing court-suppressed information about the three accused.

Extensive suppression orders surrounding the Louise Nicholas case and the upcoming High Court case remain in force.

* Tomorrow’s New Zealand Herald will carry more details about the case.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10383514

- the following High Court BOOK DESTRUCTION judgement deeply disturbs me -

http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/dominionpost/0,2106,3671187a6479,00.html

This book was promoted in NZ public domain and media when it was launched etc

It is time our laws are changed and victims are treated with some kind of respect. This is not a subject to be treated lightly and the victims have to live with it for the rest of their lives, while the cops carry on with their daily duties.

I was extremely proud to be a part of the march on Sunday and hope that in some way it might make a difference, or at least bring the issue to peoples attention.

That’s like if a guy walks up to a girl, grabs his crotch and says, “will you help me with this?” and she’s repulsed, that means she’s sexually repressed.

It’s scary how sexism and misogyny are entrenched in law enforcement, then people wonder why they have so much difficulty reporting violent crimes to them, as women. It explains in large part, why LE officers commit violent crimes against women themselves. The sad thing, that you can be in the States or in New Zealand and it’s all the same.

Te hia nei, te kai te manawa oo teeraa pookokohua, hamuti, aia kai te panapana!!! Ruuruu te upoko nei ki te ripa ki te ripa.
Kia heke mai te toto i ngaa paapaaringa!!!
Tiikape te para ki te kuri.
POOKOKOHUA!!!

Translation:

“This desire,
is to eat the beating heart of that low life cursed one,
that human excrement,
shaking the head from side to side,
allowing the blood to descend down the cheeks,
throwing aside the leftovers/scraps to the dog.”

I posted this, in response to some misogynist comments I received:

I saw this posted comment on my blog one morning by a regular visitor, “B. Fife”. He has made comments indicating that he is a Riverside Police Department officer in the past. This latest comment, well second to latest, is no different. Well, except the fact that he dropped the LE title from his moniker this time around.

Anonymous said…

Dear Mary,

Friday, April 28, 2006 6:25:30 PM

One of the scariest things about this comment, is that “B. Fife” is absolutely correct. I have been walking through the Eastside more than a few times in the past several weeks. I have been wearing blue jeans, albeit not the same pair, and on several occasions, I have been wearing not a purple sweatshirt, but a sweater. It is purple knit, buttoned-down and one of my favorites. Well, at least it used to be. Now, it’s just another reminder that I am hated by officers in the Riverside Police Department, both as an individual and as a woman as well. It’s just a reminder that at least one of them is watching my movements. No civilian who knew me would so interested in letting me know this and I highly doubt any civilian in the Eastside would be writing comments in defense of Riverside Police Department officers who have made such negative comments about their neighborhood here. They may defend good, hard-working officers but not those of this ilk.

Oh, and I shower once daily, twice after reading comments like this one.

I wondered at first as I always do, who he might be, civilian or law enforcement officer until I realized that here was a person who knew my name, my face, the fact that I had a blog, the blog’s address and had a strong animosity towards me that has led him to post under this moniker since March 2 and probably under other nicknames even before that.

Needless to say, I will probably change my route of travel back to what it had been after I received those postings from “Kevin R.P.D.” last October. A route that is frequented only rarely by Riverside Police Department officers. Why should I walk through a neighborhood and every time I see a squad car driving by wonder if it is “B. Fife” stripping me inside his head, again? That is a violation that no man can ever understand, let alone feel, but it is an intimate experience for most women, something we swap our experiences with, through stories about facing sexism in contemporary society.

It is an unfortunate reality for any woman, simply for being a woman that she will be harassed by a man simply because she is female. If she is being harassed for being an individual hated by a man, that man will use sexist behavior and imagery to express it, because she is a woman. If she is a woman of color, he will likely use racist behavior and imagery too.

In this case, it is apparently being done by public servants who were hired to protect and serve women(and men) not denigrate them. It is being done by a man who is too cowardly to even sign his own name to his words. Not even to spare other employees in the department a bit of extra scrutiny that one woman has to do in order to feel comfortable in her surroundings because of what one man has done, because this man has no face. However, not only does the internet give him the perfect hiding place, so does law enforcement through its shield laws and its blue code. Every harasser has an audience and from comments made by both “Asti” and “B. Fife”, it’s clear that there is probably an audience quietly watching their antics. Few people are not aware of the blue brotherhood.

I passed along the comment made by B. Fife to other women, and one word came back to me, over and over. Misogyny. How could someone put so much hate and misogyny, into so few words? In this case, the explanation could fill a book. A simpler explanation is that men engage in this behavior, because they can.

We, as women live in a society where men make the rules that both genders follow and one of the unwritten rules is that women are to be subjected to denigration by the male gender’s less emotionally secure individuals on the basis of our gender. That hatred can be expressed through street harassment. It can be expressed through violent crimes, including rape and sexual assault. There is also plenty of ground left over for men who hate women to operate, in between the two extremes.

Misogyny, literally, is the hatred of women or hostility towards them. Whether it is all women, a few women or one woman. From the time we are girls, we have to learn how to cope in a world where often we can not walk down a street without someone yelling something derogatory to us from a car, or trying to pinch or touch us on the street. We may innately realize that men may mentally undress us as we walk past them, but we do not wish to be reminded of that. We do not wish to be reminded that we are not human beings at all, but objects. Unless we are women of color, then apparently we are nonhuman in other ways, a designation based on race

Several women believed that the comment was meant to frighten me as much as it was meant to denigrate me, because this person wanted to make clear to me that he was paying attention to my movements at least through “his” area of town. Where I was going, what I was wearing, is his way of saying, I’m watching you. After all the probability that my travels through the Eastside would have brought me into contact with one police officer this many times, does not suggest they were random encounters. Experts say that men engage in this type of behavior to exert power over women, to control them and I can feel that keenly from those words.

Only about 3% of all the officers hired recently by the police department were female and if “B. Fife’s” behavior is in any way indicative of the current working environment, it will have to fight to keep them. Men who engage in this type of behavior tend to target any women who does not fit their narrow definition of what a woman should do, and it is clear to the “B.Fife”s of the world, that women only serve one purpose. Policing the streets is not on that very short list.

That one purpose is sexual gratification, or at least to be graded on a scale that is based on this purpose. That was clearly delineated in “B. Fife’s” comment.

First, what “B. Fife” does to each woman he encounters during the day is to strip them naked inside his head. Doing this provides him with a tremendous sense of power over each and every one of them. If they are unlucky, he will tell him how he does this in great detail. If he keeps his actions to himself, he is doing them a small favor. After doing this, he provides his personal evaluation on each women. Since a woman’s worth to him is based on her sexual desirability, he assigns them grades on the pass/fail system.

A passing grade for “B. Fife” on his desirability scale would be an erection or perhaps, a smile of approval. A failing grade is a series of derogatory comments followed by a form of regurgitation response. Between the two, I am more than happy to be on the receiving end of an upchuck response.

His comments clearly stated that I was being graded on his scale of whether or not a woman is sexually desirable(and thus has a purpose in this world) and apparently I received a failing grade. Something for which I am very grateful. The “B. Fifes” of the world are not God’s gift to this woman or any woman with self-respect.

Humor aside, it is a way that men of “B. Fife’s” ilk grade each woman they encounter every day to exert power over them, as men. Law Enforcement allows them many opportunities to do this. After all, the police department itself has stated that its officers have hundreds of contacts with members of the public each year.

“B. Fife” continues on this same track in his next post, by offering suggestions for me to follow in order to receive a passing grade next time.

Anonymous said…

Saturday, April 29, 2006 3:46:52 PM

This is a typical stock response by an emotionally immature man who has issues in terms of relating to women who exist for reasons not included on his “list”. By the time most women enter adulthood, they have heard the adage, “All you need is a good fuck to be able to do this_________ or not be like this________(insert words of choice in the blanks). That is exactly what “B. Fife” is stating here. It is a response meant to embarrass, humiliate and intimidate women who are not acting in ways men like “B. Fife” view as appropriate and men like him try to stop that behavior in its tracks with sexual comments when tactics like cajoling, ultimatums and threats do not work.

Attitudes like those expressed by “B. Fife” here are one of the problems women have had to tackle in to survive as police officers in departments rife with a culture that in most cases, does not want them there. They have invaded turf which had been considered the sole domain of men and have entered into a club where they are not welcome. If men like “B. Fife” are what they have to deal with in the RPD, then it is no wonder their retention rate is so poor. The problem may not be so much that they do not know what they are in for(as has been suggested) but that they know exactly what they are in for.

Attitudes like those expressed by “B. Fife” here present obstacles to women who want to report crimes against them to police officers. When I asked women if they felt like reporting crimes like rape or domestic violence to someone like “B. Fife”, all of them answered no, quite adamantly. Historically, women have been reluctant to report violent crimes like rape to police officers because of past and present sexist attitudes about women and rape voiced by law enforcement officers. Police agencies have worked hard to stem that tide and turn it in a more positive direction. Men like “B. Fife” do nothing but hinder those efforts, with their misogyny.

After all, who wants to report a crime of violence to someone who is a misogynist, even if most of the time that attitude is shut away in a closet? It is still in the room with him and the woman.

Finally, the thought of any woman having to turn to someone like “B. Fife” to report a violent crime that happened to her, because she was a woman is enough to make me want to throw up.
—————————————————————————
So it hardly is surprising to hear that cops are raping women. Few of them even get reported for their actions and even fewer tried and convicted.