In spite of immensely powerful criminal laws, police always lobby for ‘tougher laws’ and ‘steeper penalties’ whenever a nasty crime hits the headlines, even when crime is rapidly falling, says Dr Buck Emberg. They should just get on with it, he says, and deliver simple law and order to the people who pay their salaries.
More police powers? No!
By Buck Emberg
You probably missed the ABC TV spot. It would have been headlined something like, “Hoons Torch Cars”. No one likes the image of a burnt-out hulk along the road. We have seen three on our stretch of highway this past year or so. We are told young hoons, usually males of about 18 (who probably wear baseball caps) torch stolen cars to cover their fingerprints or destroy their DNA markers. Rotten stuff!
As always the police response is the same. They call for ‘tougher laws’ and ‘steeper penalties’ and ‘liberty to investigate’ these terrible happenings and get after anyone who might know who the driver was and treat those who know the drivers as criminals as well. Suddenly the prison gets bigger. This is their classic reaction to problems they do not seem to be able to solve or understand. We can say that there are now fewer police on duty because of budget restraints (possibly true), and perhaps the young hoons are smarter now with all of the IT machines they use. This torching of cars must be brought to an end but giving the cops more power is no answer.
By the department’s own admission on the ABC segment, car theft is down 43% for the same period of last year. Wait a minute. Theft is down, the police and laws must be working something very well. Yet, they want MORE POWER to pursue, arrest, investigate and interrogate. Why?
My New Year’s wish is for the police to be satisfied with the laws which are already too plentiful and get on with the job of simple law and order. They are not politicians trying to get new laws passed to make their work easier. Police, the world over – I have lived in 12 countries and travelled in about 120 – always want more power, more arrest abilities, more of everything to make their success ratio higher.
Dr Buck Emberg is a long-time resident and activist of the Tamar Valley, Tasmania. This item appeared originally in Tasmanian Times:
http://tasmaniantimes.com/index.php?/weblog/article/more-police-powers-no/