New Zealand People’s Party to legalise use of “reasonable force for self-defence”
The New Zealand People’s Party is seeking to revolutionise the country’s law and order policy landscape by offering to legalise the use of “reasonable force for self-defence” by people facing assault and threat to their family and property.
“The threat of criminal charges is the last thing anyone wants to think about when confronted in their home or business.
“However we face a situation where criminals know people are more afraid of the legal consequences of fighting back than they are of them.
“The party wants to give victims the right to defend their family and property,” the Party’s press release on the law and order policy launch said.
The Party also want police to determine whether the force used in self-defence was reasonable. Currently, this power is invested exclusively in the judiciary
“The current system where it is decided by courts whether self-defence was reasonable takes up valuable resources of our justice system and criminalises victims who have themselves just gone through a highly traumatic event,” the press release said.
According to this policy, the Police will still have the power to charge someone when it can be shown the force used was completely unreasonable for the situation, or there were other motives other than self-defence.
“However, the Party does not condone the arming of the public to defend themselves in any way,” says the press release.
The policy was launched today at a popular Asian food restaurant on the Dominion Road, Auckland that had been a “victim of the current crime spree that New Zealand is facing.”
Massive ramp up of Police department
The Party is also keeping the police department at the centre of their newly launched law and order policy and calling for a massive ramp up in terms of staffers and police stations.
The policy is calling for augmenting police numbers by a whopping 2400 and adding at least 50 extra Mobile Police Stations to cities and towns across New Zealand.
The policy aims to lift the New Zealand population to police ratio from the current levels of 1: 538 to an ambitious 1: 450.
“The current government’s announcement of extra 880 police by 2020 will only bring the population to police ratio to 1: 527,” the Party’s press release on the law and order policy said.
Speaking at the policy launch, the Party leader Roshan Nauhria said that “giving police the ability to recruit based on population growth should allow them to maintain constant high levels of service and not have to go begging to the government every few years.
“Consistency in staffing levels will also go a long way to soothing out the crime rate burst that we see every few years, as whenever police staffing levels get stretched, the crime rate goes up.
The policy also calls for providing an “accommodation supplement” to officers working in Auckland along with providing for stronger deterrents against attacks on the police.
The Party is also for giving senior station officers more power to decide when officers should carry firearms.
“The arms race between criminals and the New Zealand Police has long been lost by the Police.
“As a country, New Zealand needs to have an honest conversation about arming our police force, and it is a conversation we need to be proactive about.
“Let’s not wait until more officers die before we pluck up the courage to take a good look around,” the Party announced.
The New Zealand People’s Party is seeking to revolutionise the country’s law and order policy landscape by offering to legalise the use of “reasonable force for self-defence” by people facing assault and threat to their family and property.
“The threat of criminal charges is the last thing anyone...
The New Zealand People’s Party is seeking to revolutionise the country’s law and order policy landscape by offering to legalise the use of “reasonable force for self-defence” by people facing assault and threat to their family and property.
“The threat of criminal charges is the last thing anyone wants to think about when confronted in their home or business.
“However we face a situation where criminals know people are more afraid of the legal consequences of fighting back than they are of them.
“The party wants to give victims the right to defend their family and property,” the Party’s press release on the law and order policy launch said.
The Party also want police to determine whether the force used in self-defence was reasonable. Currently, this power is invested exclusively in the judiciary
“The current system where it is decided by courts whether self-defence was reasonable takes up valuable resources of our justice system and criminalises victims who have themselves just gone through a highly traumatic event,” the press release said.
According to this policy, the Police will still have the power to charge someone when it can be shown the force used was completely unreasonable for the situation, or there were other motives other than self-defence.
“However, the Party does not condone the arming of the public to defend themselves in any way,” says the press release.
The policy was launched today at a popular Asian food restaurant on the Dominion Road, Auckland that had been a “victim of the current crime spree that New Zealand is facing.”
Massive ramp up of Police department
The Party is also keeping the police department at the centre of their newly launched law and order policy and calling for a massive ramp up in terms of staffers and police stations.
The policy is calling for augmenting police numbers by a whopping 2400 and adding at least 50 extra Mobile Police Stations to cities and towns across New Zealand.
The policy aims to lift the New Zealand population to police ratio from the current levels of 1: 538 to an ambitious 1: 450.
“The current government’s announcement of extra 880 police by 2020 will only bring the population to police ratio to 1: 527,” the Party’s press release on the law and order policy said.
Speaking at the policy launch, the Party leader Roshan Nauhria said that “giving police the ability to recruit based on population growth should allow them to maintain constant high levels of service and not have to go begging to the government every few years.
“Consistency in staffing levels will also go a long way to soothing out the crime rate burst that we see every few years, as whenever police staffing levels get stretched, the crime rate goes up.
The policy also calls for providing an “accommodation supplement” to officers working in Auckland along with providing for stronger deterrents against attacks on the police.
The Party is also for giving senior station officers more power to decide when officers should carry firearms.
“The arms race between criminals and the New Zealand Police has long been lost by the Police.
“As a country, New Zealand needs to have an honest conversation about arming our police force, and it is a conversation we need to be proactive about.
“Let’s not wait until more officers die before we pluck up the courage to take a good look around,” the Party announced.
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