John Spring

Police do a great job

Unfortunately, the profession has come in for a lot of flak lately.

Not from the officers on the beat but because of a few of the leaders at the top.

Former disgraced former top cop Jevon McSkimming, in particular, has been sentenced for possessing objectional material.

It’s a real shame that the police organisation has been tarred by this because of the actions of a few.

I was involved in an incident involving the police last week which showed what a great job they do.

We’re holidaying in Waihi Beach and on Thursday morning we heard raised voices from across the road.

“Give me back my phone”,  “don’t touch me”, “get away from me”, that sort of thing.

Items were being thrown out over the balcony, and a young man and woman were going in and out of the house, and down the driveway and on to the street.

It is a difficult time for families, being together, the pressures of Christmas and holidays, or too much alcohol and drugs. Things do happen. I hoped it would resolve itself.

However, after about 10 minutes of this I decided to ring the police. I rang 111, got through to the police quickly, and explained what was going on.

I said it was a domestic incident with yelling etc, and answered the questions about who was there, was there a car, had anyone been injured. They asked me if I could monitor the incident and ring again if anything changed.

Our neighbours were also watching what was happening, so I went across the street to let them know I had rung the police.

They had a better view from their house and said it was between a young couple, with the woman doing the shouting and the man putting things in the ute, trying to leave. They also said that she had hit him, and he had hit her.

Next minute she comes down the drive to the street, storms around for a bit, then he hurries down and they get into bit of an altercation.

He’s grabbing for the keys to the ute, grabs her phone and throws it onto the road. She runs onto the road, grabs the phone, runs back up the drive and throws the phone at him.

He finds the keys and drives off. Whew. At last, it goes quiet.

I ring the police again and give them an update, speaking to the same person I spoke to initially.

He said someone would be dispatched and please ring again if it escalates. I said … "like if he comes back in the ute?"  and he said "yes".

After 5 minutes, sure enough he comes back and drives up the driveway. I ring the police and I tell them of his return, and that he is just sitting in the ute.

After another 5 minutes, a police car arrives. Just as the young sergeant starts to walk up the drive, the woman appears with a suitcase.

She leaves it at the top of the drive but being on wheels and a steep incline it runs off down the drive towards the policeman, who neatly catches it before it, too, ends up in the middle of the road.

The officer spent about 20 minutes speaking to the couple, who then both jumped into the ute and returned to Morrinsville. Holiday over.

The officer sat in the car for a while, so I went over for a chat and explained that I had reported the incident.

He thanked me for that and said that neither of them wanted to press charges, and there was no evidence of physical harm.

He said they were now in the police system, and this would be helpful if they ever come under their radar again.

So, another great job done by the police on the beat, intervening in an incident before it got out of hand, with a little help from concerned neighbours.

No doubt the ute ride back to Morrinsville was fairly quiet, probably with a few choice words, and maybe a reflection on what had happened and the police getting involved.

I doubt if the cell phone would be working though.