The Press
March 6, 2004
Similarities between police and gangs evident
Letter to the Editor
by Fina Chapman, South Brighton
Louise Nicholas claimed she had been raped by a pack of Maori youths and then
later recanted (March 4). The police themselves admit that gang members at that
time saw the police as just another kind of gang (February 28).
The unfortunate similarities do keep coming to light: drunken parties, access
to drugs, sexual coercion of vulnerable girls, covering each others backs.
But if you were in Louise Nicholas's unenviable position, who do you think
would seem more believable as rape perpetrators: the uniformed gang, or the
ethnic gang?
There can be no confidence in a police force that demonstrates attitudes and
behaviour akin to those it aims to police.