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Allegations of Abuse
by NZ Police |
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peterellis
Home / police allegations / Rickards,
Shipton, Schollum vs Jane Doe Page 7 - Further Reaction to
Not Guilty Verdict |
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Southland police have been caught
in a wave of anti-police sentiment in the wake of sex cases brought against
serving and former officers, according to Police Minister Annette King. Ms King, on her first visit to the
south as Police Minister since taking over the portfolio 15 months ago, said
yesterday her tenure had coincided with trying times for police.In
Invercargill yesterday to present officers with long-service medals and
commendations, Ms King said members of Southland police had told her they had
been on the receiving end of jokes and jibes from the public in the wake of
the cases -- something that was undeserved. "Officers are feeling
it." Former police officers Brad Shipton and Bob Schollum, and suspended
Assistant Police Commissioner Clint Rickards were last week acquitted on
charges of kidnapping and indecently assaulting a teenage girl more than 20
years ago. Shipton and Schollum were already
in prison for the rape of a Mt Maunganui woman 18 years ago. There has been a public outcry
since that information was made public after court suppression orders were
lifted, including a poster campaign in It is a
tarring-with-the-same-brush approach that worries her, Ms King said. The cases related to individuals
and were not indicative of an underlying culture within police, she said. "It is based on the actions
of a few." It was important to note police had brought the prosecutions
against Mr Rickards, Shipton and Schollum themselves, and that reflected a
police culture of clamping down hard on any officer that committed an
offence. "A police officer accused of
a crime will invariably end up before the courts regardless of the
offence." |
