Opening the online news sites each morning is a routine reveal of yet another crime: another murder, another gun-related incident, another case of domestic violence, another ram raid, another ‘youth’ crime, another case of child abuse, of gang warfare, etc. As it was this week when two people were hospitalised: victims of gunshot wounds in the CBD in Auckland at 11.30pm last Thursday.
One of the victims has since died after being taken off life support on Friday. Surrounded by his family as he died, he became another shocking statistic. Police have now launched a homicide inquiry, but have not released details of which victim it was. The other has been described as stable.
And this a mere week following the fatal shooting of two innocent construction workers and the shooter himself. Five people shot in as many days and four now dead.
We are advised this latest criminal attack, this downtown shooting that became a homicide, was, once again, “an isolated incident”.
“An isolated incident” is an event that is either unpleasant or unusual, and that happens alone, separately, or only once1,2. It means that the incident or its perpetrators were not connected to a larger organization or to past incidents3. It is unprecedented for the people involved or the result of a unique circumstance that is unlikely to recur or have a lasting impact4,5. (Learn more:1 dictionary.cambridge.org; 2 dictionary.cambridge.org; 3 forum.wordreference.com; 4 hinative.com; 5 lawinsider.com.)
Surely the unpleasant and unusual experience of being shot in the head or the belly means the event is very likely to have a very long-lasting impact? As indeed it has, as one victim is now dead.
But it’s all fine. “Police following ‘positive lines of enquiry’ to locate shooter who fled on scooter”, the Stuff headline reassures.
Following positive lines of inquiry. Great. And the getaway vehicle on which the shooter who ‘fled’ was a Lime scooter. So now our illustrious police force is unable to keep pace with a Lime scooter? The Lime website assures “the Gen4 e-scooter is made to be intuitive and we’re sure you’ll have no issues riding around”. Certainly, that was true for one of the criminals in this case, but police may need to “check out our How to Ride video in case you need a quick lesson”.
Of the latest Auckland CBD incident and the involvement of the Keystone Cops:
Detective Senior Sergeant Craig Bolton said a small group of people started fighting before one person in the group pulled out a gun and fired at least four times. […] Bolton said the offender was on the Lime scooter before and then after the incident and they were assessing CCTV, which was “quite helpful”. Words were exchanged before the scooter rider hoped [sic] off and fired shots, before hoping [sic] back on and fleeing the scene, the detective said. Bolton said the CCTV made it clear it was an isolated incident. (Emphasis added.)
Just how was CCTV able to instantly make it clear that this was an isolated incident? That’s all OK then… What absolute bunkum.
We can only hope the CCTV is more than “quite helpful” and the Lime-equipped roadrunner is apprehended along with his mate, who presumably got away on foot, again demonstrating the fleet-of-foot skills that elude police, and that they are given a stern talking to, another scooter for the Lime chap and a new pair of runners for his mate. Because it is just another isolated incident. Nothing to see here. Except that overnight the situation changed and it became a homicide.
And it gets better. Ginny Andersen, the minister of those unable to apprehend a villain on a small and underpowered electric conveyance, wants volunteers to police the Auckland CBD.
“Boosting Community Security with Volunteer Wardens” says one headline.
As part of a new initiative to enhance city security and safety, Minister for Police, Ginny Andersen, is advocating for the deployment of volunteer wardens in the bustling streets of Auckland’s city center. This call comes in response to a recent fatal shooting incident, sparking renewed demands for increased police presence in Auckland’s central business district.
The Heart of the City, Auckland’s central business association, has invested a substantial $620,000 on security measures over the past year. This budget has been used to employ 15 private guards to bolster the safety of the city’s residents and visitors. Andersen has initiated discussions with the association, aiming to address the city’s security issues and strategize effective solutions.
Andersen proposes that Maori and ethnic wardens could play a pivotal role in community patrols, subsequently freeing up police officers to respond more efficiently to crime incidents.
Emphasizing the need for a coordinated effort, Andersen suggests that voluntary warden services could help supplement the police force.
bnn.network
Maori wardens are an effective task force and “are not police, but they have legal responsibilities under the Maori Community Development Act 1962. Today there are approximately 900 Maori Wardens who volunteer their time to support others in our communities. The strength of Maori Wardens is their intimate knowledge of and close connection to their local communities”. (Maori wardens)
However, Ms Andersen is not talking about local communities, but the Auckland CBD. Gangland. Auckland central, with the highest crime rate in the entire country. With crime soaring to unprecedented levels, a minister whose light-bulb moment is to engage Maori and ethnic volunteers to act as quasi-police.
It is no wonder we feel unsafe on our streets and in our homes, and our children at school have to go through the frightening experience of huddling under desks when the possibility of a gun attack is raised (as also happened last week). Four West Auckland schools were in lockdown. Armed police attended and remained in the area that afternoon.
School children sent lovingly to school with their Marmite sandwiches and apples and forced to hide under their desks and frightened about the possibility of being shot. Real-life cops’n’robbers. At school. Shameful.
What a brave new world has been created without any mandate from us. Criminals reign supreme: they ride into the sunset on a Lime scooter, skilfully evading police who may soon be volunteers. Victims are terrorised, traumatised, shot in the head or the belly and then forgotten. The criminal justice system is a woke joke. The Labour Party’s catch-and-release policy is having devastating results.
But they are all isolated incidents. There is no crime wave. Tell that to the dead men’s families.
