Under pressure

There’s never a dull moment in policing, and that was never truer than working at the Wellington protest.

It’s added yet another demand on our already stretched resources and, of course, brought out all the experts who claim to know how to resolve the situation.

It never fails to amaze me how so many people think they understand policing pressure when the reality is they don’t have a clue.

Attacks on the Commissioner have bordered on offensive, and lack objectivity, but I suppose one thing you learn as a copper is to have a thick skin.

It is concerning to see the number of the team contracting Covid. It always an extra risk we face when working in crowd situations and it’s also why police need daily rapid antigen testing. It’s disappointing that the Government missed the boat on these.

It was obvious, even to me, with what’s happened overseas, that RATs are the answer to keeping the country moving during this Omricon outbreak. Let’s hope the reported supplies actually arrive.

Walk away from spray

I have been surprised to see the way pepper spray seems to have been used at the protest. I would have thought it was best left in the pocket for most of this event. The risk of getting your mates is too great.

On that subject, and not knocking the hard work of the team there, I think it is clear there’s a lack of public order training for frontline staff. That’s been highlighted with some of the deployments and what appears to be a bit of confusion at times on how to respond. That’s what us old timers have noticed, anyway.

It’s another example of how we’ve forgotten some of the bread-and-butter parts of policing and the need to train for these events.

In saying that, if the team aren’t allowed to carry all their tools, I suppose it will be a makeshift response.

A Wordle to the wise

I’m not into puzzles – the conundrums of policing are enough for me – but a lot of the guys and gals at work have told me they are hooked on something called Wordle. It’s an online game where you have to guess a five-letter word (though I’m more of an expert on the four-letter ones). It doesn’t take long, I’m told, and you can only play it once a day.

Up until last month, you could have a crack at it on the work computers, but Big Brother in the IT department has stepped in and blocked it for some. Now I’m trying to think of a five-letter word for the fun police.