Retiring Union Leader Says “No Politics”
“Mobile phones’ filming capabilities have changed policing culture, and O’Connor sees some good in that. But he feels the way the footage is used on social media shows the public do not understand policing. O”Connor said: “All of a sudden people have captured it on camera and put it on YouTube, and, ‘wow’, shock horror: police get involved in physical force. Well, sorry, but that’s what police do. They are the coercive arm of the state, and a lot of people – as soon as they see police using physical force, they think something’s wrong. Well, it has. Something’s gone wrong and police are fixing it.”
Via stuff.co.nz:
This year will be Greg O’Connor’s last as head of the New Zealand Police Association (8,600 members). After 21 years at the helm one of the country’s largest remaining unions, the outgoing Police Association president would rather be remembered for the desk job stuff.
The job, according to O’Connor, is a mix of number cruncher, employment advocate, diplomat and policy maker.
“In these jobs – you’re only ever a caretaker… my goal was to make sure it’s a heck of a lot better shape now than it was.”
Perfect grooming, one might speculate, for a 57-year-old former cop to embark upon a political career – given all that time spent making contacts and grabbing headlines in the shadow of the Beehive.
“It is a reasonably political job that I’m in, but I can give an absolute guarantee that there is no plan.”
As a young man, O’Connor started out in the uniform branch.
Back then he saw the world as “black and white – good guys and bad guys.”
He went undercover for 18 months, which he credits with broadening his worldview. It is hard to imagine him blending in anywhere, given that he stands a good head and shoulders above most people – even among police, where being tall is passe.
O’Connor has plenty of business to wrap up as he prepares to end his time at the Police Association in October.
Reflecting on his time working with police, he notes officers are under more scrutiny than ever before.
Mobile phones’ filming capabilities have changed policing culture, and O’Connor sees some good in that. But he feels the way the footage is used on social media shows the public do not understand policing.
“All of a sudden people have captured it on camera and put it on YouTube, and, ‘wow’, shock horror: police get involved in physical force. Well, sorry, but that’s what police do. They are the coercive arm of the state, and a lot of people – as soon as they see police using physical force, they think something’s wrong. Well, it has. Something’s gone wrong and police are fixing it.”