President's Column - The value of experience
“There is no better learning than to have to justify actions later in Court, and the sometimes-excruciating examinations help us think beyond the immediate next time.”
There’s not much that happens in the world of politics, media, or even disasters, which doesn’t have a police dimension somewhere.
In New Zealand, we have Commissions of Inquiry underway into both the Christchurch earthquakes and the Pike River Mine disaster.
Our roles will be under scrutiny, and with the alleged Israeli espionage issue around the earthquake dominating the front pages as I write this, no doubt police involvement will be examined.
It is a tribute to the professionalism of police that despite the facts having to have been well known to a significant number of officers, nothing leaked from us.
Likewise, I am confident police actions at Pike River will be shown to have been correct and professional.
Given the problems our colleagues in the London Metropolitan Police are experiencing following the phone hacking scandal, it is timely for us to remind ourselves of one of the best governors of behaviour: asking the question: “How will this look on the six o’clock news?”
How often do we ourselves, on reading or hearing of an event unfolding which causes embarrassment, legal difficulties and scandal for individuals and organisations, say: “What were they thinking?” The reality of it is that often they weren’t.
The best tool we have as cops to keep ourselves safe, physically and in terms of reputation, is to be able to look beyond the immediate situation confronting us.
Our environment prepares us for this because so often the situation is subsequently analysed in Court by a judge and jury.
There is no better learning than to have to justify actions later in Court, and the sometimes-excruciating examinations help us think beyond the immediate next time.That’s why experience is so important.
Unfortunately, in a world where we try to quantify everything which goes into CVs, it’s difficult to weigh experience.
Lack of experience can be easily measured when that is exposed by the inquiries I referred to at the beginning.
I’m sure Messrs Murdoch, Whittall, and Netanyahu will all be hoping they get a chance to apply lessons from the situations they currently find themselves in.
