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Guardian
Ashburton
www.guardianONLINE.co.nz
Friday, December 28, 2012
FIRST PUBLISHED SEPTEMBER 27, 1879
Top cop rejects call to arm officers By Sam Morton Arming police officers with more guns is not the answer to a safer frontline, says the district’s top cop. His comments follow a spate of recent assaults on police officers around the country, involving one incident where one officer was hit from behind with a brick and nearly tasered. Following a series of attacks in previous years, the Government passed a law to impose tougher penalties for assaulting police officers. However, the recent assaults have prompted renewed calls for better defensive weapons, but MidSouth Canterbury area commander Inspector Dave Gaskin instead wants more staff to deal with threatening pack attacks – featuring more prominently at youth parties.
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But according to Mr Gaskin, those attacks are few and far between in Timaru and Ashburton. “Thankfully, we live in a much safer place than some of those areas and we don’t often see attacks like that happening locally. “That said, there have most definitely been officers shot in Ashburton in the past, but my personal belief is there is already sufficient access and authority for officers to arm themselves, I don’t see a need for urgent action. “If there is potential for a situation to go wrong, police officers most definitely have the authority to carry a firearm with them, both in the vehicle and in person. That has not changed,” Mr Gaskin said. Mr Gaskin said the public’s perception of police safety can change in the light of attacks and believes team policing for crowded incidents is the answer to eliminating the mentality of “mob attacks”. “It’s absolutely terrible that
attacks like this have happened, but the reality is, if you take the incident in Northland – the officer was hit from behind with a brick. “No amount of guns was going to prevent that attack, unfortunately it is the risk that goes with being a police officer. Most of the time we are dealing with really nice people throughout the country, but we have to remember there is always a small pocket of bad ones and incidents like this can and do happen,” he said. Police Association vice-president Luke Shadbolt has backed the growing calls to arm officers as attacks become more common and more serious throughout the country. Mr Shadbolt says many members of the association are continually asking for further arming to reduce the risk in the community – referring to cheap alcohol as a “court case in a can” – commonly spurring incidents to get out of hand.
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However, Justice Minister Judith Collins shares the same thinking as Mr Gaskin, pointing out the sufficient access to weapons – should police officers require them. “In the Dargaville assault, an officer could have been killed had an attacker got hold of a gun, rather than a taser,” Ms Collins told Radio New Zealand. “Police are able to take weapons with them if they decide it is the right thing to do and the Government’s changes to alcohol laws should help prevent similar attacks happening in the future,” she said. “A lot of policing comes down to detailed risk assessment and weighing up the options. “Officers in small rural areas often choose to carry firearms as a means of defence, but it really does come down to opting for a firearm if there is any doubt the situation could turn for the worst,” Mr Gaskin said.
Methodical approach to find fire cause By Susan Sandys Fire investigation officers were sifting through the remnants of Lignotech Development’s ground floor yesterday, in an effort to find out what caused the blaze which destroyed the business on Saturday. It is on the business’s ground floor that they believe the fire, which destroyed the building the innovative research and development company tenanted in Ashburton’s industrial estate, started. “We have to sift through everything,” Ashburton specialist fire safety officer Sheryl Reveley said at the scene yesterday. She expected the “methodical” process could continue into today. The fire was not believed to have been related to any of the plant, or processes underway, at the business. “There was only a small laboratory oven operating at the time and we are not looking at that. It’s not in the area that we believe the fire started in, I don’t think it’s likely to be any of the processes that the business has been using,” she said. Fellow fire safety investigator Graham Davies said other than that there was little information. “At this stage we haven’t got a clue, we have no reason to believe it’s suspicious in any way shape or form,” Mr Davies said. “Industrial businesses are always a bit more challenging and complex,” he added, as they could have more items such as motors, switch gear and controllers on site.
Lost, lonely and looking for love.
Photo Tetsuro Mitomo 271212-TM-172
Dogs desperate for homes By Sue Newman
Photo Kirsty Graham 271212-KG-047
Ashburton specialist fire safety officer Sheryl Reveley yesterday continues, alongside fellow fire safety officers, with the laborious task of going through burned equipment at Lignotech Developments. The two fire safety officers worked yesterday with two fellow fire investigators, one representing Lignotech’s insurance company and one representing the landlord’s insurance company. Lignotech Developments team member Gary Haskett was also at the scene, and said there was really nothing he could say until
the cause had been found. “We want to know what the cause is just as much as everyone,” he said. Mr Haskett had earlier spoken of his devastation at the fire, but said at least it had not taken intellectual property and know-how away, as these existed in the minds of its operators.
Lignotech is involved with creating biocomposite plastics and other materials by thermally remodelling biowaste. Ashburton couple Sue and Brian Stockdale had the premises of their adjoining upholstery business destroyed in the blaze, and the neighbouring New Zealand Couriers was also affected.
Scratchie is just nine months old and her short life has been desperately short on love. The Staffordshire terrier cross is living a life that no dog wants, waiting in a small cage at the Ashburton SPCA for a family who will give her the love and care she desperately craves. She’s timid but she loves children. And Scratchie is not alone. She’s one of nearly a dozen dogs at the centre who have been abandoned by their previous owners and who ask for nothing more than a new home with a new family. Two are refugees from the Christchurch earthquakes, two were thrown from a farm truck as young pups and others were simply unwanted. Each has a story to tell and each wants a chance at a new life. While those dogs and dozens of cats and kittens are in search of new homes, Ashburton SPCA inspector John Keeley said the lead in to Christmas had been surprisingly good in terms of abandoned animals. There was also the bonus of two pups being rehomed on Christmas Eve, he said. “We’ve also been lucky, people have been very good to us with plenty of food pouring in,” he said.
Photo Tetsuro Mitomo 271212-TM-172
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