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Harawira accuses taser cop of racism

A top cop has been accused of saying that Maori and Pacific Island people get tasered more then others because they have a propensity to commit violent crime.

Maori Party MP Hone Harawira told Parliament that the operational support manager of the Taser gun trial, Superintendent John Rivers, had made the comments at a meeting with the Maori Party.

Mr Harawira told MPs Mr Rivers had said Maori and Pacific Island people were more than half of the subjects of Taser use simply because: "Maori and Pacific people have a greater propensity to commit violent crimes."

The question of whether Maori and Pacific people have a greater propensity to commit violent crime than other ethnic groups is, in the first instance, a question of fact. If there is a statistically significant greater likelihood of Maori and Pacific Islanders committing violent crime, then it is not racist to point this out. I guess one would need to bear in mind that the ethnicity of the offender is not always known, especially if they aren't actually caught. And that arguably Police might focus on catching people of some ethnicities rather than others. But this said, either Maori and Pacific people ("men" presumably) commit more violent crimes per capita than other ethnic groups, or they don't.

Going on to explain any observable differences in terms of 'innate racial qualities' ("warrior genes" and so on), might be racist ... but pointing out the difference in the first instance sure ain't.

Here's some figures:

Number of cases involving resulting in conviction for violent offences in 2003:


NZ European offenders 3652 (about 89% were men - is it also sexist to point this out?)

Maori offenders 4501

Pacific offenders 1246

Other 296
(for all convictions, 48% of "Other" are "Asian", and 29% "Indian")

So, Maori made up 46.4% of those convicted of violent crimes, compared with 15% of the total population. That's a three-fold over-representation. Even allowing for hypothetical cases of heavier policing of Maori communities, and Maori being less likely on average to be able to afford good defence lawyers, and even some discrimination against Maori in the court system, etc,. I conclude they have a higher propensity to commit violent crime than NZ Europeans and others.

Pacific people made up about 12.8% of the offenders, compared with 7% of the total population. A notable, but far less dramatic, over-representation.

Labels: racism