John MacDonald: Keeping victims of crime in the dark isn't good enough

Is it good enough that the victim of a nasty assault in Christchurch has had to hound the police for four weeks to find out what’s going on with their investigation? 

This is someone who lost several teeth in the assault which happened in broad daylight inside The Palms shopping mall.   

Is it good enough? 

He and his family don’t think so, saying today that it’s left them feeling like they’re the bad guys, when all they’ve wanted is to know what’s going on.   

I’ll come back to his story. And another one.   

But is it good enough? I don’t think it is.   

But even though Canterbury Police have ditched their restructuring plans which would have had less cops based in areas like Amberley and Culverden and more cops based in growth areas like Rangiora and Rolleston, I don’t see things changing anytime soon. 

The police obviously didn’t bank on Federated Farmers getting fired up and organising public meetings, which led to 1,000 submissions against the proposals, which have now been ditched.  

But while Federated Farmers and people in places like Amberley and Culverden will be happy, it doesn’t solve the problem for everyone else in Canterbury.  

The problem being: there’s not enough cops.   

Which brings me back to the guy who was punched in the chops in broad daylight by a woman at The Palms four weeks ago.  

Matt Sherwood is his name. He’s a baker —he runs his own business— and he was at the mall selling his products when a woman he didn’t know put her groceries down on his table.  

He said “g’day” to her and she muttered something. But then went and opened a can of drink that started to fizz everywhere. All over Matt’s stall. And, within seconds, she was yelling “f*** you man” and she hit him in the face.  

He lost six teeth and has been to the dentist multiple times, which has cost him thousands of dollars.  

But the bit that has left him really frustrated is the way he’s had to hound the police for information. 

He’s saying today: “Every single sort of point we get to, it’s just like it’s forced. I feel like I’ve done something wrong all the time. I would have liked some sort of timeline, and just to keep up with stuff and (have them) contact me and tell me the time frame.”  

The exact same story for someone else we’ve heard about. This person was assaulted in a public place, called the police the next day, and had to chase them for two weeks to get an initial phone conversation.  

After that, they had no further contact and after following up repeatedly, was eventually told by a police officer that they were “needy and desperate”.  

They felt that, as the victim, the onus was on them to chase the police, instead of the police coming to them. Which has left them feeling that their experience was minimised and that they weren’t a priority.  

This is nowhere near good enough, in my book. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Canterbury Mornings podcast with John McDonald
from News Talks.

Speaker 2 (00:11):
A'b got a question for you. Is it good enough?
Is it good enough that the victim of a nasty
assault in christ Church has had to hound the police
for four weeks just to find out what's going on
with their investigation. This is someone who lost several teeth

(00:31):
on the assault, which happened in broad daylight inside the
Palm shopping mall you know where that is. Is it
good enough now? He and his family don't think so,
saying today that it's left them feeling like they're the
bad guys when all they've wanted to know is what's
going on. I'll come back to his story shortly in

(00:52):
a second, and another one as well, both of them
real shockers. But the question I want you to consider
is is it good enough that victims are being left
feeling as if they're nothing short of a bloody nuisance
when all they want to know is where things are
at with their cases. Now, you or someone you know
might have had a similar experience. I don't think it's

(01:14):
good enough at all. I think it's appalling. But I'm
just starting to wonder whether we are so punch drunk
with this that these stories don't surprise us anymore and
I don't see it changing anytime soon, even though the
police have ditched those restructuring plans which would have had

(01:34):
less cops based in areas like Ambilly and Covid And
you know, these plans were up in arms about it
a few months back, so it would have been less
cops in rural areas, more cops in growth areas like
Rungy Order in Roliston. And the police obviously didn't bank
on federated farmers getting all fired up and organizing public meetings,
which led to more than a thousand submissions piling in

(01:58):
against the proposals which have now been ditched. But and
here's the butt. While federative farmers and people in places
like Amberley and colvid And might be happy, that doesn't
solve the problem for the rest of us, for everyone
else living in Canterbury. And what's the problem Not enough police,
not enough police, and too much to do, which brings

(02:23):
me back to the guy who was punched in the
chops in broad daylight by a woman at the Palms
four weeks ago.

Speaker 1 (02:28):
Now.

Speaker 2 (02:28):
Matt Sherwood is his name, He's a baker, very good
baker by all accounts, and he runs his own business
and he was at the mall selling his products when
a woman he didn't know put her groceries down on
his table. He said, m gindado, and she made it something.
But then she went to open a can of drink
and it started a fizz everywhere all over Matt's stall.

(02:52):
And within seconds this woman was yelling if you man,
and she had him in the chops, had him in
the face, and he lost sixteeth. He's been to the
dentist multiple times, costing him thousands of dollars. But the
bit that has really left him frustrated and his family
is the way that they've had to hound the police

(03:13):
for information. He's saying today, Quote every single sort of
point we get to, it's just like it's forced. I
feel like I've done something wrong all the time. This
is when he gets in touch, just trying to find
it and where are things at? He says, quote, I
would have liked some sort of timeline and just to
keep up with stuff and contact me and tell me

(03:34):
the timeframe. The exact same story for someone else we've
heard about, wait to hear about this This person was
assaulted in a public place, called the police the next
day and had to chase them for two weeks just
to get an initial phone conversation and then after that

(03:54):
they had no further contact and after following it up repeatedly,
this is the victim, after following them up repeatedly, was
eventually told by a police officer that they were quote
needy and desperate. That's what the police officer told this
victim of this crime, which left them feeling, as the victim,

(04:18):
that the onus was on them to chase the police
instead of the police coming to them, which has left
them feeling that their experience was minimized, which is the
only conclusion you can come to when you get a
police officer telling someone that they're needy and desperate, and
this person feels that they certainly weren't a priority. As

(04:38):
you can imagine now I can. I can only imagine
it because thankfully I haven't had the kind of experience
these two people have.

Speaker 1 (04:49):
For more from Catergory Mornings with John McDonald, listen live
to news Talk said be christ Church from nine am weekdays,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.