What people think about the boys in blue is a most important issue being that without good public relations, the Police are unable to do their job properly.
Without members of the public feeling that the Police are on their side they will simply not call them when the law is broken. This in turn desensitizes people to crime and ensures that many victims do not come forward.
That's why it was great to see dancers in Police uniforms having a good time on stage with contemporary musician Tiki Tane at the New Zealand Music Awards. The repair that such occurrences have on the relationship between the Police and especially young people (the programs demographic), should not be underestimated.
Last Friday the Acting Police Commissioner Viv Rickard confirmed that the ‘officers’ on stage with singer Tiki Taane at the New Zealand Music Awards were in fact dancers in Police uniforms. The Police website reported:
It's good to see the Police taking a very levelheaded approach, which in some way heals the damage the arrest of Tiki Tane has done to public relations. It's also nice to see Tiki Tane turning the experience into some great music that speaks volumes.“Mr Taane approached us a while ago and asked if some of our officers could appear on stage with him during his performance of ‘Freedom to sing’. While we were pleased to be asked, we are not able to facilitate those kinds of requests.
However, we did approve the use of four uniforms for Mr Taane’s dancers to wear during the performance last night.“Congratulations to him for his awards, it is good to see him doing well.”Mr Rickard said Police and Mr Taane had come to an agreement a month ago after a performance by Mr Taane resulted in him being arrested for disorderly behaviour.“We worked through the matter and Mr Taane has now volunteered to be a family violence spokesperson in one of our districts and it is fantastic to have someone of his profile and youth to be able to connect to our communities about such a serious and important issue,” said Commissioner Rickard.
Tiki Tane won Best Male Solo Artist , Best Electronica Album and Best Maori Album for In the World of Light. Massive!
