Cops and Robbers
Too many of one, not enough of the other.
We want a revolution and we’re baying for your blood
We’re laying down the law and your name’s mud
You like to be a member of the human race
You want to be a good boy, but you couldn’t stand the taste
Song: The Hoosiers.
Christopher Luxon and Mark Mitchell had contrasting expressions during their interviews yesterday. The PM grinned like the cat who got the cream, and the Police Minister looked as if he wished people would stop asking him about police numbers.
Luxon was happy to see prison numbers up. Law and Order was the only category in the IPSOS survey that showed the government had the confidence of the public, and in the absence of anything else concrete to point to, this would have to do.
Many might see a high incarceration rate as a sign of failure; we spend a huge amount of money locking people up that could be better used elsewhere, and in terms of recidivism, the results are disappointing.
As our prison population rises to new heights and now approaches 11,000, at $120,000 a head, the media asked the PM whether such an increase was a positive development.
“Absolutely, that’s a good thing,” he said. “Yep, good thing.” So quite a nuanced response from our leader there, who, for once, didn’t seem concerned by the cost to taxpayers.
