Why are the NZ Police supporting vigilante thugs?

According to an ‘article’ in the NZ Herald,from Tom Dillane, which came across to this reader as an exculpatory piece in large part, of manifest illegality, there was this:

Technically the blockade is illegal, but the police are nonetheless supporting it in a spirit of “community policing to be protective”.

“These are unprecedented times and we are working with communities across the country to restrict the spread of this virus,” Deputy Police Commissioner Wally Haumaha said.

“We are working with iwi who are taking the lead to ensure rural communities that don’t have immediate access to support services are well protected,” Haumaha said.

“We are all coming to this kaupapa from the same place — out of a need to protect the most vulnerable in the community.”

This was bad enough, but later we get this

Rapihana said they thought police could actually enforce their decision to turn someone around if they weren’t a resident of the Te Wha¯naua¯-Apanui territory.

But it was made clear police can’t. “We had a bit of an issue around the understanding that we were given from the area commander, to the deputy commissioner to the actual workers on the ground,” Rapihana said.

“It was huge. So we had to iron that out. We needed to know what the powers of the police actually were.

“We were informed when they came here to do some work they don’t actually have the power to turn people away.

“That was a surprise for us, because that wasn’t our understanding. So they can support us here, but they can’t actually turn [people] away.”

So Maori wished to ban people from entering an area. This making it a no go zone. Silly me, I was under the impression that there no such things as ‘no go’ areas in NZ. Hmm!

But wait, it gets even worse

Nonetheless, the iwi have their own ways of getting their message across. Rapihana is frank about it.

“A lot of our bushmen are those people who can deal with that kind of stuff [conflict],” Rapihana says of the larger iwi members who have been asked to man the borders.

“And actually, when people see them it tames it down anyway. Because they’re scary people.”

The meaning here is clear. These roadblocks are enforced through intimidatory tactics. This thuggery, which is what it is, is tolerated by police. In fact given what is said in the article, I suggest that one could infer NZ Police endorsement of this as is illustrated here:

Rapihana is highly complimentary of the police guidance for the iwi volunteers, demonstrating how to engage with drivers and direct traffic.

“The police have their lights flashing at all times to help slow down traffic. We have a caravan here for the team that are working,” he said.

“They’ve [ police] played a huge part in us here. A lot of it’s been around the safety of our own people, too, and showing our people what they should be doing and what they shouldn’t while on the road — how to direct traffic.”

So NZ Police endorse illegal behaviour, by it would appear a racial group.

Furthermore, it is clear from the article that intimidation is an explicit tactic employed by the vigilante thugs.

Then there was this:

Members of the iwi are not allowed further east than Opotiki town, about 20km west of the blockade, to do their shopping or see a doctor. Since March 30, they have also needed a permit from the iwi leadership to do so.

Since when does an iwi have the power to stop iwi members from acting freely, provided they are not breaking NZ law. Even if they are breaking the law, since when are iwi authorities empowered to act like police.

A number of questions and concerns come to mind:

1 Why are the NZ Police acquiescing in this illegality?

2 Why are the NZ Police giving implicit endorsement to the roadblocks?

3 Why is clearly intimidatory behaviour allowed?

4 Why is a racial group given approval to deprive people of their rights?

5 Why has the government not stopped this?

6 Will these roadblocks be allowed to persist after the lockdown?

7 On a wider note, why are the NZ Police acting in a divisive manner?

8 Is Wally Haumaha Deputy Police Commissioner, or is he jus the Deputy Police Commissioner for Māori? If so, why has he not been stood down?

9 Do the NZ Police and NZ Government now endorse ‘no go’ zones?

10 Why are the iwi being allowed what are policing powers in these areas.

11 What is the stance of our political parties and their leaders in this matter?