Police spoof e-mail earns suspension

A police officer has been suspended after he forwarded a joke e-mail that parodied police, painting them as prurient, hapless cuckolds who use their truncheons to elicit confessions.

The Wanganui officer was stood down for two days and questioned, after he forwarded the e-mail of a mock 1970s children's book, which takes the innocent tone of the genre and updates the text with modern themes - sex changes, terrorism, homosexuality, and infidelity.

"A policeman must always have his truncheon and notebook with him. The truncheon is used to hit a suspect if they resist arrest. Then their confession is written in the notebook," it says.

It is understood several officers received and forwarded the e-mail before the officer was stood down. He returned to work after being spoken to.

Police said the matter concerned the officer's use of the computer network to distribute material, not just the content of the e-mail.

National MP Chester Borrows said it was ridiculous to stand the officer down when his services were needed.

He said he struggled to see how it broke any rules. "The police have quite rightly got a policy on objectionable material, but they haven't got a policy against humour."

Police computer use came under the spotlight in 2005 when more than 5000 sexually explicit images were found on the computers of 327 staff, including a superintendent and three inspectors.

Police Association spokesman Luke Shadbolt said the book was a spoof and he did not know what was objectionable about it. "Most policemen found it funny."

- © Fairfax NZ News