Editorial: Name them; shame them

It's a sure bet that several Waikato men were choking on their Weetbix on Saturday morning once that day's Waikato Times was slapped down on the table in front of them.

Police named to the Times 11 men they said were among the most wanted in the region in the wake of a campaign against recidivist burglars, Operation Persil.

Police provided mugshots and profiles of the men's criminal histories. In the interests of community protection, we elected to run the package on the front page.

And so the hunt for Paul Callagher, 38, Michael Murray Stevens, 35, Ross Williams, 23, Dion Noda, 22, Blue Hayward, 21, Johnny Cook, 29, Jamie Maxwell, 28, Michael Pene, 24, Danny Mooney, 43, Joseph Rameka, 26, and Nicholas Roberts began in earnest.

There can be no doubt the publication of the story and photos of the men caused them, their families and friends some consternation. Too bad.

Operation Persil came about because this region had become the most popular for burglars. Statistics from 2007 showed 4111 break-ins reported, the highest per head of population in the country. So police did something about it. They dedicated more staff and raided 174 properties and arrested 80 people. The 11 men they identified on Saturday all have outstanding warrants to arrest and have evaded capture over three months.

Outing people in this very public way is not routine and does not impress everyone. Civil libertarians, for example, would suggest publication prejudices the chances of a fair trial. To be fair, going public is risky. The most obvious trap is if the information is incorrect; what if one of those men is an innocent and has no warrant or criminal history? That would be an act of gross negligence from police and is, surely, the most remote possibility.

The risk to a fair trial is the most worrying possibility.

But in the cases of the 11 men above, by the time they are caught and go through the justice system, it will be months, possibly years down the track. None are household names and any jurist called in the future is hardly likely to remember any of them in the dock.

Besides, we should not be putting unnecessary barriers in the way of proactive policing.

Too often the media is accused of not backing police. All power to them this time though. They have identified a problem they are struggling to solve and they have done something about it. As Hamilton city tactical co-ordinator Senior Sergeant Greg Dunn said: "Having an extra 100,000 sets of eyes out there means we can reasonably expect to get timely information on suspicious activity which is the key in making successful arrests."

Remember, Mr Dunn said that in each case the men outed was alleged to have been involved in breaking into people's homes around Hamilton, interfering with residents' cars or receiving property taken from victims' homes or vehicles. We have all heard the heart-breaking stories of crime victims. For once, it is the perpetrators who are uncomfortable.

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