Two young boys, 14 and 15, were alone when it happened to them.
They were standing outside Cash Converters on Whanganui s main street, waiting for their koro to finish looking in the store, when two policemen caught their eye. Before long, the officers were standing at their feet. Where s the bag of money you stole, one officer asked, nearly shouting.
The boys were surprised. And they were confused. They denied knowing anything about the stolen money, but that did not convince the men in uniform. Strangers driving past gawked out their windows as the officers explained they met the description of offenders they were looking for.
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The news has shattered local iwi.
Rangitāne spokesperson Mike Kawana said the relationship between Māori and police had been moving in the right direction. You know, you think you ve got to a point where relationships are good and you re moving forward and then stuff like this happens. It really is disappointing, he said.
He had no doubt this behaviour was happening elsewhere, and would like to see a national review of all youth photographs captured by police. They need to look at themselves really closely and have some kind of way of calling out what is clearly racism. You can t get past that.