Stop, in the name of the law! Or I'll wag my finger at you and give you a stern warning!

What's all this fuss about police chases?
Why are the police getting told off for chasing Stephen Hohepa McDonald? I accept that someone's husband/father/son/brother died (Halatau Naitoko), but it's not exactly like it was all their fault.

The officer in charge of the pursuit (Inspector Willie Taylor) waited an appropriate amount of time in order to find out for certain as to whether a gun was involved or not. If he hadn't waited and it was later disclosed that the guy had a gun and that the police did not take the proper steps to account for this, the officer in question would be in way more hot water than he is currently.

Crazy guy runs from police. What should the police do in this situation? What would any logical person charged with securing the safety of the public do in this situation? They chased him. It's not a bad thing; it's what we expect them to do. You run from police, you get chased. It seems simple, doesn't it?

Crazy guy gets loose and gets out of car and runs off, carrying gun, likely threatening anyone in the vicinity, definitely threatening the driver of the truck he tried to hijack. Cops make a decision as to whether or not they take him out. In fact, the Armed Defenders Squad make the decision. A calculated decision, I'm certain. What happened to the poor bystander was an accident.

I know we look for reasons when horrible things happen to people we love, and we want someone to blame, but dragging the police through a pointless inquest for something that wasn't really their fault? That's unfair. Somebody is going to pay for this - and I'll bet nobody points the finger at the criminal who fled.

I accept that Naitoko's family want to blame somebody and I do not begrudge them that. But I think that the government or whoever is putting this bollocks in motion is not thinking it through very clearly. Also, one (ACCIDENTAL) kill versus restraint that would have allowed the guy to run wild in the crowd with a gun? I know the one versus many argument is tired and may not directly apply to this situation (I mean, they should have shot the crazy guy, not the bystander). That said, I think hell could have broken loose had they said, Hey, this chase isn't working out very well. Should we just quit and go home? Yeah, sounds like a plan. The community will be fine. The gun-wielding criminal who's hopped up on drugs surely won't attack anyone else today. Nah, they'll be fine. Let's go home.
Like that would've worked.

Accidents happen. It is unfortunate but they do. Stop hassling the police for doing what we expect of them. Though I bet some people are wishing they hadn't made such a fuss about giving the police tasers.