Until the Agnew Demonstrations, the New Zealand Police seemed to hold certain ideals about the rights of the individual. They refrained from kicking and punching people, or dragging them to their feet by their hair. They wore identification numbers while on duty, and did not make indiscriminate arrests at demonstrations.

It now seems that the Police are not prepared to stand by their former policies, but are following the example of their brothers in the USA, France, Japan and Britain.

Friday night was my first experience of conflict with the Police, and I feel that a comparison with Gandhi's passive resistance movement and the reactions of the British forces is not inappropriate. The Police reaction to passive resistance on Friday night was to wade into the seated demonstrators with boots and fists. Arrests were made at random. People committing exactly the same offence as myself, that of sitting in the road, were arrested and face the possibility of a fine, whereas I was merely pushed to the side of the road. This type of Police action will only create antagonism, and must be abhorred by all people.

I feel that demonstrators must not react in a violent way, and give the Police an excuse for their actions. Once the violence has started in other countries, it has built up rather than staying at the same level, or fading away. The chances of Police responding to passive resistance by a non-violent attitude on their part are small. However, I feel that the chance must be taken unless we wish the probability of repetition of Friday night's brutality by the Police to become a certainty.