It bears so much truth, whoever, Burke, Santayana or Churchill.

Those who fail to be influenced by History will be bound to repeat it’s many failures.

Mr Coster entered Police HQ, referred to by many of his underlings as Bullshit Castle, as an implied “reliable” appointment, an oft repeated mantra has emanated.
“Policing by consent”

I would bet the house on such nonsense as has been reported on involving Native agent provocateurs preventing fisherfolk from using the Taipa Launching ramp with the intention of taking part in “The Doubtless Bay Fishing Event” while being observed by uniformed Police, many involved directly and mere observers would never consider such impeding of the public to be “By Consent”.

During the Wuflu, enduring cockups restraining human and civil rights, police supporting statements and actions would have been viewed by many many more as not being perpetrated with “Consent”.

Most citizens could be assumed to be consenting of reasonable laws and the enforcement of them to be by consent De jure even if opposed to some degree in the mind of some. Such is reasonable for the majority seeking to exist in a law abiding society. Hence the widespread support to prevent drunk driving and its potential for carnage being inflicted on an innocent public.

A reasonable citizen therefore will reluctantly support the Police in their conducting themselves doing a job not many would want to do.
The images of Uniformed police standing by while clear impeding of persons wanting to act within the law will not endear respect for all law, it is a wedge indeed, being inserted with a rather large hammer.
Inevitably condoning acceptance of such Police actions will reduce respect and that is a rather big step down an already slippery slope.

In using Google to check my failing memory I rediscovered the Police complaints report on an incident where a Dereck Powell knocked a member of a watersider picket line on Lyttelton’s Gladstone Quay, off her feet and sadly she later died in hospital
That picket line was on a Public Road leading to the wharves and the protest was over who was going to be employed to load coal for export.
Two attempts to bring charges for the unfortunate death of the picketer, a female clerk, clearly sympathetic but not a directly affected watersider, finally ended with an acquittal of Powell.
Those tragic events occurred nearly a quarter of a century ago and it was resolved the Picket was unlawful, the Road was illegally closed, and a Lady died.

Commissioner Coster, read a bit of history, man. Your ill advised nonsensical “By Consent” has a considerable chance to reduce respect for the Law, all law and enforcement by a thin blue line
I for one, do not and never would consent to such arrant nonsense.