The New Zealand Police.

How do they feel about Sensing Murder?

The New Zealand Herald, last weekend, included this gem about the show:

"New Zealand police have praised Sensing Murder - now in its second series - saying it has generated new leads in several old cases."

Being the party-poopers we are, the writer at the Herald, Juliet Rowan, was asked to provide evidence to back up that claim.

She responded by e mail with:

"George Staunton, a senior detective at Rotorua police and head of the investigation into the Olive Walker murder (one of the unsolved cases featured on Sensing Murder) is one police officer who has endorsed the programme. Tauranga officers have also praised it, but I can't recall which cases were in their area (you could probably figure it out by looking up past episodes of Sensing Murder on the internet, or looking up local stories from the Bay of Plenty Times/Rotorua Daily Post about the programme, as I know they've quoted police on the subject).
I did not go into detail in my story about this because I did not have space, but I've also been told that police at national headquarters are very interested in the clues the psychics have uncovered and would like to explore their methods further"

Being the completely untrusting types we are, George Staunton was phoned to discuss the comments.

(GS = George Staunton; TA = The Atheist)

GS "As a means of generating publicity about the case, it has been great and I've had lots of phone calls."

TA "So, it's been similarly useful to if a "Crimewatch" program had covered it?"

GS "Yes, very much so. It gets the message back out to the public that all information is welcome."

TA "And that is the type of endorsement you mean as opposed to any other?"

GS "Yes, I think the Herald comment may be a little misleading."

So, in a completely unsurprising move, the newspaper has put words into George's mouth to make it look as though he supports the psychic angle of the show.

That is clearly not the case and the interviewer was strongly led to believe that George will be taking the issue up with Juliet Rowan.

In a further update, here is the official Police response from its national headquarters:

From the office of Superintendent of Executive and Ministerial Services:

Q - Do the New Zealand Police ever use psychics in investigations?

A - “The New Zealand Police do not actively approach or employ psychics in investigations.”

Q - Do the New Zealand Police investigate information provided by psychics?

A - “The New Zealand Police have to remain open minded as to the information provided to them in any investigation; however any information must be able to meet required standards of evidence.”

Q - Has any information provided by a psychic ever progressed or solved a case in New Zealand?

A - “Information from a psychic has never been instrumental in the resolution of a case in New Zealand.”

Sorry, Sensing Murder, still batting 0.000000000000000