CHIEF PROSECUTOR BLAST MPS' ZEAL FOR LAW AND ORDER

The NSW Director of Public Prosecutions, Mr Nicholas Cowdery, QC, has
accused politicians of showing zeal for the criminal justice system only
during elections.

He criticised law and order promises made by political parties, saying they
were based on "fads" and "myths".

"There are a number of myths also being trotted out again in the current
political campaign ... it seems to me to be the case that every four years
crime goes out of control, the rights of offenders become more precious than
those of victims, and the courts become too lenient," he told a NSW Young
Lawyers Forum last night.

His comments reflect wide public cynicism with political parties over law
and order.

In recent weeks, with the election campaign warming up, the Coalition has
promised additional police and harsher penalties, while the Police
Commissioner, Mr Peter Ryan, has appeared repeatedly on public platforms
with the Premier, Mr Carr, and the Minister for Police, Mr Whelan.

The Attorney-General, Mr Shaw, and his Opposition counterpart, Mr John
Hannaford, yesterday both refused to release their respective parties' law
and order policies at a Justice Action forum also at State Parliament.

Later, at the young lawyers' forum, Mr Cowdery proceeded to debunk many of
the underlying causes used by politicians to justify law and order promises,
saying fads should be exposed for what they were truly worth:

More police: "There is no correlation between mere police numbers and the
incidence of crime overall."

Police powers: "We do not need increased police powers - we need improved
police abilities."

Arming of off-duty police: "What evil, presently abroad, is sought to be
addressed by such a dangerous move?"

A proposed police drug agency: "A recipe for corruption on a grand scale."

Zero tolerance policing: "I do not know of any honest police who tolerate
crime now ... Reductions in crime rates are not associated with policing.
They are associated with social and economic factors."

Drugs: "Crime is one of the consequences of drug addiction ... we need a new
multi-pronged approach to the problem. For starters - hold a national or
state drug summit ... introduce safe injecting rooms ... expand needle
exchange programs ... run a trial of medically prescribed heroin ...
decriminalise the personal growth, possession and use of marijuana ..." "Not
prohibition but regulation ... for heroin we might maintain the prohibition
on importation, unauthorised possession of large amounts ... [but] license
and tax importers, producers, suppliers ..."

Last night the Premier, Mr Carr, said while he was open to new ideas, Mr
Cowdery's heroin importing proposals would be "quite disastrous".