On Tuesday 16th September, 2008, as an October 15 Solidarity meeting was winding up at Oblong/Freedom shop, attendants were alerted to the presence of half a dozen suspected plain-clothes police positioned outside in Left Bank pedestrian mall. One was noticed pacing back and forth past the front door, looking in on the meeting.
As other activists showed up in response to the alert some meeting attendees came outside to join in confronting the suspected police. The plain-clothes got up and started toward Cuba St together. They were asked to disclose their badge numbers, but nobody amongst the group was saying anything.
A group of us followed them. Initially they attempted to shield one man in particular (the man pictured in the white jacket) and identified to him a person in our group who had been in the meeting. As they made their way to Dixon St and then along to Taranaki St several more people joined their group from various positions. They moved down Taranaki St to Wakefeild St, and several more people joined them.
Some eventually started telling us that we had it all wrong, we making fools of ourselves, and that they were actually a group doing a teambuilding exercise, although they would not disclose any company or group name.
Some of us were using cell phones to take pictures and getting around in front of them asking them more questions about what they were doing and who they worked for. They were pushing us around. One of the women with them told one of us “we're not dangerous”.
Some of them were using cell phones sending text messages. Two of them were hanging back from their group in some kind of attempt to mingle with our group in a pseudo friendly manner (the man with the big moustache in particular), and trying to extract personal information from us.
Still following, we headed across the New World car park where one of us dashed inside to purchase a disposable camera. They then went to Chaffers Park where another group also in plain-clothes emerged to meet with them. They regrouped. Altogether there were approximately twenty five of them. They tried to tell us it was all a joke and how silly we were for being fooled.
It was made absolutely and extremely clear to these people that whoever they were, what they were doing was totally unacceptable and unwelcome.
The group left the park and we followed. We photographed them as they stood around and then moving. Some were still pretending it was a joke and denying being police while two of the men started to act more aggressively, pushing people in our group and trying to chase and intimidate individuals, one of them approaching one of the women in our group saying “I'll nut you”. When asked if this was a threat he replied “yes”. Others went on to make ill informed and juvenile jokes aimed at our group.
They went to the waterfront where the group split up. One group was followed around and around and around the boat shed. Another group was followed over the foot-bridge. We continued to follow both groups. One group split again, we followed them too.
One group proceeded back toward Left Bank, where they entered a couple of cars at the Willis Street end of the mall, one of which was a blue station wagon.
Another group stopped by the playground for a 'team talk', at which point we departed.
At approximately 10pm, two plains-clothes police cars, a blue stationwagon, a black SUV, a white car, a few other cars, and a well equipped police surveillance vehicle turned up in quick succession to the Wellington central police station, entering the internal police parking lot. Many of the people from the group/s we had followed were positively identified as passengers in and in some cases driving the vehicles. Other plain-clothes police also were present on the street near the station. Shortly after, the surveillance vehicle re-emerged from the car park, then quite a few marked vehicles were seen to enter the garage one after the other.
We found out that a person working in 'Offbeat' cafe knew of this 'exercise', however the staff member advised that they could not disclose anything to us 'for legal reasons'. When asked whether they were cops, the staff member replied in a vague manner, “did they look like cops to you”.
Some of the vehicle details are as follows:
Mid Blue stationwagon, Number plate COZ127
- not a valid/issued plate
HOLDEN VT COMMODORE 1998 (in Blue)
Plate: XG2881
Registration cancelled
Warrant of fitness (WOF) - The WOF expired 4th February 2007. Last inspection was successful on 4th August 2006.
The original article was can be found on Indymedia:
http://www.indymedia.org.nz/article/75965/police-spies-caught-act
