Ruff Justice

Having attained the rank of Detective Sergeant, he was inducted into the Canterbury Armed Offenders Squad. Neville gives an insight into several major investigations, the inner workings of the Armed Offenders Squad, the law involved surrounding their operations and the type of callouts the squad experiences. The circumstances surrounding the tragic murder of a helpful young court administrator, both affected Neville personally and lends this book its title in his honour. Retiring from the Police after 31 years of service, Neville was talked into going to university by an ex workmate. Since his background was in law, he set forth and after 4 years of hard work, gained a law degree. He describes the daylight that exists between the theory pedaled at university and his practical experience. Neville practiced law in Christchurch for 6 years, on occasion, acting in court for those he had dealt with during his policing days. He has therefore seen the justice system in operation from both sides – the prosecution perspective as well as the defence. He is highly critical of the justice system, believing that the system is letting law-abiding citizens down badly and suggests changes should be made. It is not all serious though. Neville outlines amusing incidents which created a few laughs on the job, often at his own expense. This book gives insight, not only into the hard graft of police work, but also into the justice system, its perceived failures and how it couId be fixed.