I'm shocked, shocked . . .

The Register reports that:

Porn represents 20 per cent of police IT capacity

Randy coppers in New Zealand waste so much time surfing for porn while on the job that fully 20 per cent of police computer system capacity is devoted to storing the images, an official audit has revealed.

The investigation, begun five months ago, found vast reams of sexually-explicit material, some involving violence or simulated violence, and some even involving bestiality. The material in question was discovered accidentally, during an investigation of alleged police misconduct unrelated to porn surfing.

Staff hoarding images described by Police Commissioner Rob Robinson as "shockers" include a superintendent, three inspectors, and about 40 women officers or civilian staff, the New Zealand Herald reports.

Well, it just goes to show that police officers are human beings after all, eh?

In an unrelated story, The Register also reported that:

Email destroys the mind faster than marijuana

Modern technology depletes human cognitive abilities more rapidly than drugs, according to a psychiatric study conducted at King's College, London. And the curse of 'messaging' is to blame.

Email users suffered a 10 per cent drop in IQ scores, more than twice the fall recorded by marijuana users, in a clinical trial of over a thousand participants. Doziness, lethargy and an inability to focus are classic characteristics of a spliffhead, but email users exhibited these particular symptoms to a "startling" degree, according to Dr Glenn Wilson.