Beaumont told the South Sydney Herald that his involvement in an
incident attended by Redfern Police has led him to conclude that local officers
are failing to serve and protect the Aboriginal community of South
Sydney.
In late
June, a work colleague of Beaumont’s
had her bag stolen from Redfern RSL. He saw a man and woman with his friend’s
belongings outside Redfern Police Station and confronted the pair to ask for
her belongings back.
Beaumont said, “I got everything back after
20 minutes but during that time I was scratched, verbally abused and spat on. I
can’t believe how long the police took to respond to an incident right outside
their door.”
When the
police arrived at the scene, Beaumont
said he was treated the same way as the people who had stolen his work
colleague’s bag. “I stepped forward to the police, with my hand full of cards
that had been stolen from my colleague. I told the police what happened, and
that I’d been harassed and spat upon to get them back.”
“After
that, all the police did was move us on. They paid no respect to the actual
situation that had occurred. They didn’t pursue the matter. The police have a
duty of care and are being paid to serve and protect the community. What did
they do? Nothing.”
“We were
stereotyped and stigmatised. Despite me declaring my case, still nothing has
been done,” he said.
Beaumont has made a complaint to the
commander of Redfern Police Station and has declared his intention to pursue
the matter until a formal apology is issued.
Lawyers
from the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC), however, claim that the
complaints system is flawed because it relies on self-regulation. The PIAC told
a parliamentary hearing in July that the vast majority of complaints against
police officers in NSW were investigated by other police officers. According to
PIAC, the NSW Ombudsman does not investigate complaints but rather reviews the
police response to them.
Findings by
PIAC are supported by the NSW Ombudsman’s response to an accusation of
harassment previously reported in the South Sydney Herald.
According
to the complaint, in January 2005, a car containing three Aboriginal children
was stopped while returning from Leichhardt Park Aquatic Centre. The children,
aged between nine and fourteen, were ordered out of a car, searched and
questioned. The group were detained for half an hour and when allowed to leave
were told: “Stay in Redfern” and “if you come back you’ll be pulled over every
time.”
The NSW
Ombudsman responded that no adverse finding had been made in relation to the
police concerned.
Another
Redfern resident who has experienced racism from local police is Elliott Yancey, 49. He declared that changes should
be made not just to the complaints system but also to how policing is conducted
in Redfern.
Yancey, who
is of African-American background, works as a consultant for companies at the Australian Technology Park.
In 2005, he walked past two police officers that were standing in front of
Redfern Station while on his way to work. Yancey alleges that he overheard one
of the police officers say, “That’s a well-dressed boong.”
Yancey said
the incident was an example of the inflammatory treatment of Aboriginal
residents by police. He said such treatment fuelled bad attitudes and tension
within Redfern. “The cultural training, for being aware of Koori people, isn’t
good enough. Police are not well equipped. They come with preconceived notions,
and ideas, they have quick tongues and are bitter. Police are not all bad guys.
They’re trying to pull things together and create some harmony but they
themselves don’t know how to because they haven’t been trained adequately.”
David
Beaumont reflects on his encounter with Redfern Police Photo: Ali Blogg
[South
Sydney Herald August 2006]