The Aboriginal community faces the humiliation of searches
that rarely result in an arrest and have no effective means of redress. The
process whereby police investigate complaints made against other police
officers defies logic. It discourages people from reporting harassment.
This situation creates mistrust and suspicion towards the
law, blurring the line between right and wrong in a community that is
susceptible to crime. Furthermore, it drives a wedge between Indigenous and
non-Indigenous people because the law is applied differently to different
sections of the community.
Police deny that their relationship with the Indigenous
community is damaged. But ask an Aboriginal person about how officers behave on
the beat and a different story is told. In December I stopped at the Block to
say Merry Christmas to an Aboriginal woman I’d known since I was five years
old. When I left, the police threw her into a paddy-wagon, searched her and
accused her of selling drugs to white people.
A similar incident occurred a few days earlier when a white
person visited a friend on the Block. Police searched him as he walked home and
accused him of buying drugs.
Is it inconceivable to police that people from different
backgrounds in Redfern could have a relationship that doesn’t involve the sale
of narcotics?
Complaints weren’t made about any of these occurrences
because the complaints system is flawed. I experienced its failures when I
lodged a complaint with the Ombudsman after a teenager was dragged out of my
car near Leichhardt Pool. He was searched in front of his little brother and
the detective accused us – we were shirtless, dripping water and in board
shorts – of acting suspiciously and told us to “stay in Redfern”.
When I complained, the Ombudsman reported that the police
officers involved had refuted my account and the car was pulled over because of
a crooked P-Plate. Investigation closed.
Experiences like this stop people from reporting injustices.
I’ve seen teenagers covered in bruises and scrapes after encounters with police
but they think it futile to lodge a complaint. A man I know was
capsicum-sprayed when he opened his door because he heard a noise outside his
Surry Hills home. The police did not apologise. Rather they handcuffed him
before letting him go without charge or explanation.
Where is the accountability? Incidents like these will
continue to occur every day until fairness is restored to the justice system
and the activities of police are monitored
Source:
South Sydney Herald February 2008 – www.southsydneyherald.com.au