“Who polices the police?” This is the question that many are asking. People are frightened and worried sick that they may be another victim of police brutality, by the very people who are supposed to uphold our values and protect our communities. It was only last year that police used a vehicle to ram a young teenager into the ground to arrest him. Click here for to watch the full clip.
These last few weeks have been troubling for the entire country and it is incidents like this that turn people away from our police officers. We all can replay the heartbreaking final words of George Floyd in our minds every moment of every day where he was barely able to cry for help with the words “I can’t breathe, please I can’t breathe”. How speechless were we all? How sad is it to see a life lost at the hands of a police officer who went against the very oath he took?
In the wake of George Floyd’s death, it seems police have not learnt their lessons and are still abusing their powers! Strikingly similar to the late George Floyd, a young Aboriginal boy was manhandled at the hands of a NSW cop for something considered by many to be trivial. The incident was sparked over a silly comment made by the teenager. An act many would consider cheeky, the young teenager said to the officer “ill crack you to the jaw bro”.
The officer, being a man of ‘intelligence’, responded to the comment in an extremely irrational manner by grabbing the young man and slamming him into the ground. Click here to watch the horrific video. The bystanders got defensive and yelled at the officer, “you just slammed him on his fucking face”. Rather than pulling the officer off the young boy, the other police officer came to assist and restrain the boy from his feet leaving the boy vulnerable. Sadly, the police found it necessary to handcuff and arrest a young Aboriginal man.
Thankfully, his cry for help was heard when the man filming the video said to police:
“He’s in pain, bro. He’s in pain”.
According to the daily mail, after the boy was arrested, he was taken back to a holding cell and then transferred to Saint Vincent’s Hospital. The young man was left with a bruised shoulder, cuts and grazing to his knees, face, elbow and a chipped tooth.
Can you imagine if the roles were reversed where the young offender was the attacker? The young boy would be looking at a charge of aggravated assault occasioning bodily harm. The most irrational thing of all is this, charges are likely going to be laid against the young boy, and not the police officer!
As a result, people are becoming afraid of our police officers rather than turn to them. People who are supposed to protect and serve our community and it seems that our communities are losing faith in them.
COULDN’T THEY ISSUE A MOVE ON DIRECTION?
The simple answer is yes. Police could simply have dealt with this matter in a much more effective way. In this case, the officer could have issued the alleged young offender with a move on direction or a future court attendance notice if a charge was going to be laid against him.
Pursuant to section 197 of the Law Enforcement (Powers and Responsibilities) Act 2002 (NSW) (‘LEPRA’):
(1) A police officer may give a direction to a person in a public place if the police officer believes on reasonable grounds that the person’s behaviour or presence in the place:
(a) is obstructing another person or persons or traffic, or
(b) constitutes harassment or intimidation of another person or persons, or
(c) is causing or likely to cause fear to another person or persons, so long as the relevant conduct would be such as to cause fear to a person of reasonable firmness, or
(d) is for the purpose of unlawfully supplying, or intending to unlawfully supply, or soliciting another person or persons to unlawfully supply, any prohibited drug, or
(e) is for the purpose of obtaining, procuring or purchasing any prohibited drug that it would be unlawful for the person to possess”
CAN THE POLICE ARREST ME WITHOUT A WARRANT?
Yes, the police have the power to arrest you without a warrant. Pursuant to section 99 of LEPRA:
“(1) A police officer may, without a warrant, arrest a person if–
(a) the police officer suspects on reasonable grounds that the person is committing or has committed an offence, and
(b) the police officer is satisfied that the arrest is reasonably necessary for any one or more of the following reasons–
(i) to stop the person committing or repeating the offence or committing another offence,
(ii) to stop the person fleeing from a police officer or from the location of the offence,
(iii) to enable inquiries to be made to establish the person’s identity if it cannot be readily established or if the police officer suspects on reasonable grounds that identity information provided is false,
(iv) to ensure that the person appears before a court in relation to the offence,
(v) to obtain property in the possession of the person that is connected with the offence,
(vi) to preserve evidence of the offence or prevent the fabrication of evidence”.
It is not uncommon for police to abuse their powers under section 99 of LEPRA. This can be seen less than one month ago where police arrested a young mother in the presence of her child for protesting in public. Click here to read the full story.
Most importantly, remember your rights and exercise them as best you can.