Category Archives: Australian police and policing

‘Very little has shifted’: watch house case a major concern for First Nations group advising Queensland police

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Exclusive: Leadership needs to act with urgency to address ‘culture of racism’ instead of focusing on ‘performative’ elements, says adviser

A key adviser to the Queensland police on First Nations issues says more urgency is required to fix racism in the ranks, amid concerns the service has failed to address widespread cultural problems exposed by a commission of inquiry.

Christine Thomas, the co-chair of the QPS First Nations advisory group, said the group “holds great concern that little has changed” since last year’s inquiry found a “failure of leadership” had allowed a culture of sexism, racism, fear and silence to take hold unchecked. The government responded by giving police $100m to enact reforms.

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Teen in coma after allegedly being dragged 2km by a car in Sydney

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A man has been charged over the Blacktown incident that has left a 15-year-old in a serious condition

A teenager has been placed in an induced coma after allegedly being dragged 2km through the streets in Sydney’s west before falling from a car.

According to New South Wales police, shortly before 7pm on Friday a 19-year-old man sitting in a car and a 15-year-old boy began arguing on a street in Blacktown.

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Woman dies in Newcastle after being shot with Taser and bean bag rounds by NSW police

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Police claim the woman, 47, threatened officers with an axe in Stockton before barricading herself inside an apartment where she was shot with ‘less than lethal options’

A woman has died after New South Wales police officers allegedly shot her with a Taser and bean bag-style rounds during a standoff after the 47-year-old reportedly threatened officers with an axe.

The woman’s death in hospital on Thursday night will be examined by the force’s watchdog, authorities said on Friday.

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Queensland government urged to intervene after police staff in racist recordings go unpunished

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Retired officers say a lack of accountability within the Queensland Police Service has allowed racism to fester

Former Queensland police say a lack of accountability within the service has allowed racism to fester after revelations that officers who joked about “beating and burying black people” have not been punished.

On Tuesday there were calls for the state government to intervene in the case, as well as stamp out the process of police investigating police, after Guardian Australia revealed four officers recorded making racist comments had escaped sanction.

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‘It’s like they’re impervious’: fury at let off for Queensland police staff in racist recordings

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Exclusive: Lack of punishment follows repeated promises by police commissioner Katarina Carroll to crack down on racism and misogyny within service

Officers recorded making “sickening” racist comments while working inside a Brisbane watch house have escaped sanction, despite repeated promises by the police commissioner to crack down on racism and misogyny within the service.

Queensland’s police commissioner, Katarina Carroll, said at a press conference last year she believed officers making such comments “should not be in the organisation” after Guardian Australia exclusively published the leaked recordings.

The tapes revealed officers joking about beating and burying black people, referring to Nigerians as “jigaboos”, and raising fears of “outbreeding” by Muslim immigrants.

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Man allegedly abducted and stabbed in vehicle in Melbourne’s north-east

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Four people arrested – including a 16-year-old girl released without charge - after car allegedly stolen in Northcote

Four people have been arrested after a man was allegedly abducted and stabbed in Melbourne’s inner north-east, prompting a police chase.

A worker at a hire company at Northcote in the city’s north called police about 9.40pm on Sunday, after their silver Hyundai was allegedly stolen from Mitchell Street.

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Melbourne crash: 26-year-old man charged with murder after Bourke Street incident

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Melton West allegedly drove into cars and pedestrians, killing a 76-year-old man and injuring five others

Homicide detectives have charged a 26-year-old man with murder after he allegedly drove his car into pedestrians and vehicles in Melbourne’s CBD.

Police said on Saturday night the Melton West man had been charged with one count of murder, three counts of attempted murder, three counts of intentionally causing serious injury and two counts of conduct endangering life.

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Home affairs under Peter Dutton was warned ‘failing’ immigration detention may have breached duty of care

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Exclusive: 2020 report told of risk to detainees’ health from indefinite detention and sending ‘prison hardened’ cohort into system

Peter Dutton’s home affairs department was warned that immigration detention was “failing” by an independent review but options to reduce reliance on detention were “not progressed”.

The report by the former secretary of the attorney general’s department, Robert Cornall, found that visa cancellations sent “prison hardened detainees” into immigration detention and warned this may breach the Australian government’s duty of care to other detainees including asylum seekers.

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Jason Roberts sues Victoria after being wrongfully jailed for police killings

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Roberts seeks damages from the state for the 5,627 days he spent behind bars after winning retrial in court of appeal and being cleared by a new jury

For decades Jason Roberts was branded as a double police killer.

But after winning a retrial through Victoria’s court of appeal and a second jury found him not guilty, he’s now fighting for compensation.

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Seatbelt camera glitch: hundreds of Queensland drivers had licences taken away by mistake

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Design fault blamed for drivers, who were caught with a passenger breaking seatbelt laws, being issued double demerit points

A design fault in Queensland’s mobile phone and seatbelt cameras led to almost 2,000 people being incorrectly fined and more than 600 drivers losing their licence.

Transport minister Mark Bailey said he was made aware of the issue on Wednesday, with his department requesting urgent legal advice.

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AFP calls on public to donate childhood photos in bid to combat child abuse with AI

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Project with Monash University will use images to train system to recognise pictures of children on dark web

The Australian federal police want the public to donate their childhood photos to an artificial intelligence project aimed at helping save children from abuse.

The project, run by AFP and Monash University, will help detect child abuse material on the dark web, or on devices that have been seized during criminal investigations.

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Child allegedly assaulted by William Tyrrell’s former foster parents heard sobbing on audio played in court

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Former foster mother, 58, pleaded guilty to assaulting the child on two occasions in 2021

A child allegedly assaulted and intimidated by William Tyrrell’s former foster parents can be heard sobbing and begging with them in audio played to a court.

The 58-year-old woman pleaded guilty on Monday to assaulting the child, who is not William, on two occasions in January and October 2021.

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Activists want NT to make spit hoods illegal after report found they were used on children 27 times

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Campaigners says case of child who may have lost consciousness while restrained in spit hood highlights need to legislate ban

The sibling of an Aboriginal man who died after being placed in a spit hood while detained in South Australia has criticised the Northern Territory government for refusing to legislate a ban as recommended by the territory’s ombudsman.

Northern Territory police have used spit hoods on children at least 27 times since 2016, in a move labelled “extraordinary” by the NT ombudsman last week.

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Queensland may face damages bill for unlawful detention of children in watch houses, lawyers say

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Dylan Voller’s solicitor argues new law retrospectively legalising practice could be successfully challenged

The Queensland government could still face a damages bill in the tens of millions of dollars, some lawyers say, despite retrospective legislation exempting it from liability for holding children in adult police watch houses.

Dylan Voller’s lawyer Peter O’Brien, the solicitor behind the class action against the Northern Territory’s Don Dale youth detention centre, said he believed the retrospective legislation could be challenged in court.

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AFP received 28 misconduct allegations involving MPs, staff or ‘official establishments’ in 12 months

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Federal police declines to provide more details about the reports, which were made in the year after Brittany Higgins went public

Federal police received 28 allegations of misconduct by parliamentarians, their staff or “official establishments” in the year after Brittany Higgins’ allegations first became public knowledge.

But the Australian federal police has declined to outline any further details, including which state or territory police force it passed the reports to for further investigation.

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Children unlawfully detained in Queensland’s police watch houses blocked from suing

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Law changes retroactively exempt government from litigation as Labor refuses to release legal advice used to justify rapid changes to Youth Justice Act

The Queensland government has refused to release key legal advice it used to justify urgent changes to the Youth Justice Act, amid criticism over its decision to retroactively prevent children from suing if they were detained unlawfully.

Defending the government’s hurried changes to the law, the deputy premier, Steven Miles, said the solicitor general had advised it could not delay amending the act – even for a few weeks – to accommodate scrutiny by a parliamentary committee.

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Keeping kids in watch houses: why the Queensland government could change the law to suit itself

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Possible ‘robodebt’ scenario left Labor to either move the children or suspend the Human Rights Act – and it chose the latter

Queensland Labor MPs found out on Monday that they were expected to vote to suspend the state’s Human Rights Act, for a second time, to allow for the indefinite detention of children in adult police watch houses.

No one else seemed to have any warning. On Wednesday afternoon – on a particularly dreary day in state parliament – the police minister, Mark Ryan, tacked the law change on to an unrelated child safety bill, allowing it to pass through parliament the following day with no committee scrutiny.

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‘Farm animals with better legal protection’: Queensland’s new child watch house laws pilloried

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Palaszczuk government overriding state’s Human Rights Act to allow for imprisoning children as young as 10 in adult watch houses

Queensland’s human rights commissioner has accused the government of setting a “dangerous precedent” after it overrode the Human Rights Act to allow children to be detained at adult watch houses and prisons.

In a surprise move, the Palaszczuk government introduced legislation on Wednesday to allow it to imprison children in adult watch houses “even if it would not be compatible with human rights”.

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NSW police watchdog to oversee investigation into arrest of Indigenous man with disability in Taree

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Teenager remains in custody and faces seven charges, including hindering or resisting a police officer

The New South Wales police watchdog will oversee an investigation into the violent arrest in Taree last week of a handcuffed Aboriginal teenager with a disability.

The Law Enforcement Conduct Commission (LECC), an independent watchdog that has oversight of NSW police, has confirmed it is involved in the force’s internal inquiry and that police have received a serious misconduct complaint about the incident.

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Aboriginal 18-year-old with disability thrown to ground during NSW police arrest while having seizure

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Exclusive: Police launch internal investigation over arrest at Taree, as footage shows officer performing a leg sweep while man is handcuffed

New South Wales police have launched an investigation after a young Aboriginal man with disability was violently arrested while having a seizure and thrown to the ground while handcuffed in Taree.

The 18-year-old was arrested on Tuesday after police received reports a man had allegedly tried to break into two homes. Police said the man then fled. A man was arrested on Gwenneth Avenue.

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