Category Archives: Australian police and policing

Kumanjayi Walker inquest: racism a ‘broader’ issue in NT police, superintendent says

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Jody Nobbs questioned about text messages between Constable Zachary Rolfe and other police officers that used racist language

The superintendent formerly in charge of central desert remote communities has told an inquest into the police shooting death of 19-year-old Warlpiri man Kumanjayi Walker that racism is a “broader” issue within the Northern Territory police force.

Walker was shot three times by Constable Zachary Rolfe during an attempted arrest by the immediate response team in Yuendumu in November 2019.

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Asic investigator denies feeling responsible for Melissa Caddick’s suspected death, inquest hears

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Lead investigator tells court ‘I was doing my job’ after suggestion she was to blame for death

An investigator from the corporate watchdog has denied feeling responsible for Melissa Caddick’s suspected death, after the fraudster’s brother made the suggestion.

Isabella Allen from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (Asic) said Adam Grimley asked her the loaded question in June 2021.

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Queensland lab at the centre of DNA testing failures allegedly beset by workplace conflicts

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Exclusive: state government was aware of problems at forensic lab, which included bullying complaints and ‘vendettas’ against managers

Alleged serious DNA testing failures at Queensland’s troubled forensic lab developed alongside a “chronic toxic culture” in the workplace, including a large number of bullying complaints, claims of “vendettas” against managers and staff requiring stress leave.

Guardian Australia can reveal the state government engaged consulting companies, psychologists, mediators and lawyers in an attempt to fix long-running cultural problems at the Queensland Health forensic and scientific services facility.

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Implement pre-court diversion for drug users now, author of NSW ice inquiry urges

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Prof Dan Howard says he’s ‘puzzled’ it took the government nearly three years to agree to such modest changes in policing

The author of a landmark inquiry into crystal methamphetamine (“ice”) addiction in New South Wales has warned the government’s commitment to expand pre-court diversion for drug users in the state could be pushed into “the never-never” if it is not implemented by the March election.

On Wednesday the NSW government released its long-awaited response to Prof Dan Howard’s 14-month inquiry into drug addiction in NSW, committing to spending $500m on expanded treatment services and justice initiatives.

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Kumanjayi Walker inquest hears ‘negative interactions’ between police and Aboriginal people could ‘normalise’ racism

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Senior constable says he has not heard officers use racist slurs but agrees unchecked frustration could lead to generalisations

• Warning: This story contains offensive and racist slurs heard in court

An inquest into the police shooting death of Northern Territory man Kumanjayi Walker has been told “negative interactions” with Indigenous Australians could to lead to “normalised” racism within the police force.

Walker, 19, was shot three times by the NT police constable Zachary Rolfe during an attempted arrest in the remote Northern Territory community of Yuendumu in November 2019. Rolfe was found not guilty of murder and two alternative charges after a six-week trial in the supreme court in Darwin earlier this year.

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‘Racist and disgusting’: inquest into Kumanjayi Walker death hears of ‘shocking’ texts sent by Zachary Rolfe

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• Warning: this story contains extremely offensive language heard in court

Court hears police constable Rolfe talked of having ‘smashed’ Aboriginal community and described local people as ‘neanderthals’

An inquest into the police shooting death of Kumanjayi Walker has heard that Zachary Rolfe, the constable acquitted of his murder, was involved in text message exchanges in which officers described Aboriginal people as “losers”, “grubby fucks”, “coons” and “niggas”, and discussed using force to “towel them up”.

Walker, 19, was shot three times by Rolfe during an attempted arrest in the remote Northern Territory community of Yuendumu in November 2019. Rolfe was found not guilty of murder and two alternative charges after a six-week trial in the NT supreme court in Darwin earlier this year.

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Melbourne Tinder swindler sentenced to 22 months in a Victorian prison

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Christopher Collins pleaded guilty to 24 charges including financial deception offences, fraud and theft

Within hours of meeting Christopher Collins on Tinder, a Melbourne woman had been swindled of thousands of dollars, a court has heard.

But that was just the beginning of her nightmare. As the court was told, weeks of manipulation followed, including threats of blackmail.

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Apparent rise in use of fire in domestic violence attacks must be investigated, expert says

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Research into cases of arson and burn injuries suggests links between use or threat of fire, and domestic and family violence

The apparent increase in the use of fire, petrol “dousing” or related threats by perpetrators of domestic and family violence requires greater attention from researchers and authorities, one of Australia’s leading legal experts on domestic violence says.

Domestic violence support services in Queensland have previously expressed concern that the volume of domestic cases involving fire had increased since reporting on the killing of Hannah Clarke and her children, in early 2020.

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‘Controversial’ proposal would see young NSW men banned from driving until they turn 21

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Road safety experts say more needs to be done to reduce fatalities by focusing on young men

Men would be banned from getting a driver’s licence until they are 21 under a “controversial” proposal being made to the New South Wales government.

The proposal is one of several being made by road safety experts, who say more needs to be done to reduce road fatalities by focusing on young drivers – and particularly young men.

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Kumanjayi Walker’s family feared another police shooting following his death, inquest told

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Cousin of NT man shot dead during arrest says she livestreamed as family gathered outside police station out of fear of media, police

A relative of Kumanjayi Walker has told an inquest she feared for the lives of her family following the 19-year-old’s death and said the shooting had led to deteriorating relations between police and the Aboriginal community.

Walker was shot three times by police officer Const Zachery Rolfe during an attempted arrest in the remote Northern Territory community of Yuendumu in November 2019.

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Inquest to examine NT police shooting death of Kumanjayi Walker by Zachary Rolfe

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Rolfe was acquitted of murdering Walker in March, unleashing grief and anger in the remote community of Yuendumu

It’s already been the subject of a high-profile murder trial and now a coroner will examine the outback police shooting of Indigenous man Kumanjayi Walker.

Walker died on 9 November 2019 when Const Zachary Rolfe shot him three times in the remote community of Yuendumu 290km north-west of Alice Springs.

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Queensland police who arrested author Chelsea Watego did not also approach ‘aggressive white man’ at scene, tribunal hears

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Indigenous academic alleges treatment by two officers during 2018 arrest amounted to unlawful discrimination on basis of her race, a claim the officers and state government denies

Two Queensland police officers who arrested and handcuffed prominent First Nations writer and academic Chelsea Watego have told a tribunal they did not also approach or investigate an allegedly “aggressive white man” who was also the focus of nightclub security guards at the time they arrived.

The Queensland civil and administrative tribunal heard this week that police arrested Watego, a Munanjahli and South Sea Islander woman, within 18 seconds of arriving at the front of The Beat nightclub in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley in 2018.

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Comanchero bike boss Tarek Zahed to face murder charge after dramatic arrest in Sydney

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Tactical police fired bean bag rounds into Tarek Zahed’s black BMW on Edgecliff street

Comanchero bikie boss Tarek Zahed will face a Sydney court on a murder charge just months after narrowly surviving an attempt on his own life.

The sergeant-at-arms of the outlaw motorcycle gang was arrested in dramatic scenes on Sunday when tactical police fired bean bag rounds into Zahed’s black BMW on an Edgecliff street.

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Man with alleged mafia links allowed to gamble in Queensland after he was barred from other casinos, inquiry hears

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Man became a top 10 player at the Star Gold Coast after being banned from Melbourne and Sydney casinos

Star Entertainment allowed a patron barred from casinos in two states and allegedly linked to the Italian mafia to continue gambling in its Queensland venues for years, an inquiry has heard.

The man became one of the top 10 players at the Star Gold Coast after he was banned from the Crown Melbourne in 2014, and New South Wales police barred him from attending The Star, Sydney, seven months later.

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Queensland police commissioner’s evidence to inquiry sparks new call for submissions

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Commission examining responses to domestic violence says Katarina Carroll’s appearance led to ‘further communications’ from officers

Queensland’s commission of inquiry into police responses to domestic violence has unexpectedly reopened submissions to the public, citing the reaction to evidence given by the state’s police commissioner as a driver for the decision.

Queensland’s police commissioner, Katarina Carroll, was interrogated for more than eight hours at a public hearing in Brisbane last week after she initially declined an invitation to attend.

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Brisbane man shot twice by officers as children hid in bushes, police say

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The 43-year-old was allegedly armed with a sharpening file when he was shot outside home

A man will undergo surgery after being shot twice by a Queensland police officer he had allegedly lunged at with a large metal sharpening file during a “horrible incident” at a house in Brisbane’s south.

Queensland police said the 43-year-old’s wife and four sons – aged seven to 14 – were at home during the confrontation on Sunday night.

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NSW police strip-searched more than 100 children as young as 13 in two-year period

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Exclusive: More than 4,400 strip searches were carried out in total between July 2020 and May 2022

The New South Wales police have been accused of misunderstanding their own strip-search powers after data showed officers continued to use the controversial practice on thousands of people, including children as young as 13, during the height of Covid.

Data reveals police in NSW carried out more than 4,400 strip-searches between July 2020 and May 2022, which includes a Delta-wave lockdown that lasted more than 100 days.

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Advocates angered by news Queensland police boss declined request to appear at inquiry

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Katarina Carroll declined invitation on same day police said they will ‘fully cooperate’ with domestic violence inquiry

Advocates say it was “disingenuous” for Queensland police to claim the commissioner would “fully cooperate” with a domestic violence inquiry when she had declined an initial invitation to attend.

The Queensland police service’s (QPS) commissioner, Katarina Carroll, told the inquiry on Thursday that she initially rejected an invitation to appear at a public hearing on 5 August.

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Mother welcomes murder charge two decades after Arthur Haines, 13, died in Sydney house fire

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Gregory Walker charged with alleged murder and arson after Haines died from burns following petrol bombing of Sydney house in 1998

The mother of 13-year-old Arthur Haines, who police alleged was murdered in 1998, says she is ecstatic police have arrested a suspect more than two decades after his death.

“I couldn’t believe … finally today is the day,” Julie Szabo said outside Surry Hills police station in Sydney on Friday.

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Northern Territory girl allegedly abducted 13 days ago found safe and well

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One person is in custody and more are helping police with their inquiries after girl taken to Darwin police station

One person is in custody and more are helping police with their inquiries after a young girl, allegedly abducted in the Northern Territory, was found safe and well.

A special taskforce was established to find the girl after she went missing on 7 August, with police focusing their efforts on a group they said “continued to peddle ideologies and false information”.

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