The debate and allegations of police bias in the management of demonstrations have again been raised.
Bias concerns have indeed been more frequent and strident over recent years, and central to the community angst is the reported different responses to different causes.
The unavoidable comparisons of the police response are drawn between pre-COVID, Black Lives Matter (BLM), COVID Demonstrations, Pro Woman’s Rights and more recently, pro-Palestinian/Hamas demonstrations.
Police acting as spectators to the BLM demonstration, as opposed to Rubber Bullets and O/C Spray against COVID Demonstrators, a scenario VicPol will not be able to move away from for many years, if ever.
Hence, the CAA’s position on water cannons which are at least consistent.
Now, the issue relates to the police response to the pro-Palestine/Hamas anti-Jewish demonstrations.
The first principle of Policing demonstrations is consistency so that an allegation of bias cannot be levelled at the police; irrespective of the cause, people are exercising their right to assembly and free speech.
It is understandable that many in the community have doubts and feel Victoria police show bias, influenced by the subject matter of the demonstrations.
These latest demonstrations could become more problematic and facilitate anarchy by extremists hijacking the demonstrator’s actions from either side of the debate. A lack of Police action toward demonstrators who are breaking the law is a major cause of violence escalating because the behaviour is unchecked.
What has occurred seems to be inconsistency in applying the law as it stands. This inconsistency implies that the police policy moves with the subject matter of the demonstration, hence the allegations of bias.
It was widely reported that a Senior Police spokesperson said, “Protesters could not be stopped from unfurling hateful banners and performing anti-Semitic rallying cries”.
But there are specific laws to deal with these matters.
In Victoria, it is against the law to vilify a person or group of people in public because of their race or religion. Vilification is behaviour that ‘incites or encourages hatred, serious contempt, revulsion or severe ridicule’ for a person or group of people because of their race and/or religion.
It is also against the law to behave in public in a way that is racially offensive or abusive to a person or group of people because of their race, colour, nationality or ethnic origin
. https://www.legalaid.vic.gov.au/racial-vilification-and-acts-racial-hatred.
It is, therefore, not a question as to whether the perpetrators, and there were many exposed by news services, have committed Vilification in breach of the Law, it is only their individual guilt or innocence that is the question, necessarily determined by a Court, not the bias of individuals within VicPol.
That the crime has been committed is beyond doubt.
Another statement attributed in the media to the Senior Officer was,
“Police are aware of recent chants and banners at these rallies, and while they might be offensive to ‘some’, unfortunately, they do not always constitute a criminal offence.”
So, the police pick and choose the ‘some’.
That is bias and not police exercising discretion, which individual Police have the power to do.
The further claim that “Police can only act within the confines of the law” is a truism. However, it implies that the actions we see are within the confines of the law – a highly debatable proposition because, equally, the police have an obligation to enforce the law. There are a number of potential offences that the Police can take action against for those breaching them, which in part supports the politician’s views that police have adequate powers.
Offences regularly committed by demonstrators that are not prosecuted,
Obstruction, Trespass, Unlawful assembly, Anti-mask laws, Offensive behaviour, Besetting, Offences against emergency workers, Violent disorder, Affray or property damage.
We accept that at times, for operational expediency, some minor offences should be overlooked (exercising police discretion); however, when demonstrations occur without any arrests and blatant offences are being committed, beamed into our living rooms on the nightly news, the authority of the State and the Police is undermined as is the confidence of the community, something from a policing perspective that is essential for the overall effective policing function.
That some perpetrators are prosecuted post-event is not a disincentive for participants where an arrest during the demonstration is. The lack of arrests can promote an attitude that police are weak and ineffectual, the deterrent effect is lost, and more social unrest is guaranteed.
While weasel words to attempt to justify police inaction and or bias may placate a minority, the vast majority of the community sees through the spin.
Fair, impartial and effective policing without fear or favour is an underlying foundation principle of policing.
Separation of powers seem to have disappeared without a whimper!
Yep, plus the organisations that claim to support freedom and the law also have disappeared, the Vic Law Institute and Liberty Victoria to name just two examples. Both major parties seem to have no interest in it either. How do we get back from this merger of gov policy and policing?
The time has come where a truly independent oversight body needs to be formed to review questionable operational decisions of the chief Commissioner and his command team. The police had no problem going after covid protestors yet when it comes to those who chanted kill the jews etc, no arrests are made. It is said that justice is blind but in reality, the opposite appears to be the case. If you are protesting against the Premier’s or Sutton’s directives, police pounced without hesitation and they justified their actions by saying they were simply enforcing the law but why do the police stand back and effectively condone hate protests. I dont accept the suggestion that the recent protest numbers made it difficult for police to control the protestors when covid protest numbers appeared much greater yet the police were able to tackle, arrest, charge and disperse protestors with relative ease and might I add, with enthusiasm by some members. Recent operational decisions warrant a review panel and this panel could and should be made up of retired senior police who have no affiliation to any political party and who are completely independent of the current police command. Clearly police command have either lost the plot or they are being ordered to turn a blind eye to what is going on for political purposes. We need a police force that enforces the law regardless of race, creed, political leaning etc. What we dont need is the status quo
VicPol’s obvious politicalisation due to media coverage of demonstrations with different responses to different political opinions.
But it is unfair to ignore all Victorian government agencies actions. Although not obvious to the general public, these actions are traumatic to Victorians affected by this undermining of democracy.
Rural Victorians have been humiliated by a barrage of what appears to be predetermined outcome engagements. This political process ironically named “Engage Victoria”. I suggest a name relevant to the outcomes should be, Disengage or Disenfranchise Victorians.
To simply explain the gravity of this to those that have served in Victoria Police, all experienced knowledge (stewardship), has been removed from rural Victoria’s management. Both environmental and primary production (PP via green tape).
The consequences are many and a multifaceted disaster in the making, but although the outcomes are fully predictable, these predictable outcomes won’t be reported by disingenuous media until the disastrous outcomes are then reported as “unprecedented “.
The education system appears to bombard students with settlement-colonisation is bad, thus our culture, or more importantly our pride in achievements is discouraged. The courageous are even socially cancelled if unbiased data of human flourishing and environmental achievements are mentioned.
To have pride and to voice a opinion in support of Australians of integrity, regardless of the roll they perform in society seems to be treated as a extreme right-wing concept given the vilification this pride receives.
To those ignoring the illegal actions clearly seen and voiced with the current demonstrations, my observations.
Democracy checks power or the misuse of power. Western democracy cherishes life. We go to great lengths to preserve life. Life expectancy has roughly doubled in the last hundred years or so. All lives considered of equal worth.
Terrorism cherishes death. Lives to be traded, to be used and then discarded. A brutal, unchallengeable hierarchy system, politically, socially and domestically.
Non bias policing went out the window when officers starting wearing tabards with rainbows on them.!
What impression does this create on the public! Police are suppose to act without fear or favour so how does the overt at of supporting a political group (LGBTQ), by wearing rainbow tabards vests and lanyards demonstrate this?