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Assistant Commissioner Mark Murdoch,
Commander Central Metropolitan Region,
with me is Chief Superintendent Donna Adney, who is the New South Wales Police Force
corporate spokesperson for gay, lesbian
transgender issues
Ladies and gentlemen, I am aware that
New South Wales Police Force
are in receipt of at least two pieces of
social media footage
depicting incidents arising from last weekend's Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras
Both of those pieces of footage
have given rise to the
initiation by the New South Wales Police Force of our
Complaints Management Process,
we have as a consequence, this morning initiated two internal investigations
to inquire into the full circumstances of both those incidents
One at
10 PM on Saturday evening,
on Oxford Street on the corner of Reilly Street, the second
occurring around 1130 PM on Oxford Street, near the corner of Crown Street
Both those investigations have been referred to our Professional Standards
Command, who will conduct a thorough, independent and professional investigation
Those internal investigations clearly are the subject of oversight by the NSW
Ombudsman and the Police Integrity Commission, should they see fit to do so
However, given recent experience I would suggest the NSW Ombudsman
would be paying very close attention to
both investigations
I should also make
clear that both
those incidents are now the subject of criminal proceedings,
both of which are now before the courts,
so I need to be measured
about the circumstances upon which I make comment,
but what is also important
to
note, is that the court process themselves
will not only undertake a full assessment of the evidence, to determine
the accused person's guilt or innocence, but as part of that process,
will make their own assessments
and make recommendations about the conduct of police, should they deem that
appropriate
So there is a level of oversight
occurring on a number of fronts in respect of these two issues,
I just need to
warn against
anyone jumping to conclusions, I think the commentary this morning in the
media has
been very measured,
there seems to be some clear understanding that we have but one small part of what
is clearly a much larger incident,
what actually happened,
the full circumstances will be disclosed in time, once our internal investigations
and our criminal investigations advice about both matters
have run their course
and we are in a better position to know exactly what did happen
On that note, ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to
make an appeal to
the public for
information, anyone who
was in the vicinity
of Crown and Oxford Street around 1130 last Saturday night
and saw the interaction between police and
a male person to come forward and tell us what you know,
certainly if you have any mobile phone or other video evidence of what happened,
we'd
very much appreciate any access to that
Similarly
earlier in the night, at 10 PM,
Oxford Street near the corner of Reilly, anyone who was there saw what
happened
and has video or other film footage, we'd
like to hear from you
In closing,
I will just say that
this is a matter clearly, by virtue of what we've put in place overnight and
early this morning, a matter that
New South Wales Police Force is taking very seriously, it is
not about
anything other than
doing what we do day-in, day-out and that is policing
by consent
and with the support of the community, we're not in the business
of doing otherwise, we are not a third world organisation, we are
very much
in the business of policing by consent
with the support of that community
and we are not about
jeopardising relationships built up over time, which are productive, fruitful and I don't think we'll be irrevocably damaged by
what's alleged to have occurred on Saturday night -Mark, can you tell us what charges have been laid
In relation to
the first incident at 10 PM,
we will allege that the young man involved in that
assault of police,
sorry, initially he used offensive language, he was spoken to in relation to that,
whereupon we will allege he assaulted police, then subsequently resisted arrest, in the
second incident at 1130, we will allege that that gentleman assaulted
a sergeant of police in the execution of his duty
(Inaudible comments and questions)
Look, I think we need to wait and see what our investigations
disclose and we'll make comment about
whether it looks bad or otherwise in the fullness of time when we know what's
(Inaudible question)
(Inaudible question)
Does it concern you that it appears that excessive force may have been used?
We need to wait and see what happens,
let's just see what the investigation tells us.
What time did you lay the charges?
Both men were preceded against on the night,
in terms of the exact time the charges were preferred, I couldn't tell you, but they were preceded
against on the night
(Inaudible question)
They were two separate sets of police officers
The first incident the police were from Fairfield and in the
second incident, they were from Parramatta
(Inaudible questions)
No, I don't think so, clearly
the environment in the city is completely different to the western suburbs,
we have a generic set of criteria that we police,
day-in, day-out, but the issues in western Sydney are not
the issues that we experience in the city
The Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras brings with it a whole set of it's own challenges and
creates a different environment
for police, so our relationship locally with the gay and lesbian community is absolutely
first class,
policing in the western suburbs, as I've said, is a different kettle of fish and
we've need just to take
account of that -The Greens have said an idea might be to screen officers deployed for the Mardi Gras parade, what do you say to that?
I think the Greens should leave policing to the police and they need to get on with what they get on with
Do you think that the debate this has sparked will
have an impact on the way that
police do their job in that they might be concerned about the
reaction that their actions will get and step back a little bit?
No, look I don't think so, I think
both the community, local community and our police are mature enough to know that,
and should have confidence,
to know that NSW Police Force treats the matter seriously and will deal with it
in accordance with the evidence -What will police allege was the nature of each assault
That's a matter that's before the court and
again will see that in the fullness of time -In the video that's
on Youtube, an officer is heard repeatedly asking the person filming to stop filming,
is that part of police training,
to stop people from using their
iPhones or camera phones to film police in action to stop?
Absolutely not, in fact it's contrary to our media policy, again
I would suggest that
unfortunately shows a degree of naivety
of the police involved who made those comments
We understand and accept and
in fact the support the right of the community to film
anyone in a public space,
we do it ourselves
as part of our operational duties, so
no, that is
not something they were told, in fact
quite the contrary, our police again need to be mature enough to know that everyone
on the street
basically has a mobile phone with camera facility and they are going to
be filmed and recorded -Will you seek to address that perception?
Well, clearly it has
been communicated loud and clear,
we thought
at the senior level
to all our officers, but clearly we still have much work there to get
that message across
So what action will be taken against that officer? -What officer? -The officer that repeatedly told to stop filming?
He'll be taken aside and policy will be reinforced to him -Have you spoken to the officers involved? -No -Have any of them been stood aside?
Both those officers
sets off police are involved in incidents when you're talking about
are being managed by their respective local area commanders in the workplace
How many officers are we talking about?
We're talking about
one officer in particular
from the Youtube
footage that was put
on the internet overnight and there was a
second set of officers from Parramatta, who
now the subject of internal investigation -You say they're being managed, what does that mean?
Again,
we need to wait and see what the outcome of our investigations, our internal and criminal
investigations show,
they
being managed appropriately by their commanders in the workplace, knowing
what we know at this particular point in time, if at some point in the future
our investigations disclose that
more robust action needs to be taken,
in terms of duty restrictions
or criminal charges or departmental action,
that action will be taken, but we just need to wait
and see, take a deep breath, wait and see what our investigations show,
so that we can take action
which is commensurate
with what we find out -So they'll continue frontline duties?
They're both currently on
frontline duties,
however being managed by their local area commander
Now, what those frontline duties entail is
a matter as for their respective commanders, it may involve
station inquiries, it may involve
working in the cells at the police station,
it may involve
doing what they're doing last Saturday night, we'll just have to wait and see
what transpires from on inquiries -(Inaudible question)
I don't know, that's
a good question Robert, I suppose one that
the media themselves may well answer, but
we do not
react entirely to what we see
on the six o'clock news
We do have and do initiate, as we've done
in this instance, we have not received
a complaint from either of these gentlemen involved in these incidents on
the weekend
That aside, we have initiated the
complaint process, which again
demonstrates to the community,
in particular the guy community, we're treating these matters seriously
and we want to get to the bottom of what happened
Mark, if you haven't seen a complaint
from either of these people, who can you initiate a complaint process?
Our complaints process thankfully allows for that,
it's very well developed, very robust and has been
born over a long period of time
and by virtue of our experience, so we don't need a
complaint
from an individual, we can initiate our own complaints,
which we've done in this instance -On Sunday morning Mar, you described Operation Cromwell as a success, does this change your thinking at all?
Absolutely not,
we had
around two to three hundred thousand
people, the organisers themselves estimate 350 000 people in that
Oxford Street precinct
on Saturday night
We're here now talking about two incidents,
now whilst that's two too many,
in the scheme of things,
we don't have a super big problem
It's
something we're dealing with
and I don't resolve
from the statement one bit that
that incident or that event, I'm
sorry, was a success
When you consider 35 years ago, it' started off as a protest, police and
the participants
engaging with each other on a totally different front,
last Saturday night we saw 10 000 participants, a crowd
around 300 000, 110 floats and one of the
floats was a NSW Police Force float
We had a large number of police marching in the parade
and the orgainisers of the event actively
seek out our participation, our relationship has never been better,
so
it was a great night
for everyone with the exception of these two incidents -Have you seen the video?
I have seen the video -I don't want to prejudge the investigation, but it's not a good look, this kid does not look to be posing any threat to a police officer when he's thrown down
The gentleman's in handcuffs for a reason, I would suggest, but again
we just need to
wait and see what the investigation discloses and that will come out in the fullness of time -Organisers have said that police had been particularly intimidating this year throughout the whole three week festival, do you have any response to this?
They say that after these allegations have been brought forward, that they've been contacted by a umber of other people by what they see as intimidating behaviour
I find that surprising given
that I was the operation commander for that event, I have been dealing with and working hand and glove with the event
organisers and that has never at any time been put to me -They say the community now feels like they're being targeted and really at what's come out of it
Look, I
probably defer to my colleague, Chief Superintendent Adney to respond to that, however,
that's not what we're hearing
and I know that
some members of
the gay community
may feel hesitant
to come forward and talk to the
police, but we have worked hard, no one harder than
Chief Superintendent Adney
to develop and cement relationships with
that community and I would appeal to those people, if they have those concerns,
if they don't want to talk to me or
my local area commander here at Surry Hills, to make contact with
Chief Superintendent Adney,
either via social media or directly
The video shows one officer throw the young man to the ground, he's of slight build, he's handcuffed,
there's a crowd watching, the officer knows he's being filmed, what does that say about the mindset of that officer, that he feels prepared to do that in front of the public?
Our investigation needs to run it's course and
he'll be given an opportunity to account for his actions and until he
has that opportunity, I think we'd be premature to
speculate as to
what may or may not have happened
At this point in time I might defer to Chief Superintendent Adney and you can certainly put it to her, some of those issues
Chief Superintendent Donna Adney, I'm the corporate spokesperson for sexuality and gender diversity for NSW
Police -Has there been a rift in the community, organisers were saying that the police presence at the Mardi Gras this year was stronger than in past years and that attitudes from police to the revelers has changed this year, what would you say about that?
I think that the relationship between police
and the GLBTI community is strong, as Assistant Commissioner Murdoch indicated
I don't think that there has been a significant change in attitudes
by the police, except to say that we worked very hard in the
past few years to build really strong, supportive relationships where the community have
confidence come forward to police and I hope
that those relationships continue
and I hope that people still feel the confidence to come and talk to the police
in regard to the appeal by Assistant Commissioner Murdoch, that if people do have any
information about these incidents,
that they contact
police and provide that information -Are worried something like this could joepardise the good relationships that you have?
I'd hope that given the work that we've done and the relationships that we have
across a really broad
and diverse section of the communities because they're all different communities,
that people would
see these incidents
as isolated, albeit important, incidents that are being appropriately investigated,
but that we can continue the work that we've been doing and continue to work
together,
so that we do continue to build that awareness in the broader community,
so beyond the LGBTI community, so that people in the broader community
understand the challenges faced
and that bit can lead to greater inclusion, that is
our goal, that we do lead to greater inclusion across the broader community -Have you seen the footage? -Yes -(Inaudible question)
I think that we need to wait for the outcome of the internal investigation, as Assistant Commissioner Murdoch has said -Are you surprised, given the relationship that you described, that no one had officially come forward and made a complaint, I mean hundreds of people have commented on this victim's page, that no one's come forward and said anything to police?
I don't know that I'm surprised because I don't think that that's any different
to any other situation, I think in certain circumstances people will make a complaint to
police by various sources
and then in other circumstances or at other times they don't necessarily
make a complaint, but as Mr Murdoch
pointed out we have the ability
to instigate the complaint ourselves, which we've done immediately upon coming aware of the
footage and I think that does show that we are serious about
the actual investigation, but also about the relationships that we have
and acknowledge the importance of those relationships -Is there any specific training or course that can be done for officers who are going to work on events such as this
Before Mardi Gras on Saturday night, the officers who were working, were given a
very good briefing about
Mardi Gras itself, obviously about the history of Mardi Gras and also about
some of the issues or concerns of the community, but they're more broad, we do a
lot of education across NSW Police about what we're trying to do to
build our relationships
with LGBTI communities
and about understanding the
concerns and issues of the LGBTI community has with police
and trying to break down those barriers and build those bridges so there is more confidence
How many police
were deployed to the Mardi Gras
event on Saturday night?
Over a thousand but a few
a few less than 1100, so we're talking about 1000 police
How does that compare to previous events?
It's commensurate with previous events, it's
generally the same numbers we throw at Mardi Gras
each year, but we police the event and any event we do, these large events, on the basis of
risk
We do a robust risk assessment and if we require to
throw more resources at it, we do, if we can wind them back, we do, but
the numbers are pretty consistent