Police officer charged with alleged assault of Indigenous teen
By Natasha Taylor|05 May 2021
Following the arrest of an Indigenous teenager in June last year, Aboriginal Legal Services has welcomed charges brought against a serving NSW Police officer.
Earlier this week, the Aboriginal Legal Service NSW/ACT (ALS) announced the charges brought against a serving NSW Police officer for common assault and assault occasioning actual bodily harm of a boy in Surry Hills, Ward Park last year.
Video footage of the boy’s arrest went viral at the time, coinciding with Black Lives Matter protests worldwide following the murder of George Floyd by a US police officer.
NSW police charged with assault
The Guardian
The family of an indigenous teenager who was allegedly assaulted by a police officer in Sydney last year have welcomed the decision to lay charges, saying they want the law to be “applied with fairness and justice.”
Police yesterday confirmed that an officer had been charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm and common assault, 11 months after footage surfaced of him allegedly tripping a 16-year-old indigenous teenager while arresting him, slamming the boy face-first on to bricks.
The officer involved, a constable who has worked for New South Wales (NSW) police for three years, was placed on restricted duties in June last year after police professional standards launched an investigation into the incident.
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‘Time for talking is over’: Legal profession responds to deaths in custody report
By Naomi Neilson|18 April 2021
While major legal bodies have welcomed a new report into the high rate of Aboriginal deaths in custody, they have cautioned that the “time for talking is over” and urged the government to make changes and address systemic injustices immediately.
On the 30th anniversary of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, a select committee has released a new report and called on the government to fully implement the 339 recommendations from the commission that have been “gathering dust”, including raising the age of criminal responsibility and expanding court powers.
Community advocates are calling on ACT police to address major gaps in the way they deal with First Nations communities, following the release of a report by Commonwealth and ACT Ombudsman Michael Manthorpe into ACT Policing.
The report examined police engagement with the territory s Indigenous community, focusing on the effectiveness of programs, policies, procedures and training.
We observed a number of gaps in ACT Policing’s policy framework where either no policy or procedure exists, or where an existing policy or procedure was incomplete, the report reads.
There are currently no written policies or procedures for members to reference when conducting a field contact, carrying out an arrest, or referring an individual to the Front Up program or the Police Community Youth Club.