'The culture of policing needs to change.'

The Fitzgerald enquiry came to the same conclusion some years ago. The officers of the Queensland Police Service seemingly have failled to heed that outcome of that enquiry. The CMC is an irrelevance now and cannot follow up in this matter, so what is needed is another enquiry into the Queensland Police Service.

'We need to continue to look for ways to reduce the toll of alcohol on Indigenous communities and to recognise the role of alcohol in high Indigenous incarceration rates.'

The Black Deaths in Custody inquiry came to the same conclusions. Their reccommendations completely covered and offered solutions to the high incarceration rates. All that is needed is for those long overdue recommendations to be implemented. Mostly they revolve around policing matters. It is pointless to have another inquiry to establish ways to reduce incarceration rates but we do need an inquiry as to why those original recommendations were not acted upon and the recommended changes in policing were not introduced by the Queensland Police Service.

The root cause of the loss of trust in and respect for the Queensland Police service is not poor education of indigenous kids, it is the continuing lack of change in the Police Culture as pointed out by Fitzgeral and as stated by the author.

That's the problem. That's always been the problem.

This attitude of superiority precluding empathetic understanding is hardly confined to groups such as the Indigenes, who lack much legal or sympathetic clout in our land of xenophobia. Difference is worth attcking, ignoring or using as political tool, which if used correctly can enhance enduring parliamentary position. One needs a culture of difference of inferior or arkward encumbnering status and the media is generally only too happy to oblige, own their own or when given such as parliamentary feed. The latest along the lines of sexual deviants as I recall. Stuff of headlines indeed though unhelpful. Isuppose most have foregotten the map of Australia promulagated in all honesty, one assumes, showing native title 'threatening' the whole of Australia well alomost.
A ploy not dissimilar to the WMD's postualted for its fear potential in recent times, no doubt remembering Herman Goering's dictum.

Kirsten Storry rightly puts a share of the blame on indigenes destroying public property in these rampages. Press reports said that
Aurakun leaders were taking refuge with police under seige in that incident. This suggests a distressing lack of leadership as well as all the underlying causes ..education, lack of jobs, business opportunities. ATSIC did not appear to be the potential solution in that regard. What does the Centre for Independent Studies suggest?

And at last Hurley has been charged

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200701/s1834307.htm

quote

Teachers to strike over house vandalism
Teachers in the central Queensland Indigenous community of Woorabinda will strike next week over vandalism of their accommodation.

Barry Thompson from the Queensland Teachers Union says staff returned from school holidays to find teachers' houses and the school had been trashed and personal items stolen.

Mr Thompson says the teachers will strike for 48 hours on Monday and Tuesday, and are very upset at the senseless damage to their homes.

"I think all bar one have been broken into, property smashed, things stolen and various acts of vandalism performed, and that's not only happened in the individual houses and units, it's also happened at the school, and teachers have just had enough," he said.

"They don't believe they should have to go away on their holidays only to come back to find that their personal space has been invaded and that there's been extensive damage done."

Education Minister Rod Welford says he can understand their anger and concern, but strike action is not the answer.

"I'm hopeful that the teachers will resolve to get back into the classrooms and get started making a real difference to the lives of the young people at Woorabinda as soon as we can arrange for that to happen," he said.

"Obviously there is no benefit to the teachers or the students to any extended strike action."

unquote

Great job here, someone in the community must have known this was going to happen, and were in a position to stop it in some way, or after it happened knew who did it and were in a position to tell the authorities.

Do I read of any citizens coming forward to provide information? Not likely. Lets get thgese teachers out of here and close the school down, its obvious that the locals don't want it. Leave the community to its own devices.

Hamlet

Your example of the B and E seems to imply that Hurley was excused for the death of the man in his custody. Is that what you were suggesting?

Why weren't the police doing their job? They are supposed to be protecting the community. Probably they were too busy rounding up traffic offenders or harmless drunks eh?

You know I live in a Capital city and I was broken into recently and had some money stolen.

Here's a copy of an e-mail I received from Queensland Police.

'Hello KENNELLY’s,

In total there were 7 breaks in your complex and 1 attempted break. Apart from the cash stolen and inconvenience you have been lucky in this regard.

Crime Report 06/188862

Camp Hill Police Station
580 Old Cleveland Road, Camp Hill. 4152
Phone 3843 2125 Fax 3398 3537
Morningside LAC. Metro South Region'

Neat policing eh? I couldn't work out if I was lucky I was broken into or lucky only to have been broken into?

I sent off a response asking what they would have done had I or my family had been assaulted. Needless to say I haven't received a response.

So the teachers are striking. That's a bit rich. I'm just calling for an enquiry as to why our police force isn't policing. The events we have seen with Hurley and the police unions and senior officers are an indication something is terribly amiss. The police are so obviously disconnected with all communities not just isolated indigenous communities.