The Police Service is there to Protect & Serve the Citizens of Queensland, by enforcing the law without fear or favor. It does not exist merely to ensure that corrupt behaviour by Police goes unpunished.

We are right back were we where under Commissioner Terry Lewis, a corrupt Police State, where the politicians serve at the behest of the almighty Police Union (and woe betide any who swim against the flow).

This story just keeps on going (http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/deadline-looms-for-bob-atkinson-over-palm-island-saga/story-e6freon6-1225888262098) while the pot that is Palm Island (and the other communities) continues to bubble...

When will we SEE justice being done? If someone from Palm Island had killed a Police Officer (by accident), I'm fairly confident the Police Union would be a 'bit upset' if the Palm Island Council tried to preclude any action being taken against the Person(s) responsible for assuring that justice would be denied...

In fact, I rather suspect we'd hear about it, see it on TV, in Newspapers, etc. every day until action was taken... Why the double-standard? Oh that's right, Cameron was just a blackfella wasn't he?

A commission would be a waste of time on many levels, and I reckon regardless of the hypothetical commission's hypothetical findings you would still see racism and corruption.

An exercise might be, to take a step back from your position and consider what life might be like for a cop on Palm island. Not that I would ever support summary executions by police, I dont believe this was a deliberate act. It is sad for the families, and even sad for the copper involved. 20/20 hindsight is a wonderful thing, but you are absolutely kidding yourself if you think it would be possible to calmly and rationally do what cops have to do on Palm. They arent sitting in an air conditioned landcruiser waiting for speeding motorists to be photographed, they are on the front line in a hostile war zone.

I am white, there is nothing wrong with that. Last time I went to court over a trivial traffic matter, the police dead set told a bunch of fairy stories. My indicators/tail lights/brake lights are all on different circuits, yet they admit I fixed it in front of them by changing one fuse. It offends me that they lie, and are believed. I will keep this in mind in future dealings, and an entire force has lost what shreds of respect I had before. I'm also pretty sure if I spat at them or punched one of them, they would have worked me over completely... which does happen to white people too when they play up.

Custard, I share your concern about what has happened on Palm Island. I have had a lot to say about it on OLO. For example, see my many posts on this thread from March 2007: http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=5586

I’ll contribute more to this thread tomorrow.

I've worked as a barman in places just as remote and quite probably more violent. Without the benefit of a badge, I know Hurley personally, he actually would probably remember my having to tie someone up for 7 hours while evacuating the two people he'd smashed with an iron bar (and while protecting the person "I" had taken into custody - per Sgt. Hurley's advice)...

I'm probably one of the few people you'd meet up with on here who'd be more than happy to keep the peace in the bar on Palm, I know most of the people anyway.

That doesn't change the facts. Sgt Hurley knew (hell, he's the one who told me) that he was responsible for ensuring the health & welfare of a person he'd taken into custody. He knew Cameron was hurt, no medical attention was provided... Guess what? Negligence causing death is Manslaughter for everyone but Qld/WA/NT Police apparently...

But be that as it might, it does not excuse the Qld Police Service (or one or two members thereof, but with an awful lot of higher level complicity by the looks) conspiring to pervert the course of justice.

The level of racism* is DIRECTLY related to the confidence in the "Rule of Law", if there is no confidence (and there isn't), then there is no regard for the law. Everyone is equal before it mate, if the police aren't subject to it, noone is...

Until Police are held to the same basic "duty of care" we demand of tradespeople (& Doctors), there will be NO change for the better. At the moment there is a changing of the guard insofar as the leadership of many communities, the newer elders (not much older than me) are completely intolerant of police corruption/harassment. THEY ARE NOT GOING TO CALL FOR CALM, most of them have Police assaults already and jail don't scare 'em.

* Oh, I'm sorry, I thought you might have meant the regard for 'white' people by Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander People.

Custard it seems you have been around long enough to know it will not happen.
In NSW too a culture has developed that police are always right.
Behind words like dobber and solidarity police protect each other.
A good cop is worth more than we can ever pay.
But how do we tell them from the others?
I watched a whole police station rampage over the remains of freight on smashed trucks, freight that had to be recovered by law.
Even hiring trucks to distribute the stolen freight, not a dream a fact.
Investigated proven true no out comes no lost jobs.
To day after a new broom years ago? we aren't seeing theft but we are seeing ego in both woman and men police uniforms belting prisoners.

Where are all the right wing union haters when you need them?
All police unions seem to be about nothing more than blindly protecting their members irrespective of corruption, incompetence or criminality. Looking after workers rights and conditions is one thing but protecting corrupt police or perverting justice is not on.

What ever happened to the old saying, 'prevetion is better than cure'.

Now before someone shoots me down for being racist, I do not for one minute support what the police may or may not have done to this guy, But! perhaps if he had not been blind rotten drunk, in a public place, then I have no doubt he wouldn't have been in the lock-up in the first place.

I often say to my (now adult) chidren, Prevention is better than cure.

In other words, rather than come complaining about being harassed by some idiot at a shopping mall, on a Thursday night, when we all know the hoons are out in force, be somewhere else, even at home and there is a pretty good chance we wouldn't be having this conversation, Hey!.

Custard, I don’t understand how the Crime and Misconduct Commission Chairman Martin Moynihan can reach a finding that six police officers need to be investigated without their leader, Queensland Police Commissioner Bob Atkinson also needing to be investigated, when he was in charge of overseeing these officers and making sure that they performed their duties in an impartial, neutral and unbiased manner.

It is crazy that he should charge Atkinson with disciplining these officers in these circumstances. This should be done independently of the police force.

The alleged culture of protection of officers within the police service as opposed to neutral treatment of them as per any other member of society has got to ultimately be the responsibility of the Commissioner.

As much as I have admired Bob Atkinson and think that he has done a pretty good job for a long time, he has got to wear this responsibility.

If there is alleged misconduct by officers under his watch, especially officers that he chose personally, in such an important matter as a high-profile death in custody, which he should have been overseeing with an eagle eye, then there has surely got to be alleged misconduct of him as well.

I can sort of understand why these officers allegedly erred strongly on the side of protecting Senior Sergeant Hurley, as they had to operate within a culture where that was not only possible but pretty much demanded by their colleagues and superiors. They would have been very hard-pressed to have found otherwise, without risking the possibility of alienating other police officers, including their superiors and prejudicing their careers accordingly.

Bob Atkinson would have realised this. It was his responsibility to make sure that no bias prevailed. So surely the main culprit here is the leader of the police force that has allowed this alleged culture to exist.

He certainly should not be the person made responsible for disciplining the other six police officers involved in the alleged cover-up or protection of Hurley.

<< Sgt Hurley knew (hell, he's the one who told me) that he was responsible for ensuring the health & welfare of a person he'd taken into custody. He knew Cameron was hurt, no medical attention was provided... Guess what? Negligence causing death is Manslaughter for everyone but Qld/WA/NT Police apparently... >>

This is pretty damning stuff Custard. It is just unfathomable as to how Hurley has got off scot-free. He alone owned the responsibility for Mulrunji’s wellbeing while in his custody, he injured Mulrunji, he failed to get medical assistance, he was obviously highly negligent at best and a murderer at worst.

The multiple inquiries and court cases should have been about whether a conviction of murder or manslaughter was appropriate, not whether he was guilty or innocent of any wrongdoing!

<< …confidence in the "Rule of Law", if there is no confidence (and there isn't), then there is no regard for the law. Everyone is equal before it mate, if the police aren't subject to it, noone is >>

Trouble is; the police aren’t subject to the rule of law to anything like the same extent as everyone else is, and the rest of society is subjected to it in a very unequal manner, with our indigenous brothers really getting the raw end of the deal.

I very strongly share your outrage over this, Custard.

Cheers.

<< The police are being seen to be protected. Respect for the law and for rigorous transparent legal process has gone out the window completely for the indigenous community and for a lot of ‘mainstream’ society as well. >>

I quote myself from the first post in a general thread that I started on 18 December 06, titled: Palm Island outrage.

http://forum.onlineopinion.com.au/thread.asp?discussion=319

I actually read the transcripts and findings of the Coroner(s) & Courts, and guess what? Hurley changed his evidence on several occasion, (1) that he had not hit Mr Doomadgee after taking him into custody (2) that he had not been affronted/angry about Mr Doomadgee assaulting him and most damningly, (3) that he had in fact fallen on top of Mr Doomadgee (causing the injury that led to his death - undisputed finding), instead of, as he had asserted earlier (under oath to the Coroner and also to the police investigatory team) falling on the ground beside Mr Doomadgee (he VERY clearly recollected falling on the floor beside him at first, right up until the Medical evidence made that position untenable).

Contrary to popular opinion, the QCA did NOT find that Mr Hurley's actions DID NOT cause Mr Doomadgee's death (in fact they found the reverse, that the effect of his falling knee first on top of Mr Doomadgee - albeit accidentally - was the cause of death), but that the Coroner erred in originally finding that the punches thrown by Sgt Hurley were the cause of death. However, the Coroner found that on the basis that Sgt. Hurley "so very clearly recalled" falling "beside" Mr Doomadgee and his obdurate and continued self-serving denial that he had fallen on top of him (at that point) which position was maintained right throughout the Coronial investigation under oath.

Det. Sgt Rogerson of the NSW Police Service was found guilty and jailed for deliberately misleading both a police investigation of his actions (a disciplinary board) and then under oath, in order to escape prosecution for his actions (http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/cth/HCA/1992/25.html). The Charge he was found guilty of was "attempting to pervert the Course of Justice", which is at s.140 of the Criminal Code 1899 (Qld). When will Hurley be charged with this? The evidence is clear cut, unequivocal and absolutely damning...

Here (http://forum.onlineopinion.com.au/compose-message-general.asp?discussion=3778) is the decision of the Court (QCA) from 2009, where at [5] that Mr Hurley contended the decision of the Coroner (based ENTIRELY upon his earlier testimony that he had not fallen on top of Mr Doomadgee) that Mr Doomadgee's death was caused by something other than the fall, at [12] the Court discusses the difficulty inherent in this, being that ANY CORONER the matter was remitted to would be forced to reach the conclusion that Mr Doomadgee's death was caused by Sgt. Hurley falling upon him knee first (ie. the inescapable conclusion is that Sgt. Hurley did commit Homicide - the lawfulness or otherwise would be for him to prove). This despite the following from the Coroners findings ([22], Page 8):

"I have considered carefully whether or not Senior Sergeant Hurley
fell onto [the deceased] at this time. Senior Sergeant Hurley told
Sergeant Leafe he had not. He repeated this version to every
investigating police officer and the investigating officer from the
Crime and Misconduct Commission. He told all of them that he had
fallen to his left hand side, with [the deceased] to the right hand side."

That is the clincher, there is no denying that Sgt Hurley maintained his, self-serving position that he fell "beside" Mr Doomadgee until the medical evidence made that position untenable. The true reason why the QCA found that the "Coroner's findings" were not supported by the evidence are at pages 15-20 [39]-[47], which can be summarised to the effect that Mr Doomadgee's death could not possibly be caused by the punches admitted by Sgt. Hurley, but could only be caused by the fall (as was at that time denied by Sgt. Hurley).

That this has not resulted in a retrial is incredible.

Whoops, wrong link (here it is: http://archive.sclqld.org.au/qjudgment/2009/QCA09-167.pdf). Have a look, Sgt. Hurley was found by the QCA to have caused the injury that resulted in Cameron Doomadgee's death in custody. That is unequivocal, there is no mistaking it, however they found that the Coroner's finding was incapable of being supported by the evidence (particularly Sgt. Hurely's perjured evidence that he had not fallen on the deceased, but had only punched him). Importantly, if Hurley had admitted falling on Cameron Doomadgee, as he later did, then the Coroner's finding would have stood.

Be that as it might, this is new evidence, sufficient to warrant a review of the decision, Sgt. Hurley did cause the injury that was the DIRECT CAUSE OF DEATH, that he did so accidentally is immaterial, his actions after that are what determine the negligence or otherwise of his conduct, did he act as a "normal person, placed in that position" should have acted... I'm confident that that decision would turn on whether or not he made any attempt to seek medical aid for the person he had hurt accidentally. He did not, it is immaterial if such medical assistance would have saved Mr Doomadgee's life, it is whether Sgt. Hurley did everything he should have done to ensure the welfare of his prisoner.

That is the ratio of High Court in The Queen v Lavender (http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/cth/HCA/2005/37.html) and also of the Qld Court in convicting Dr Patel. That is THE LAW as it stands.

Sgt. Hurley did cause the injury that was the DIRECT CAUSE OF DEATH, that he did so accidentally is immaterial,
Custard,
So, if I understand you correctly, are you saying that anyone can start a riot but when the riot gets out of hand & the instigator gets hurt or even worse then those who are expected to quell the riot are the ones who are at fault ? I don't know who much experience you have with those who have been indoctrinated to hate white people no matter what but I can tell you one certain fact. Many white & non-white people who go to communities do so with good intention but the attitude of many indigenous soon changes good will to frustration & disrespect. The road to betterment is entirely in the communities' hands. The fact that far too many visiting incompetent & corrupt bureaucrats strive in the communities is also in the hands of the communities. Accept that fact & all will get better. If we do have another Royal Commission then make it look at the Public Service as whole, especially the Judiciary & not just the Police.

We really need throughout Australia, a genuine Royal Commission, to separate the power of the Church from the State. Since the Churches abdicated, and settled down to petty sectarian squabbling, the State, all nine of them, has set up temples throughout the length and breadth of the land.

That temple, once a church, is now the Magistrates Court, and in it a State Priest presides. Think of justice as a wheel. It is flat on the bottom. Get it rounded up. The Royal Commission we are entitled to, is for Her Majesty Elizabeth the Second to instruct Quentin Bryce, to deputise every Magistrate, from Albany to Cape Horn, as a Royal Delegate. Give them a Royal Commission. Remove them from the State Payroll, and put them on the Commonwealth books.

Superior Courts, as opposed to the courts of Ch III Constitution are the temples of the exclusive brethren, ( lawyers) and by giving all Magistrates a Royal Commission, the Nation becomes indissoluble. A side effect will be to make all legislators accountable, not just once every three years, but 24/7.

Probably despite themselves, the legislators and lawyers in Victoria, have made a model Magistrates Court. This should be made Australia wide, and the Magistrates in Victoria, and everywhere in Australia, should be put on Julia Gillard’s payroll. If the people of Palm Island or Mr Ward’s family in Laverton, could get in a jet, and fly three hours south, or east and present their case to a Melbourne Magistrate , who could then commit the offender to trial, back in Queensland, or Western Australia to comply with S 80 Constitution, we would have National universal and non racist justice.

Problems have emerged in Victoria, because the golden rule applies. The one who has the gold rules. A totally independent judiciary, requires the men and women who are the primary law enforcement officers in the Commonwealth, the Magistrates in every community, to have a Royal Commission. Instead of wasting 20 billion, Rudd should have paid Magistrates to do their Royal Job, with Commonwealth money. Will Julia rise to the task

from Albany to Cape Horn.
Peter the Believer,
Cape Horn ? That's rather ambitious, isn't it ?