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.