Hi there STEELEREDUX...

I've always valued your opinion even though we often disagree. On these issues, I'll drop off the discussion altogether. Other than to say - unless you've been in their (coppers) shoes, you, the Coroner, the wise men of the High Court of Australia, know F...ck all about what's like. I say this to you with respect. Thank you anyway for your contribution.

Dear o sung wu,

I have experienced an officer being stabbed in front of me in a scuffle where I tried to assist, giving me admittedly a small degree of appreciation for what is faced by police in situations like this, but I fully agree that is only scratching the surface.

As such, and with due respect for the service you gave to the community, dropping our discussion is naturally appropriate.

Paul1405, why did the police go to a community heavily armed? Did you not read my response to Foxy?
Local police had already tried to arrest this man several days earlier but when he threaten them with an axe, they abandoned the attempt.
This is why a special unit was sent from Alice Springs to try and arrest him, and of course they were armed. He had already shown himself to be dangerous.
As for a show of power in a community of oppressed people, well, you couldn’t show your ignorance any more than you have with that statement.
You have obviously never been in a remote community when riots are happening but I have. It always seemed to occur when my husband was away, and I would be in fear for the safety of my children and myself. Mainly because my husband was chairman and I was white, two targets every time tensions were high. I would shut myself and the children in the laundry, because it had no windows. I would have the .22 and the shotgun loaded, a big nulla nulla in my hand and the blue heeler shut in with us. Sometimes we spent hours there, listening to boomerangs and spears bouncing off the metal roof, listening to the screams of women and children, hoping and praying no one decided to break into our house. It was terrifying!
Aboriginal people are not oppressed in their own communities, it’s the white staff who are oppressed and who live in a constant state of awareness that violence could break out at any moment and that they have to watch every word they say in case they provoke an angry response.
I suggest you educate yourself by talking to some teachers and nurses, apart from me, with first hand experience.

Years ago the then RTA held mass meetings around the state, called gate meetings the first was with all workers just on start time
We [Delegats officials and management] went in to office lock up to talk the issues out after
We had great first nation Delegates and a management rep was one too
Police management, and those delegates, saw our accommodation was high fence lock down
Because violence and drunken behavior was part of nightlife there, still is
Send unarmed police? please

Dear Steele,

The Australian Law Reform Commission has stated that
"It is often suggested that one way of improving
relations between Aborigines and the police is by
improving the understanding of each group of the other..."

During the Commission's Public Hearings many witnesses both
in urban and remote areas mentioned problems that resulted
from the lack of understanding and argued that better
training and education for police officers could improve
the situation.

Apparently the extent of instruction in Aboriginal culture
during police training varies greatly in the State and
Territory police forces.

Obviously there's no going back to the days when police
did not carry guns. So the training associated with their
use needs to be unremitting. Australian lives are relying
on it.

See you on another discussion.

Foxy,

You seem to be completely unaware that in remote settlements, many children (and now young people) have been born with foetal alcohol syndrome, with both parents heavy drinkers. FAS causes victims to be impulsive, unaware of the consequences of their actions, living for the moment, and very much inclined to be violent to the point of self-destruction. This poor young man seems to be one of those victims of parental neglect and poor behaviour.

The upshot is that any police trying to control or apprehend someone with FAS has to be extremely tactful, but this may not be anywhere enough. This young man threatened police earlier with an axe, and possibly - in the final situation - with a knife. It's reported that he did stab one police officer.

So perhaps people living in the settlements, certainly including Indigenous people, need to realise the terrible damage that alcohol and neglect have done, and will continue to do until they lift their game. No amount of 'cultural training' on the part of the police will change that. The ball is in the court of the Indigenous people.

It may be far too late for the victims of FAS now, but it may be just possible, in some settlements, for the twin scourges of alcohol and neglect to be turned around, to minimise, or reduce, the ghastly problems that they are causing, in the future. But only the people can do that, nobody else.

Joe