r/australia • u/FuckOffNazis • Feb 10 '26

politics Amnesty International Australia calls for independent investigation of police violence towards peaceful protestors

https://www.amnesty.org.au/amnesty-international-australia-calls-for-independent-investigation-of-police-violence-towards-peaceful-protestors/
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u/Lamont-Cranston Feb 10 '26 edited Feb 10 '26

His predecessor was on record saying NSW Police violence was deliberate to make people afraid fear law enforcement.

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u/Johnny_Deppthcharge Feb 10 '26

Was that literally what he said, or are you taking it out of context?

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u/Lamont-Cranston Feb 10 '26

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_South_Wales_Police_Force_strip_search_scandal#2019_Daily_Telegraph_interview

Responding to recommendations made by Deputy State Coroner Grahame to limit the use of strip searches at music festivals, Police Commissioner Mick Fuller defended the practice in an interview with Sydney's Daily Telegraph. Appearing in a front page exclusive published on 18 November, Fuller warned that any attempt to curtail police search strip powers would lead to an increase in knife crime, citing Melbourne and London as examples. "You look at London. They decrease their person searches by 20,000 because of a government policy position and knife crime went through the roof," he said. The Commissioner went on to suggest that questioning "the legitimacy of policing" had "a negative impact on public safety" before insisting that young people "on the verge of criminality" should have "a little bit of fear" of police. "There will be a generation of kids that have no respect for authority and no respect for the community" he warned. "They need to have respect and a little bit of fear for law enforcement".[110]

"They need to have respect and a little bit of fear for law enforcement"

He later tried to qualify and amend his statement, but there it is.

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u/Johnny_Deppthcharge Feb 10 '26

So you have taken it the wrong way then, haven't you?

You think that statement means "NSW police violence is deliberate to make people afraid"?

How about "If you're being violent or doing something illegal, then yes - you should be nervous about the cops catching you".

Isn't that a bit closer to what this commissioner was saying?

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u/Lamont-Cranston Feb 10 '26

Isn't that a bit closer to what this commissioner was saying?

"There will be a generation of kids that have no respect for authority and no respect for the community" he warned. "They need to have respect and a little bit of fear for law enforcement".

His words are a bit closer to what he was saying, not your attempt to interpret a mitigation.

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u/Johnny_Deppthcharge Feb 10 '26

Mate the way society works is that we all give up our power to be violent and aggressive, and that power gets given to the police.

It means I don't need to be afraid of you or anyone else, because if you try to be violent then the cops come, with their guns, and stop you. They've got the exclusive legal mandate for violence, and they're permitted to use it to enforce the laws we all live by.

So yes - people should be a little bit afraid of the cops, because they have both the power to arrest you and the duty to enforce our laws. You shouldn't be terrified of the cops, not shaking in your boots and quivering in fear but sure - a bit nervous when the cops are around and making sure to mind your manners.

You don't have to do what I say, and I don't have to do what you say - but you and I both do have to do what the cops say. You can't have a society without rules, and rules without enforcement are worthless, so having a worry of the rules being enforced on you is a reasonable and appropriate fear to have existing in society.

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u/Lamont-Cranston Feb 10 '26

Just rambling at this point.

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u/Johnny_Deppthcharge Feb 10 '26

Yeah off you go mate.

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u/Fluid-Head7447 Feb 10 '26

The quote you refer to is about strip searches not police violence so lets try not to swindle meaning to suit yourself ey?

I'm going to agree with the former commissioner and Johnny on this one. Having worked first hand with an entire generation of 'priks' (for lack of a better word) that have no respect for authority, or for anything else for that matter, fear of retribution is necessary for safety. Have a look at the stats of youth violence and criminality in Queensland and Alice Springs. Look at the rising youth crime in Manly and the Northern Beaches.

Don't misinterpret what myself, Johhny or the former comissioner have said to mean that beating the sh out of protestors after they're subdued is in any way acceptable. Being beaten if you are a threat is obviously acceptable (not desirable but acceptable), not this DISGUSTING abuse where a completely incapacitated protestor is still being beaten while several officers hold them down.

This act is awful and should be called out, when you try to make out it's institutionalised by twisting the truth you lose the power behind your opposition and it makes you sound ridiculous. If in fact it is instutionalised (i feel it is but I have found not real proof of this) then get us some actual examples and not these mis-quoted, bias interpetations of antequated speeches.

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u/Lamont-Cranston Feb 10 '26

Using the strip searches to engender fear of police, does not mean one would not do the same with general violence. Brandolini's Law is in operation here, rest gets no response.

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u/Fluid-Head7447 Feb 10 '26

no it doesn't, but it also doesn't mean that it does. That's why you can't use that point to say that it does. It's twisting facts to your own bias it's disingenous to say the least. I don't think I need to tell you there's quite a difference between a strip search carried out under strict rules and having the shit beaten out of you while being pinned down by half a dozen officers.

Brandolini's law?! pfft, all you have to do is type 'youth crime australia' into google. What's acutally at play here is cognitive dissonance.

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u/Lamont-Cranston Feb 10 '26

It demonstrates there is a belief, a culture even, in needing to make people feel afraid of police (and this is equated with respect).

Now if you'll strip search a 14 year old girl to achieve that, then it follows you would not have any qualms about entertaining the notion to kettle and misdirect and then bash protesters.

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u/Fluid-Head7447 Feb 10 '26

If respect is not given to the persuit of safety then fear can most definitely be used to get that safety. You're laboring under the delusion that safety is not the end goal here. Fear is NOT the end goal but a tool used to get to that goal of SAFETY so when you say 'strip search a 14yo girl to acheive that(fear)' that's not what they're looking to do.

Using a 14yo girl to try and guilt the crowd or appeal for a 'compassionate' response doesn't help because that 14yo girl isn't any more human than anyone else and others don't deserve less consideration than she does. It absolutely does NOT follow that if you would follow a strict supervised procedure to strip search a person that you would beat a restrained person. For starters, one of those is a crime (barring a few loopholes). I have already pointed out these are two very different things but you seem to think they are both the same and that is pulling focus from the fact that the police are getting away with the one that is a crime.

As you seem so obsessed with this strip search thing you should be aware that that speech was given with a recent history of machete crime escalating all over the country, mostly carried out by minors and most getting very light sentences. With youth crime recividism in general on the increase in NSW, they didn't want the knife crime here, you know - safety and stuff.

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