Cops slammed for letting kids pretend to be criminals at Brisbane event

2 days ago 2

By Fraser Barton

July 5, 2024 — 12.37pm

A paddy wagon has been removed from a NAIDOC lawsuit aft complaints of “shameful” behaviour by constabulary liaison officers accused of letting kids unreal to beryllium criminals.

A section claimed officers were “throwing achromatic kids successful the paddy wagon for fun” astatine the lawsuit successful Brisbane’s southbound connected Wednesday, with children reportedly taking turns pretending to beryllium constabulary and criminals.

The conveyance was yet removed from the Inala gathering aft a subordinate of the nationalist complained.

The Queensland Police Service said officers had been invited to the household time and had a conveyance connected show arsenic portion of a “hands-on” experience.

Inala nonmigratory Chelsea Watego – a prof of Indigenous wellness astatine Queensland University of Technology – posted a representation connected societal media of a paddy wagon with its backmost doorway open.

“So this is what the qldpolice deliberation is an due enactment astatine the NAIDOC Week household amusive time successful Inala – throwing Black kids successful the paddy wagon for amusive … and adjacent much tragically, it was the constabulary liaison officers who ran this ‘activity’,” she posted.

Chelsea Watego, who has worked for much than 20 years arsenic an Aboriginal wellness idiosyncratic and researcher.

“These positions were introduced arsenic a nonstop effect of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths successful Custody arsenic a measurement for reducing the hyper incarceration of Blackfullas and present present they [are] facilitating the normalisation of it.

“This is perfectly shameful and disrespectful to our community, galore of which person mislaid loved ones successful custody and who proceed to combat for justness for our people.”

She told the ABC that Queensland Police did not person a marquee astatine the lawsuit and alternatively backed up the paddy wagon.

Watego said children took turns pretending to beryllium officers and “cosplay arsenic criminals”.

The Queensland Police Service said officers had been invited to the household time and had a conveyance connected show arsenic portion of a “hands-on” experience.

They said the usage of constabulary spot had been approved for assemblage engagement.

A liaison serviceman instantly removed the conveyance from the lawsuit aft a assemblage subordinate expressed concerns astir children utilizing it, constabulary said.

“Further discussions astir this lawsuit person since been had with applicable section assemblage stakeholders,” a constabulary spokesperson said.

“The QPS takes assemblage feedback earnestly and volition guarantee it is incorporated successful readying for adjacent year’s event.”

Queensland has the astir children down bars successful the country, a Child Death Review Board study said successful March.

First Nations children are importantly over-represented, with 64 per cent of 10-to-17-year-olds nether younker justness supervision and 66 per cent successful detention identified arsenic Indigenous successful 2021-22.

The study said Indigenous children aged 10-17 were 21 times much apt than non-Indigenous juveniles to beryllium nether younker justness supervision and 23 times much apt to beryllium successful detention than their non-Indigenous radical successful Queensland.

AAP