two police incidents, one in wa and one in qld,clearly shows the problems with the police of this country when they refuse to accept the royal commission recommendations. worse of course is what happens to people, both black and white, when they come into contact with their particular force.
no one needs to argue that aborigines have it worse. all the statistics prove it. the fact that kevin spratt is alive today after two incidents of multiple taserings, is merely of some lucky happenstance rather than to the massive assaults on kevin by both police and corrective services. other detainees have died with far less taserings. what we don’t know, of course, and are unable to predict with any certainty is whether kevin’s life has been shortened or not. some medical authority needs to monitor his physical and mental wellbeing for some future time.
should kevin die as a result of these taserings, at least we know who to hold responsible. and the wonderfully named inspector stingmore must be one of them.
it is interesting to see, perhaps, that the disgusting practice of promoting those police who breach both the commissioner’s instructions ( the police bible) and the royal commission recommendations ( the devil’s handbook according to the police) continues. constable hollingworth promoted to senior constable; senior sear chris hurley promoted to inspector; senior constable aaron strahan promoted to seargent. and so the list goes on of protecting their own. that this is the modus operandi of police forces nationally merely highlights that criminal conspiracy much loved by the police, ‘the culture.’
the forces are saturated with it but it becomes a binding of social cement so strong as to keep the police virtually untouchable as we continue to attack them.
the second report is the death in custody in the townsville lock-up number 400 plus, plus one. another brother we have lost but the why may not be known for several years. 50 year old hm ( i will not name him in deference to his family) died.
the only report that i have seen is the sydney morning herald report below. that it is quite probably based on a police media report. again this shows the almost incestuous relationship between lazy and compliant media and the police forces of each state and territory. this relationship allows the police to get their side of the events out to the public gaze. a home run in default media allows the police to tell what they done and how they done it and for the ‘explanation’ to be given the imprimatur of their local police union who states that their own have done nothing untoward and are, of course, are 101% innocent, a la chris hurley.
their report states that hm was affected by alcohol ( did they breath test him) and violent to boot. well he is/was an aborigine, wasn’t he!
it does appear however that the cops have learnt to share the blame by sharing it with the ambulance drivers. one can only wonder where this tactic will finish up but i have a suspicion that more and more police deaths in custody will end up as a health related death and thus exonerating the police involved. they are, as they argue, not trained to recognise health or stress problems and that is not their role.
the royal commissioners in their humble opinion begged to differ but as long as the police are recommendation-free then the deaths will continue as will the abuse of tasers.
fkj
ray jackson president indigenous social justice association
The West Australian: Police chief faces Spratt grilling
DANIEL EMERSON, April 19, 2011, 2:55 am
Police Commissioner Karl O’Callaghan will face the Corruption and Crime Commission for the first time today as serious questions emerge over why he did not charge the two officers who tasered Kevin Spratt.
Mr O’Callaghan has maintained that officers who tasered Mr Spratt 14 times at the Perth Watchhouse in August 2008 were spared criminal proceedings because Mr Spratt could not remember what happened and wanted them dealt with internally.
But in testimony before the CCC yesterday, Mr O’Callaghan’s lawyer revealed that while Mr Spratt’s view was to be ascertained, criminal action was never supposed to hinge on it and there was enough evidence to support assault charges.
see http://tinyurl.com/3sklhh8
Death in custody man passed health check
Date: April 19 2011
Evan Schwarten
A man who died after being found unconscious in a cell at a north Queensland watchhouse had been medically assessed by ambulance officers before being placed in custody.
Herbert Mitchell, 50, of Mareeba, died in Townsville Hospital around midnight on Monday. Dee http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/death-in-custody-man-passed-health-check-20110419-1dmni.html?skin=text-only