Criminologist and former NSW Police detective Vincent Hurley, who went viral lecturing politicians on Q+A, says there are immediate solutions to keep women and children safe.
“ACAB” gets a lot more attention in America than here. Partly because of that country’s gross problem with guns, which thankfully largely does not exist here. And also partly just because American media is so ubiquitous over here and around the world. But it’s no less true that ACAB in Australia than it is in America.
That doesn’t mean every action taken by every individual cop is bad. It has never meant that—in America or here. This cop is doing a good thing right now. He’s using his voice as an ex-cop to try and help a real problem in our society. It’s notable that part of what he asks for is funding for non-police organisations that help with domestic violence situations.
But he’s also a former member of an organisation that is part of the problem with domestic violence. Committing domestic violence at a higher rate than the general population, and helping each other cover it up. He may not have actively done that himself, but was he speaking out about it while he still served? Heck, where is he speaking out about that part of the problem even now?
It’s a tough job, and giving them adequate mental health services to help deal with that difficulty is absolutely fair. But that shouldn’t in any way take away from them receiving all the same “vitriol” you’ve seen directed at them in America. Because they’ve more than earnt it.
We get plenty of it here. And deservedly so. Ask any Aboriginal Australian how police behave to people in their communities. See how they act when people are protesting on public land. See the NSW police strip searching children. Or the Canberra police choosing not to prosecute a driver who murdered a cyclist while driving a non-roadworthy vehicle (and lied about the circumstances surrounding the crash to cover it up)—heck, while we’re at it, try reporting dangerous driving around yourself as a cyclist and wait to see how long it takes the police to blame you. Or their widely-reported problem with domestic violence which they collectively cover up. Or when they kidnapped children and dumped them in the middle of nowhere in the '90s and were still working with no punishment into this decade.
“ACAB” gets a lot more attention in America than here. Partly because of that country’s gross problem with guns, which thankfully largely does not exist here. And also partly just because American media is so ubiquitous over here and around the world. But it’s no less true that ACAB in Australia than it is in America.
That doesn’t mean every action taken by every individual cop is bad. It has never meant that—in America or here. This cop is doing a good thing right now. He’s using his voice as an ex-cop to try and help a real problem in our society. It’s notable that part of what he asks for is funding for non-police organisations that help with domestic violence situations.
But he’s also a former member of an organisation that is part of the problem with domestic violence. Committing domestic violence at a higher rate than the general population, and helping each other cover it up. He may not have actively done that himself, but was he speaking out about it while he still served? Heck, where is he speaking out about that part of the problem even now?
It’s a tough job, and giving them adequate mental health services to help deal with that difficulty is absolutely fair. But that shouldn’t in any way take away from them receiving all the same “vitriol” you’ve seen directed at them in America. Because they’ve more than earnt it.