This morning on ABC radio I heard yet another reminder that Police are still following old habbits in Gold Coast.
A listener wrote in to report that he had been given a ticket for failing to stop at a red light while he was walking his bicycle across a pedestrian crossing. Further he was given a note reportedly saying "Happy Halloweeen" and warning him to "Don't consider taking this to court as there were three of us in the car".
While talking about this issue in the office one of my co-workers brought up this item, where Police forced a kid to let his tyres down and walk home for riding without a helmet.
The police response to this was:
Queensland police said officers used their discretion to deal with the situation in the manner they thought was most appropriate.classic ... so they have such pathetic imaginations that they could not consider any other options? Such as dropping him home to his parents house and cautioning him before his parents?
'By taking this course of action, rather than issuing an infringement notice and $100 penalty, they avoided a repetition of the offence, and possible injury to the juvenile,' police said in a statement.
Instead they essentially stranded him.
I suppose they didn't beat him up, as happened on the Gold Coast back in the 90's ... so things are improving ...
Despite multiple investigations into Police behavior and (probably) a majority of Police doing the right thing, this soft of mess happens way way too often. The senior responsible people need to realise that public confidence in the Police is essential to our society. Police themselves are the only people who can instill this and maintain it.
This trust and confidence must be built and must be built on truth and openness ... not just propaganda campaigns.
No comments:
Post a Comment