Police Reform Is A Whole of Sydney Issue
Image: ann marie calilhanna
By Dr. Chris Pepin-Neff
I have heard too many times in the past two weeks that we need to defund the police in Sydney.
Verbally bashing the cops is popular, but it does not make anyone safer. And ONE WEEK before hundreds of thousands of LGBTIQ+ community members come to town for Mardi Gras – I cannot understand the strategy.
If the point was (a) that Mardi Gras gets media attention so let’s take advantage and lambast the police, then it’s an awful plan because lots of people at Mardi Gras may need support services that front-line police provide; or (b) to give NSW MP Alex Greenwich leverage on his Equality Bill over the Minns Government that would be too middle-school politics.
This makes no sense — unless there is a hidden plan to marshall hundreds of community members to attend the march and 3:00 am after-parties to look after people.
I haven’t heard that yet.
What I have heard is that after the meeting with Pride in Protest, Lord Mayor Clover Moore’s Safety Summitt with ACON announced it would ban police from attending the event, Clover Moore stated, “I was extremely concerned by the personal experiences of police behaviour towards the LGBTIQA+ community that you described. Following our meeting and further discussions with ACON, I have made the decision not to invite NSW Police Force to the Summit.”
I did attend the Summit, but before I did — I sent an email to Alex and the NSW Police with these four points:
- Community-Led: Data shows that local community residents play a central role in crime prevention and resilience;
- Policy Violence: There is a long history of police violence, mistrust, and abuse from police toward the LGBTIQA+ community, particularly around the trans community in NSW.
- Police are Important: There is no data to support banning police as a solution to reducing violence on Oxford Street and other LGBTQIA+ community neighbourhoods in Sydney. A 2019 study from the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research notes, “The study found no change in arrest rates following the increase in police numbers. This indicates that, in this case, police reduced theft and motor vehicle theft primarily through deterring offenders from committing crimes rather than through incapacitation.”
- LGBTIQA+ Policy Officers: It is important to ensure there is support for queer, trans, and gender-diverse police officers in NSW.
In addition, on February 22, the CEO of ACON wrote a piece in the Sydney Morning Herald entitled, “We still can’t trust NSW police.”
And then, of course, there are the terrible, horrible, and tragic murders of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies. The Sydney Morning Herald’s Editorial is now stating that NSW Police should not march in Mardi Gras, writing: “However, we do think police should not march this Saturday given the pain and anger felt by so many following the suspected deaths of Baird and Davies.
Get In A Room Like Adult People Do, And Make A Plan
What to do? First, make sure Mardi Gras is safe. Everyone look after each other. Go there and go home in pairs. And then all the stakeholders should get in a room like adult people do, and make a plan. This is a moment for grown-ups and the extremes on the right and the left need to take a seat. Police are not going anywhere — but reform and accountability, training, and system change are definitely needed. I’m not saying any of this is easy but let’s be situationally aware: Mardi Gras is in 5 days!
Most of this underlying problem in my estimation comes from political weakness to reform the system. If Labor is weak, then let’s call them out. But police are civil servants and piling on acrimony following an awful tragedy has the potential to create a volatile atmosphere at Mardi Gras which helps absolutely no one. Please be safe.
Dr. Chris Pepin-Neff (they/them) is an academic and local resident of Surry Hills. They are the author of two books, including LGBTQ Lobbying in the United States.
