Zaarkacha Marlan reporting in ABC Western Plains.
The Redfern Legal Centre and Public Interest Advocacy Centre has lodged a formal complaint with the police watchdog, the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission, to investigate the actions of police and whether they constituted serious maladministration or misconduct.
Data obtained by the Redfern Legal Centre last year, and viewed by the ABC, revealed western NSW communities with high Aboriginal populations topped the state in terms of COVID fines per capita.
Redfern Legal Centre chief executive Camilla Pandolfini said the large number of fines issued suggested that NSW Police abandoned appropriate lawful discretionary decision making and defaulted to issuing fines.
"This is not about the public health orders and this is not about the restrictions put in place around the pandemic," she said.
"This is around the manner in which the fines were issued to individuals and the directives that were given to police officers around handing out those fines."
