Floyd Alexander Hunt reporting in the Law Society Journal.
Redfern Legal Centre (RLC) and the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) have urged the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission (LECC) to investigate potential misconduct stemming from Fuller’s directives given in an internal video for NSW Police.
The video, published by the Sydney Morning Herald, directed officers to prioritise issuing tickets over exercising discretion, to take a strong enforcement approach and go to high levels of enforcement. Officers were also told that they would not be held accountable for incorrect fines.
Camilla Pandolfini, the CEO of RLC, stated that the substantial number of fines issued indicate that NSW Police officers neglected their duty to make appropriate discretionary decisions and instead resorted to issuing fines by default.
“During the pandemic, Redfern Legal Centre provided advice to hundreds of people who were issued with a COVID fine,” said Pandolfini.
“Many of these fines were subsequently withdrawn by Revenue NSW after the Supreme Court found that the fines were invalid,” she said.
Pandolfini explained that the fines caused a lot of distress to members of the community experiencing disadvantage.
“Some of our clients were as young as 12 years old when NSW Police officers issued fines to them,” said Pandolfini.
“Parents called us, in tears, unable to pay the fines issued to their young children,” she said.
“People experiencing homelessness, with significant mental health conditions, or returning home from their shift as health workers were fined by NSW Police. Many of these people were not actually in breach of the directions.”
