Dechlan Brennan reporting in the National Indigenous Times.
The internal police data, obtained by the Redfern Legal Centre via state freedom of information laws, revealed NSW police used force on 28,826 occasions from 2018-19 to 2021-22.
Disproportionately, 45 per cent of these events were against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people – despite Indigenous people in the state making up only 3.4 per cent of the population.
Senior solicitor at Redfern Legal Centre, Samantha Lee, said the numbers obtained are "appalling."
"The use of force is a systemic problem. It requires a systemic solution," she said.
"The NSW Police Commissioner must address the use of force against First Nations people at all levels of the NSW Police Force, from recruitment to corporate reporting.
"The disproportionate impact of policing on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people goes to the heart of the over representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the criminal justice system."
A number of high-profile incidents have thrust the light on NSW police – especially in regard to their policing of Indigenous Australians.
Lee said the figures collected that involve the policing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be recorded and used to work towards Closing the Gap targets.
"These figures…should be collected at a national level and used to inform Closing the Gap reporting which aims to overcome the entrenched inequality faced by too many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people…," she said.
