Jordyn Beazley reporting in The Guardian.
Calls are growing for a parliamentary inquiry into use of force by New South Wales police, with justice experts saying too much focus is being placed on the actions of individual police officers rather than the “festering” systemic problem.
“This isn’t a case of a few bad apples, it’s a case of a festering tree,” said Samantha Lee, a lawyer at Redfern Legal Centre.
It’s about time we had some accountability from high up rather than those who are part of what’s happening on the ground.
It comes after the state was confronted with a string of incidents or charges laid against NSW police officers in the past week.
Lee said there’s too much focus on training, and not enough emphasis on monitoring and accountability, as well as recruitment practices.
“This has been going on for years and all we hear is the need for more training, training, training,” she said. “It’s tick a box on training and then leave it up to the individual officer to get it right.
“We need some level of public inquiry into what is going on in the police.”
