Legal advocates and researchers have urged police to issue more police data and provide clearer guidelines on how fines are being issued for the breach of coronavirus-related public health regulations in each state and territory.
The call comes amid concerns that culturally diverse and low socio-economic groups are bearing the brunt of the police actions.
The Executive Officer of Melbourne’s Flemington-Kensington Legal Community Centre, Anthony Kelly, said while there isn’t enough public released data to determine whether or not COVID-19 policing has been discriminatory, from anecdotal reports they have deep concerns.
NSW police released a limited set of data on Friday, showing the number of public infringement notices issued in each local government area of the state. The data drew swift backlash online as some pointed out that the number of fines issued for breaching COVID-19 restrictions were higher in more marginalized communities in west and southwestern Sydney.
The Sydney local government area topped the number of infringement notices issued, followed by Canterbury-Bankstown, Liverpool, Shoalhaven and Fairfield.
These areas also have a higher proportion of culturally and linguistically diverse residents.
Police accountability solicitor Samantha Lee from the Redfern Legal Centre said it appeared that police were targeting specific groups such as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders as well as Muslim and African migrants – and giving warnings only to other groups.
“There seems to be an indication that people that are low socio-economic background seem to be targeted. Those that are already being policed are being policed more when it comes to these public health matters,” she said.
“In certain circumstances, officers will still use discretion, however the expectation on all police officers across the state is that restrictions are enforced when there are blatant breaches of the Chief Health Officer’s directives,” a Victoria Police spokesperson said.
“On occasion, errors will be made however that is why a review process exists to ensure instances such as these are identified and rectified,” they added.
NSW Police did not respond to SBS News’ questions about whether their policing was targeting specific groups within the community. But said in a statement that anyone issued with an infringement notice had the right to appeal.
Read the full article here (SBS News, 12 April 2020)
