Latest / The Slippery Slope / Queensland Police Bungle Investigation.

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Queensland Police Bungle Investigation. · The Slippery Slope

0:13
OK? So all hesitated to speak about
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any of the the latest incidents that have been happening with
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with Queensland Police. Obviously I've spoken several
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times about the amount of shootings that we've had, the
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data that's coming through that shows the Queensland Police shot
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and killed more more of its citizens than all the other
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states in Australia combined. States and territories combined
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between well in the year 2022 to 2023.
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That's data that came through from the ABC of you know your
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your hope that these things are just are just one off.
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You know, we we have a just a bad spate of things, everything,
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just all the stars are aligning and these are just the things
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that are all going wrong all at once.
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I happen to think that some of it is to do with with training
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or lack of experience, the way that QPS new hires people having
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a lower standard or its recruitment process for it's the
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the new recruits that they have. You know, you hope that this is
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just data and it's just it's just one off.
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This is just a bad time. But more shootings are coming
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through. More shootings have been
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happening. And then the the last week.
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Yeah, it's hard to even comprehend.
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How many? How many?
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How many shootings we can have and and we still the hierarchy
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and announce, making announcements saying hey, maybe
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we need to rethink the way we're doing things.
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I get it, the you can be faced with dangerous times, dangerous
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people. People are showing less respect
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for police, for authority. I think a lot of that's been
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brought about because of the way police across the nation have
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have treated people, not just police in the way the
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politicians, but the way authority in general have
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treated the people. And unfortunately, this has
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caused some elements of our society's side that they need to
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push back using violent, violent methods.
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But there's other things that are also happening.
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There's a report that came out and just earlier this week and
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it's it's very unsettling the information that it gives in
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regards to the how Queensland police have handled a different
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investigation and how the standards of this investigation
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have been completely unsatisfactory.
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So this headline he came out from ABC News a couple days ago.
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It says that the judge found police probe into a home
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invasion in the southeast QLD suburb where Abilene White was
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killed was entirely unsatisfactory.
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Entirely unsatisfactory. Reading through this report.
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Anyway, here we'll go through it together.
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So a Brisbane judge found police bungled and investigation into a
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suspected home invasion by a group of teenagers in the same
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SE QLD suburb where grandmother was allegedly stabbed to death
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by a 16 year old last week. This is the the grandmother that
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was killed down around the Ipswich area by a gang of yeah,
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where they African youths. So the unsatisfactory
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investigation into the terrifying 2021 home invasion
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contributed to the chief suspect being found not guilty,
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according to a finding by Judge Vickie Lowry in the Brisbane
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Children's Court last year. The damning findings called into
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question criticism by the Queensland Police Union on the
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state's judicial system as being responsible for failing to
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curtail youth crime. Could I put it, put it out there
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that perhaps it's it's all of these things coming together.
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Failing of the police system, our police service, but also our
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failure of the judicial system and the failure of a government
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union. President Ian Levers mounted the
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extraordinary attack on the on the judiciary after 70 year old
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Violin White was allegedly stabbed to death by youth in the
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Red Bank Plains Shopping centre. The ABC has obtained a Brisbane
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Children's Court judgement which revealed an investigation into
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the home invasion as a Red Bank housing estate in October 21 was
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entirely unsatisfactory. The May 2023 judgement by
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District Court Judge Vicki Lowry Casey, reveals police failed.
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Yeah, I read this. I don't know.
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I don't understand how they've done this, but police failed to
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obtain key witness statements and conduct forensic testing on
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a suspected weapon. Seriously, I've got no idea how
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you do this. How?
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How you failed to get key witness statements Anyway, Judge
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Lowry also highlighted how one officer stated she was unable to
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obtain a statement from a key witness.
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And this is a quote because it was too hard with her rosters.
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What the flip? Seriously, how?
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How was that an excuse? How was this officer An officer?
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Yeah, you know, believe it or not, you you actually do have to
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put in a lot of work and a lot of effort.
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And if you want to get witness statements, if you want to
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gather evidence, you have to put in the work.
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It doesn't just come and fall in your lap.
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You have to go out there and knock on doors, go and chase
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people down. So the investigation was picked
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up by a second investigator after nine months had passed,
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she said. That's ridiculous, Judge Lowry
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said. The failure for police to
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undertake some of these tasks made positive identification of
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the alleged offender impossible, giving her no alternative but to
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find them not guilty, she said. In her judgement, the prosecutor
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had conceded it led to an inference adverse to the Crown
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given the state of the evidence. Queensland police have
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previously told the ABC that they cannot comment on judicial
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remarks. A spokesman said arrests in the
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in relation to the home invasion had been a result of an
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operation involving the Trial Protection and Investigation
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Unit, Criminal Investigation Branch and Tactical Crime Squad.
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I'm sorry this this female officer that said, you know, she
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was unable to get, it was too hard.
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She was unable to get statements because it was too hard with her
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roster. I really would hope it wasn't
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people from it wasn't an officer from Child Protection Unit or
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Criminal Investigation Branch. If if I was a betting man, I'd
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be saying it's someone from Tactical Crime Squad and you
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would hope it is because seriously, this is the standard
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from someone from Branch from the CIB.
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Well stands. That dropped them.
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Lord help us all. Contacted by the ABC police
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union President Lee has said the case highlighted the current
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overworked and understaffed nature of policing.
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Which yeah, I've got to agree, OK, you're overworked,
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understaffed. This is a serious job, but
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serious job. You can't let things like this
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slide. And if they're overworked and
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understaffed, this all comes back to the hierarchy.
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How the commissioner has allowed such a drop off in well in
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police recruitment. Now the numbers continue to fall
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the week after week. There's still the police service
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still see the amount of people leaving.
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The numbers are changing in that respect and the numbers coming
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in aren't getting much better. Except yeah, we're getting
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people from overseas. It's great.
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It's the judges in the community need to remember that.
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Frontline first response operational.
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Please do not prosecute cases in these matters.
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That's is up to the Office of the Director of Public
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Prosecution prosecuted the case, not the police.
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The DPP is also woefully underfunded and under resourced.
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Leaver said the police involved were working.
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Very difficult circumstances. I'm not even sure what he's kind
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of like. He's he's talking in riddles
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here. He's talking about frontline
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police, but child protection, investigative unit, CIB and
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technical tactical crime, they're not exactly suppose
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they're frontline in a way, but they're not general duties are
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out there on the job. They're they're child protection
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and CRB. Their job is to investigate
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these things. They're not out there just
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responding to being the first responders when the call goes
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out. You know when someone calls
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Triple O, they're not the ones on the front line going out to
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these jobs you can call by. He seems like he's making a bit
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of excuses. The home invasion occurred after
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a group of views had been seen hanging around the park in Red
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Bank in that demanded money from a local woman.
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According to the judgement. Later that day, this woman was
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in her house near the park and heard people talking nearby.
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She turned off the lights and closed all the curtains.
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She she heard people jumping over the back fence and saw a
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flashlight or porch in the yard. A group of boys entered a house
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through the laundry door, which she saw her brother open, Judge
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Larry said. The woman stated she had sought
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safety in a bedroom, closing the door.
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Five boys, including the defendant, forced their way into
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the bedroom. According to the woman's account
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or for referred to in the judgement, the woman alleged one
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of the boys was armed with a baseball bat and another was
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armed with a steering wheel lock.
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The woman was terrified and armed herself with a knife and
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stood up on her bed. The boys demanded money from her
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and said they would break the television in the living room.
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She did not give them money. The crime was interrupted when
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police arrived at the home and the boys fled.
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See those police arrived there? The first responders, they
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they're the ones that are overworked anyway, the, the
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woman stated. She had been able to identify
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five of the boys, including the defendant.
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The judgement said that after the police had attended her
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home, the complaint found the steering wheel lock under the
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sheets on her bed and assumed it had been hidden.
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When police arrived and the offenders fled.
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Voters were taken of the item some days later.
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It would not seized nor subject to forensic examination.
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That the heck, how does that happen?
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There was no explanation for that not having occurred when
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police arrived 15 minutes later. All boys fled except for one.
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She said two police officers gave evidence about their
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investigation into the matter. She stated a senior constable
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had attended A neighbouring property on the night and
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supposed two men, when the police officer was speaking to
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the men that defended approached him from behind and asked what
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was going on, she noted the console spoke to the defendant
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and he confirmed his identity and stated that he had come from
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a house behind the complainants property.
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Judge Larry said the defendant was released and no effort was
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made to confirm his account nine months later.
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Now the police officer took over the investigation right failure
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after failure. The officer collected CCTV, CCTV
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footage and stills and confirmed she spoke to the complainant's
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brother to try and get a statement.
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Judge Larry United said the officer did not bother to your
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statement because it was too hard for her rosters with her
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rosters. She also noted the officer did
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not attempt to get a statement from the complainant's friend
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who was inside the room during the incident.
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She did not bother to follow up the defendant's claim that he
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was visiting a neighbour A neighbour property at the time.
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The judge pointed out that the officer also knew nothing about
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whether the weapon located in the complainants and the
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complaints bed was seized or forensically examined.
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Precious moments. This is just one epic failure
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after another one making a decision.
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The judge stated there were issues around identifying the
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offender, but she found that the police had not undertaken enough
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investigation to shed light on whether the defendant was
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presence. Police did not obtain a
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statement from the complaints friend.
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No explanation was given for why police did not obtain a
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statement. Police also did not obtain a
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statement from one of the residents of a neighbouring
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property to confirm or discredit the defendants claim of him just
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visiting the neighbours property at the time and not being
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involved in the home invasion. No explanation was provided for
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this, the judge pointed out. The judge stated that she
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considered the explanations given for the failure to obtain
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these statements was entirely unsatisfactory.
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Oh my goodness, sorry, I'm really I'd.
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I'd read this and I thought I just.
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It blows my mind that there was just no explanation given for
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any of these things not being done.
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The fact that you can go forward and be prosecuting these people,
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charging, taking them to court, going to court to give evidence,
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but then you haven't got the evidence to back up your claims
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and then not being able to give a satisfactory answer
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explanation on to why or how why you haven't chase, why you
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haven't followed up. Anyway look if this was just a
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one off of a a failure of police the the problem is you take a
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step back. You look back and think well
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what else is happening just in this last week I'll have a look
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at another another story that that happened just the other day
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and not even gonna forget about the shooting that happened just
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just shit South of Mackay. Not a lot of information coming
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through. There was a man killed just the
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other day. Not a lot of has happened,
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except that he's produced a weapon.
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He's produced a firearm and then he's in there being shot.
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There was also another shooting. Well, there was a a firearm was
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discharged. Reading this story this is a
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little I actually I find this very hard to believe as well.
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The police officers have done this.
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So as this story says update on discharge of police firearm.
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This is actually a police police news on the police website.
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Police have charged a 17 year old boy and a 14 year old girl
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following a reported stolen vehicle tracked from Oxley into
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Wong to Twang Brisbane 2015 Volkswagen Polo that was stolen
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from an Ashgrove Ashgrove address on February 12,
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allegedly drove dangerously at offices during an attempted
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intercept on Blunder Road. It's a blunder.
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It's quite a wide Rd here in Brisbane.
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There around Oxley is quite wide so they've attempted to
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intercept going by this and then the vehicle has driven at police
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that police have police vehicles this resulted.
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This resulted in an officer presenting and discharging his
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service firearm at the vehicle. The Volkswagen was located
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abandoned on Frederick St in Tawong in.
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Four people allegedly from the vehicle were located and taken
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into custody. The I was reading this and I'm
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thinking I could not believe that the police that an officer
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has thought it was a good idea. Vehicles coming at you you're
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you're trying to intercept you could put your car in the way.
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OK you're you're trying to, you're trying to cut the vehicle
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off. So you've put your car in the
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way to try and stop them from getting through.
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They've driven either at you or at the vehicle and this police
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officer has decided it was good idea.
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I think this police officer may have been watching too many
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movies and decided it was a good idea to pull his gun and shoot
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at the child who was driving the vehicle.
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Now you're supposed to draw your weapon and shoot your weapon
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when you are in danger, When your life is in danger of
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someone else's life is in danger.
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I was always under the impression, I was always told
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that it's not a good idea to pull your gun and shoot at
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someone in a vehicle because you can.
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It's not the same as being threatened with the knife or
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being threatened with the a firearm.
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Because you can move out of the way, you can get covered, you
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can move. If someone's trying to get
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through, you're better off getting out of the way and
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letting them drive off. It's not a good idea and it's
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hard to defend. If you're going to pull your
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firearm and shoot at someone in the car, the only way you're
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gonna be able to stop them, You have to.
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You have to shoot them dead. You.
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Someone's driving a vehicle and you shoot them and you injure
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them. You're not gonna stop the car.
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They're not gonna stop. They're just gonna drive harder.
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Their foot's gonna be flat through that floor.
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They're going to be ramming even more things just to try and get
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out of there because they're in pain.
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Again, I think that shows complete lack of responsibility.
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I think it's hard. I'd I'd only heard of one other
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officer doing this and the circumstances were a little
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different and that was Officer because that was Chris Hurley
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the chap I was talking to once and he was he was the one that
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was involved in please I hope I got that name right.
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The one that was involved in the in the rats, on in the in the
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riots in the Palm Island. One went blank then on Palm
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Island. So he was also involved some
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years later, presented his firearm and shot at a vehicle.
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Still not a great idea and it's hard to justify, hard to defend
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your actions if that's what you're doing.
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I don't even remember how we went with defending that.
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UM, look as if this was just a one off.
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You know police pulling their firearm and shooting at a
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vehicle That the incident that happened just South of Mackay
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marks the 4th fatal police shooting just within the Mackay
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Whitsunday police district in the last 16 months.
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So in the most so in the most recent was in December 23 with
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police allege a 56 year old man armed himself with a large cane,
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knife and a motel in Bowen. He was shot dead.
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In 2022, a 24 year old man was shot by police in the Early
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Beach party strip after he allegedly approached officers
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with a knife. And a 24 year old died after
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being shot following an incident near the Mackay Base Hospital
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that that's just in this district of the Mackay
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Whitsunday area within the last 16 months 4 you know so.
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And as the ABC reported from all the data they review they
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they've gotten a hold of. It's revealed that in 2022 to
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2023, Queensland police shot more police, more people than
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police in the rest of Australia combined.
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The shooting More people than the rest of the lease in
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Australia combined. And then they they're also
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making mistakes that are causing young criminals to go free
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because they can't even do the job of gathering evidence
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properly. It this is like you said, if it
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was just if you're looking at all these things together this
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is gross negligence. We we have complete failure.
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And I think it all goes back to when the police hierarchy
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started to attack the police officers from the inside,
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pushing away disenfranchising good place, telling them that
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they they processes their beliefs.
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Their desire to to be able to protect their body, to be able
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to make a decision about their body's bodily autonomy was
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completely unjustified. And that police, police
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hierarchy? No better.
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No better. They completely shunned a lot of
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so many good officers. So now we see all a lot of good
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officers, a lot of experience officers walking out the door
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every week and we're just continually having this
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revolving door and and all the new inexperienced people coming
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in plus the standards that are being have been lowered over the
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last couple of years just for the sake of getting numbers in.
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And we're seeing the fruits of this.
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We're bearing the fruits of this with cases like what's happening
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here where evidence isn't being gathered properly.
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Police are just too busy with whether it is because they're
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just too busy and they've got a bad roster and there's just not
22:39
enough staff, or whether it's just they just can't be bothered
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because they haven't been trained properly, properly and
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they don't know what they're doing.
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But then we've also got more police shootings in this state
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than the rest of the country combined.
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Something needs to change. I've said before, if nothing
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changes, then nothing changes. It's it's not a good for police
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hierarchy to just in the in the police union just to step out
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there and say, well, police are overworked.
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There's nothing more they can do.
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They're just trying their best. You have to sit down and
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honestly look at the way you're doing things.
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Otherwise, people are just continually going to be shot,
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killed. Investigations are going to
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continually be bungled. Police are going to be doing
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things like shooting and moving vehicles, which I'm sorry, I I I
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find it really hard to. In any scenario where you can
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justify shooting at someone in a car because they're driving at
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you, it's hard to justify. So I'd I'd I think we've been on
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this slippery slope with police for quite a few years.
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It started years back when standards for police recruitment
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dropped dramatically. OK, because the hierarchy
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decided that they wanted a 5050. And that's nothing against
24:13
female officers, cause some of the best police I've ever worked
24:15
with were female officers. But if if if you were so
24:19
insistent that you want a 5050 ratio and you decide, well to
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get that 5050, we're just going to drop the standards across the
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board so that we get those numbers up, well then you're
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going to be left within net leasing, inept police.
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And then the other group policies that are in there,
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you've pushed, you shunned aside because you forced mandates upon
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people who had the enough nails to say no, Well, we wanna be
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able to make decisions for our bare bodies ourselves.
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And you told them police hierarchy commissioner told them
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no. Well, we know better.
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We know what's best for you and your body.
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So if you don't want it, well then there's the highway and all
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we can do, all we can do is just keep getting more people in.
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And it doesn't matter whether we drop our standards as long as we
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have bodies, as long as we have numbers that we're reaping the
25:14
consequences. Because this is the thing that
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our police leadership have done. I've said before about how if
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you do not have good leadership, well then you're going to see
25:28
failure across the board. Our leadership of failing us, a
25:33
government leadership of failing us, a police hierarchy, the
25:36
police leadership of failing us. And we the people are paying the
25:40
price with inept investigations and more shootings than any
25:47
other state and territory in Australia.
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But hey, how would I know? Always just a baggy arsenic,
25:57
Constable. That's just my opinion.
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Thanks for listening to the senior.
26:04
Thanks for listening to the Slippery slope.