Nothing demonstrates how heavily we rely on the police than an episode like Tuesday’s killing in the suburbs of Bacchus Marsh. Families are waking up, others are hurrying kids off to school in the usual daily unfolding of a suburban street while nearby someone appears to have been executed sitting in their van. The culprit or culprits are still on the run. This kind of lawlessness is understandably the thing people turn to police to for help and reassurance. The scale and organisation of the police operation should also give them some confidence that the swiftest action possible is being taken.
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On the same day in Ballarat Victoria Police are being scrutinised for something very different. The Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission hearings enter their third day today and while allegations of excessive use of force in the police cells only involve a small number of officers, it is the damaging effect this has on a reputation of a public institution and in turn public confidence that is of far greater significance.
While video does not tell the whole story most people would find the level of violence portrayed in the CCTV footage as disturbing. There is also the apparent contradiction between Victoria Police’s Professional Standards Command internal investigation, which cleared the officers of the alleged assault last year, and the allegations being aired by IBAC. The nature of this difference is for the commission to decide but more broadly there are other questions the community would like answered. Jack Rush QC, counsel assisting the commission, has made some alarming claims in his opening address in relation to the unusually high levels of complaints against police in Ballarat. Even more concerning is the allegation these issues have not improved since 2012. Readers will be justifiably curious to see how Mr Rush substantiates these claims and what answers and actions police command has to reassure the public that Ballarat police have indeed “upheld the right”.
The Courier believes finding these answers is important work because it shows to both police and community that no one is above the law. It demands of the police force a level of probity and accountability we would demand of any public service but entitles them equally to the same avenues of defence and vindication. Perhaps even more, it becomes a critical instrument in establishing and reaffirming the confidence people should and need to have in the police force.