SAUL LATHAM
Just some things to add from my point of view (victim)…
1) I believe in being slow to accuse, particularly when it comes to publicly doing so. Yet, I believe that this incident should be used as a soft comment to the police and greater society.
2) On the Tasmanian Police website I found scrambled some notes on what their mission is. Included in these is that, “they provide assistance to the public and advice and guidance where required, helping in any way they can… [they] act honestly and with integrity… [and] behave ethically.
I understand that the complexities of operating in a complex policing system must at times result in unsatisfactory yet excusable standards. Yet, when I approached these public servants with a pretty mushed up face and in a state of shock, there was little action taken up in light of the above mission statement values. Sure they provided ‘advice’ – ‘better go get that cleaned up’ (thanks for that, I was going to leave it there, like a true street youth if you hadn’t said that), but I didn’t encounter any ethical behavior, given I had just been seriously injured and needed some ‘care’.
Clearly, the Police have to deal with too many disruptive citizens during such posts. Clearly they are trained to emit an arrogant and stern policing ‘vibe’. Yet when it comes to looking after an oddly innocent guy with a swollen face, they are unable to switch onto ‘human’ mode and would rather continue to play cops and robbers.
3) A senior officer has been in touch with me (post-publication of this article) and pointed out that I have not made an official complaint of the assault. My issue is not with catching the thugs. It’s with keeping the Police maintain what I have seen to be a pretty reasonable standard.
4) To the dude and his mates who ‘unleashed the nugget’ on me, I am sorry. Sorry on behalf of a society that has taught them to think and act in such a way. It’s a shame we can’t feel safe walking down the streets of Hobart. While these criminals are responsible for their actions, we must also place some responsibility on ourselves for this.
5) I’ve read here before about the harsh Policing surrounding the issue of forest protests. Those complaints shine a completely polarising light on the Tasmanian Police – that they acted too harshly. While it’s important that we continue to release these issues in the public sphere, let’s not get too excited about injustice, and imperfection. Surely we are used to it by now.
