By Michael Arnold
FREMANTLE — 1600 people attended a public meeting at John Curtin High in Fremantle on Sunday November 22. The meeting had been organised by the family of Joe Dethridge, who had his jaw broken in custody in May.
The meeting was addressed by Christina Kadmos of the Youth Legal Service, Mike House of the Fremantle Youth Service, Monica Jones (a member of the Nyoongah community and the mother of a beaten son), Roz Delbury (whose son, Steven Wardle, died in police custody) and Julie Dethridge.
The public meeting collected one thousand signatures endorsing a series of reforms designed to increase police accountability and decrease instances in police harassment and violence.
The meeting called upon parliament to institute an independent body to investigate complaints against police, for video surveillance cameras to be placed in all areas of police stations and lockups where members of the public are likely to be taken and that an independent adult must be present while interviews are being conducted. It also demanded that police proceed by summons rather than arrest unless exceptional circumstances exist. Finally, it called upon the government to set up a Legal Aid Commission 24-hour phone service to provide free legal advice for people taken into custody.
The government is yet to comment formally on these demands despite them being proposed previously in the Royal Commission into Deaths in Custody and the Select Committee Report on Youth Affairs.
Police Commissioner Brian Bull, clearly feeling the heat of public pressure on his neck took the action of sacking Sgt. Desmond Smith, the officer responsible for the breaking of Dethridge's jaw. However, Smith is being used as a scapegoat to prevent a much broader discussion on the role of the police.