New legislation to be introduced by the O’Farrell Government will expand police powers to move on people they believe to be intoxicated. However, these laws are not based on clear data and are likely to unfairly target disadvantaged members of the community. (SMH 20 May p5.)
The Law Enforcement (Powers and Responsibilities) Amendment (Move On Directions) Bill 2011will change the move on powers for intoxicated persons – currently these only apply to groups of three or more people who are in a public place and where a police officer believes on reasonable grounds that their behaviour as a result of intoxication is likely to cause injury or otherwise be a risk to public safety.
The bill will authorise police to move on an intoxicated person by themselves (rather than in a group).
The Coalition says that this is the first part of their plan to tackle alcohol related violence and anti-social behaviour: they claim to be using “New ways to address this complex issue”. However, the government has used out of date evidence to justify this extreme legislation.
For instance in the second reading speech they quote a 2008 BOCSAR report of an increase in glassings across NSW. This is despite 2011 BOCSAR statistics showing a steady decline in glassings of an average of 7% per year for the last 5 years.
The Liberals have asserted that this is part of the first stage of the “Making Our Streets Safe Again” Policy. If so it suggests that they will continue to erode civil liberties in the name of safety and security.
These laws will enable police to decide, based on their opinion alone, that a person is intoxicated and then force them from a public place.
Evidence shows that police powers such as these are most often used against the vulnerable such as young people, the homeless and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders.
There is no evidence quoted suggesting that Police have experienced significant problems not being able to give move on directions to individuals rather than only groups of three or more.
Whilst there may be an argument to allow the police to break up rowdy intoxicated groups, there is no justification to allow police to target individuals.
This legislation will give police wide powers to hassle and intimidate people at their discretion. We might get more arrests, but we’re not going to get a better society.
I visited Sydney last week for the first time in years. I was taking my teenage daughters to a concert at the Entertainment Centre. I was truly shocked at the number of intoxicated homeless men. I forgot how prevalent it was when I worked there years ago. I visit Melbourne far more often, and don’t see the same number of men in their CBD. This isn’t a problem to be fixed by police “moving them on” to another place where the same will occur. It’s a sad response to a sad problem.