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https://theconversation.com/is-policing-in-australia-corrupt-and-abusive-an-eye-opening-new-book-investigates-235898>
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Review: When Cops are Criminals – edited by Veronica Gorrie (Scribe)
Edited by former Queensland police officer and Gunai/Kurnai woman Veronica
Gorrie, the title of
When Cops are Criminals may suggest a book covering
high-profile, or unusual, officer-involved crimes. But this collection does not
focus on the extraordinary.
As Gorrie explains, her reason for putting the book together was
to highlight the harmful behaviours committed by police every single day,
and, more importantly, the impact this has on their victims.
Gorrie’s previous award-winning book,
Black and Blue: a memoir of racism and
resilience, was an account of her time as a police officer between 2001 and
2011. In this new edited collection, 12 authors – survivors, campaigners,
practitioners, and academics – share their own stories (or those of others to
which they are privy).
The predominant theme of
When Cops are Criminals is that police and policing
in Australia are systemically corrupt and abusive. Experiences of police
misconduct and criminal behaviours – from racial profiling to sexual assault
and family violence – are shown to be normalised, multi-jurisdictional, and
persistent.
Each chapter addresses the enduring and systemic racism, homophobia, misogyny,
institutionalised toxicity, and dysfunction that enable and excuse individual
and collective abuses of policing power. The book also highlights the
limitations of mechanisms designed to ensure effective police scrutiny and
meaningful accountability.
The chapters largely focus on individual experiences, through deeply personal
narratives and victim-survivor vignettes. These experiences are not situated
within broader statistical analyses or tested empirical evidence, in terms of
the number, type, or location of police involved in alleged abusive, corrupt,
or criminal behaviours.
Nor, given the nature and purpose of the collection, are specific responses put
forward by the various police forces or the bodies that oversee them.
However, a wealth of research confirms the enduring nature, across multiple
police jurisdictions in Australia, of behaviour such as racial profiling,
police perpetrated family violence, differential treatment of the LGBTQI+
community, discriminatory treatment of young people, and problematic handling
of complaints. Victoria’s Independent Broad-based Anti-Corruption Commission
(IBAC) has highlighted what it refers to as “cover up” behaviours that can mask
police misconduct.
In her introduction, Gorrie notes:
Police are cruel towards many marginalised groups […] Police use excessive
force […] Police are committing crimes, while off duty, against their
partners, wives, family, and children [… and] Cops are known to prey on
other cops."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
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mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
