Live
Audio Only
Australian Federal Police (AFP) have admitted one of their officers breached their code of conduct during an exchange with an Aboriginal journalist, according to a statement made public Monday.
The incident took place on the sidelines of an indigenous protest in April, in Australia's capital, Canberra.
The protest ended with clashes between demonstrators and ACT Policing – a branch of the AFP.
The clashes appeared to break out shortly after police tried to block the demonstration.
Following the protest, journalist Myles Morgan from public broadcaster National Indigenous Television (NITV) alleged police tried to intimidate him into handing over footage of the clashes.
When the journalist refused to give up the footage without first consulting his employer, one officer accused Morgan of using “Commonwealth property” for private purposes – seemingly referring to the NITV camera.
“It would appear so,” a second officer said, appearing to agree as the first officer claimed Morgan could be misusing the camera.
Morgan responded by explaining the camera was being used for a report on the protest by NITV.
“You haven't hassled anyone else for their footage, so I would like to leave now, as I believe I am free to do. If you have reason to arrest me, you might as well get it over and done with,” he said.
One of the officers, responded, "Unfortunately, stupidity is not illegal."
Footage of the exchange was broadcast by NITV earlier this year, and has since gone viral online.
AFP has now stated one officer breached its internal code of conduct, while two others have been cleared of complaints against them.
"An AFP member breached Section 8.4 of the AFP Code of Conduct by demonstrating discourteous behavior towards Myles Morgan from National Indigenous Television," an AFP spokesperson told NITV.
In a statement from the AFP published on NITV's website, the police force said Section 8.4 states "an AFP appointee must act with fairness, reasonableness, courtesy and respect, and without discrimination or harassment, in the course of AFP duties."
Via NITV
The officer wasn't named, and the AFP didn't state whether they would face any disciplinary action.
According to NITV, a police spokesperson said the force has now developed a training course for personnel in Indigenous Australian and Torres Strait Islander cultural awareness. The training course is one day long.
While NITV has welcomed the outcome of the AFP investigation and praised the conduct of its own journalist, Australia's media workers' union (MEAA) has condemned the police response.
"MEAA believes the attitude, comments and the conclusions reached by the AFP officers indicated a poor attitude towards media and journalists,” the union said.
Relations between police and Aboriginal Australians have long been a controversial issue. In the early 1990s, the government launched a commission to investigate allegations indigenous Australians were dying in police custody at a higher rate than non-indigenous peoples. Although the commission found no evidence of widespread police abuse, it issued a series of recommendations. The issue was reignited last year, when an indigenous woman who can only be identified as Ms Dhu died while serving time for unpaid fines in Western Australia.
An inquest into Dhu's death is set to begin in late November.
RELATED: The Secret Country Again Wages War on its Own People
Newsletter
