Police boss warn of knife crime violence if lefties get their way
NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller has backed his hardline stance on pill testing and strip searching, saying most pills are “pressed by village idiots.”
NSW
Don't miss out on the headlines from NSW. Followed categories will be added to My News.
- Top cop slams idea of pill testing at music festivals
- Fuller breaks silence over charged Tyrrell detective
NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller has backed his hardline stance on pill testing, saying the notion pill testing is safe is a blatant “lie” and most pills are “pressed by village idiots.”
Commissioner Fuller told 2GB’s Ray Hadley that young people should be fearful of the police, arguing that a crackdown is needed to tackle an 80 per cent increase in knife crime in the past half-decade.
“The reality is that I want there to be a small factor of fear so that young people aren’t coming into town with weapons,” he said.
Commissioner Fuller also said there is no safe way to test pills, with most tablets “pressed by village idiots.”
The results of pill testing differ depending on which part of the tablet you scrape, he said.
“You could scrape one part and it’s safe but there could be 90% MDMA in another part.”
A culture of drug abuse among young people is nothing to be proud of, he argued.
“If you go to the medical tent to see the carnage, if anyone sees that and are proud of that being a great afternoon for our kids, they are kidding themselves.”
“I feel very strongly about this - I see the darkside of what drugs can do and don’t think we talk enough about this.”
He also revealed that 120 people have been strip-searched since the start of the year.
The interview comes after Commissioner Fuller called on the public to support his officers in carrying out strip searches and other tough policing measures, or suffer the consequences of rising youth crime.
In an exclusive interview with The Daily Telegraph, Mr Fuller expressed alarm about community opposition to strip searches, saying young people on the verge of criminality should have “a little bit of fear” of police.
Otherwise, he said, Sydney could go the way of London and other cities where crime had risen after police powers had been curtailed.
“My biggest issue at the moment is making sure the public understand why we need to be a force and understand it’s important to have powers and use those powers because if you don't, there are consequences,” he said.
“There will be a generation of kids that have no respect for authority and no respect for the community.
“The reality is we need to be a police force and part of that is searching people — which doesn't make everyone happy — but people need to know there are consequences especially those who are criminals or on the verge of being criminals.
“They need to have respect and a little bit of fear for law enforcement.”
In 2014 UK Prime Minister Theresa May placed heavy restrictions on police stop-and-search powers after political pressure from left wing groups only to see them wound back this year after an 80 per cent rise in knife crime offences in five years.
Mr Fuller fears a growing push from some organisations to soften police powers.
“You look at London. They decrease their person searches by 20,000 because of a government policy position and knife crime went through the roof,” he said. “When the legitimacy of policing communities is questioned it has a negative impact on public safety. It is under heavy scrutiny here at the moment and it’s my job to protect those powers but also be mature enough to say ‘OK juvenile strip searches is a point of contention at the moment, some people are worried about it’, so we are going to do an immediate review of how they are conducted.”'
Mr Fuller said he did not usually speak out on public policy but believed he had a duty to do so when public safety was at stake.
In the past month, since NSW Deputy Coroner Harriet Grahame called for restrictions on strip searches and sniffer dogs at music festivals there, has been a chorus of detractors of police tactics including from NSW Greens senator David Shoebridge, the Redfern Legal Centre, former Director of Public Prosecutions Nicholas Cowdery and other high-profile members of the legal fraternity.
The campaign compelled the Commissioner to send out a video to his 17,000 officers saying he was 100 per cent behind them particularly in relation to strip searches.
“I'm not suggesting lifting up your shirt or being fully stripped is a nice experience. I accept that and also we have to work within our framework,” he scfaid. “But I cut a video for the troops around this (policy) telling them they have my support. You watch London, you watch Melbourne and you see a significant increase in knife crime. Knife crime isn't taking over Sydney, organised crime is not taking over Sydney.”
NSW also has avoided major problems with African youth gangs which have committed murder and mayhem in Melbourne, attributed by some to softer Victorian police policies. When a number of organised robberies occurred in northwest Sydney, Mr Fuller said police moved swiftly.
“The first message we sent and I said is, ‘these are gangs of young people from Sudan’. We called it for what it was and I think people want the Police Commissioner to stand up and tell them how it is,” he said.
A strike force was formed and 20 young men arrested. Mr Fuller revealed police not only contacted the parents but took them to the courts and interacted with them.
“I wanted to stop them reoffending. We took the parents along for the journey and they were 100 per cent behind us. They spoke to their children and said if you reoffend you are going back to Sudan. There is little evidence that the gangs have re-emerged.’’
CRUEL COP POLITICS ‘A SHAME’
Police Commissioner Mick Fuller said a secret inquiry by the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission, which cleared him of allegations he promoted friends into senior positions, was politically motivated.
“I think it’s a shame that an oversight body had to use royal commission powers to clear me of rumours,” he said. “I was treated with great respect but really I think it was as much to do with police politics more than anything to do with oversight. NSW police politics is well-known for being pretty cruel, but it’s over with and a good thing to put behind us as an organisation.”
Earlier this month the LECC, which held months of private hearings into anonymous allegations that Mr Fuller was biased in appointing two superintendents, released a statement saying the claims were unfounded, unfair and purely destructive rumours.
Mr Fuller said: “I’ve got to be resilient, I can’t play the victim. I can’t say it was an enjoyable part of my 32 years of policing but it’s now my job to try and bring cultural change to the Force, take the politics out of it so the next generation doesn’t have this type of experience.”
The Commissioner said he hoped to complete his full five-year term, which will expire in March 2022.
“I am loving the job. I’ve got four deputies I trust and we work together extremely well,” he said.
“I think the Force is in great shape at the moment.”