Rita Panahi: Brutal actions of police at protests are indefensible

Disturbing footage of overzealous officers using excessive force is undermining public trust in police.

Victoria Police must remember they serve the people, not just the premier.

Their conduct during the pandemic has damaged their standing and given further weight to accusations that the force has become highly politicised.

It’s hard not to come to that conclusion when one hears some of the inflammatory commentary from police command or considers the police response to protests; the likes of BLM and Extinction Rebellion have been treated significantly differently than anti-lockdown and anti-vaccine passport protesters over the past 18 months.

Then there’s the fact that Dan Andrews’ former chief of staff was appointed an assistant police commissioner.

But what has been most disturbing, and has received coverage around the world, is the level of force officers have exercised in enforcing health orders, whether it’s putting a frightened pregnant woman in handcuffs in front of her children over a Facebook post or harassing elderly women sitting on a park bench or pepper spraying photographers covering a protest.

A protester is pepper sprayed by police. Picture: Jason Edwards

When did excessive force including liberal use of knees, fists and batons become acceptable?

When did the indiscriminate use of pepper spray and pepper ball rounds become OK? And when did Victoria Police deem it necessary to throw people who are not resisting to the ground and have multiple officers climb on their back?

One of the more remarkable videos of last week shows multiple officers driving their knees into alleged protesters who were already on the ground as well as one officer striking a man with force with the butt of his pepper ball rifle.

These are scenes I never imagined seeing in Melbourne.

This week footage of an absurd interaction in St Kilda between a group of officers and a man and woman went viral and prompted commentary from Hollywood comics to athletes to political commentators.

The footage shows a man handcuffed on the ground because as one officer explained “he has no valid reason to be out today” and “he wasn’t wearing a face mask” despite his kebab-wielding female companion trying to explain that they are just a few hundred meters from the man’s home and his mask was only off because he was smoking a cigarette as she ate her lunch.

More insane police overreach in Melbourne. Guy put in handcuffs for being a few hundred metres from his home. Police say “he has no valid reason to be there” & “wasn’t wearing a face mask”. He says he was getting lunch & having a cigarette.pic.twitter.com/7iQvVDkUcg

— Rita Panahi (@RitaPanahi) September 26, 2021

The footage is a fine example of the lunacy that’s afflicted this state but thankfully it was devoid of the overt violence we’ve seen in other viral clips including an officer choking a young woman who was maskless (she had an exemption) and more recently an elderly female protester being pushed violently to the ground and then hit with pepper spray by two officers even though she clearly posed no threat.

Members of the Dan Cult have started insane rumours claiming that the older woman is actually a young man despite photographic evidence to the contrary.

Members of the Dan Cult have started insane rumours claiming that this woman is actually a young man. Picture: Jason Edwards

The elderly female protester was pushed violently to the ground and then hit with pepper spray. Picture: Jason Edwards

There are many other similar clips that have come to light since the start of the Covid-19 crisis.

All this has contributed to data published late last year showing trust in police had plummeted in Victoria with only 42 per cent rating the police highly.

Just three years earlier 76 per cent rated police highly, according to Roy Morgan research.

The two reasons identified for the dramatic fall were the Lawyer X scandal and the manner in which Covid-19 restrictions were enforced.

This protester was pepper sprayed last Wednesday. Picture: Con Chronis

Respondents’ comments included the following: “Because we’ve seen some disappointing incidents of police brutality recently”, “Head stomping, pulling people from cars, raids on people’s houses for Facebook posts”, “Too heavy handed, I have lost trust”, and “They behave like they are above the law. For the first time ever, I’m scared of the police” — the latter from a respondent aged 65+.

Of course not all officers have behaved in this manner but there’s been enough instances of overreach and too many ill-judged fines giving the impression that Victoria Police’s cultural problems run deeper than police command.

It would be fascinating to see what a poll held this week would show.

One of the more remarkable headlines I’ve seen in the past year comes from the ABC and reads: “Watchdog finds Victoria Police acted lawfully when head-stomping mentally ill man during arrest”.

That incident saw police using a squad car to ram a man having a mental health crisis.

The footage shows the victim, Tim Atkins, lying on the median strip and when he tries to get up an officer stomps forcefully on his head.

Despite the victim ending up in an induced coma the police’s actions were deemed to be “lawful” force.

Overzealous officers, excessive force and selective policing has undermined public trust in the thin blue line.

Anyone familiar with my work knows that I strongly back the police but some of the footage that has come to light during the pandemic is simply indefensible.

IN SHORT

The approval rating for the Andrews government’s handling of the pandemic has dropped to 44 per cent in the latest Essential poll, the lowest rating in the country.

And the majority of Victorians say they do not have confidence in the state’s road map out of lockdown.