NT Police deny racism claims after responding to Palmerston assault

A PALMERSTON resident reporting the bashing of a woman says the fact she was asked by police if the attacker was indigenous reveals a racist attitude among police - something police vehemently deny

NT Police have vehemently denied an accusation that asking about an alleged attacker’s race was indicative of a racist attitude among police. PICTURE: Supplied

A PALMERSTON resident reporting the brutal bashing of a woman says the fact she was asked by police if the attacker was indigenous reveals a racist attitude among police - something police vehemently deny.

Mina Stankovic said around 9.30pm on a recent Wednesday night, she contacted police after witnessing a woman being assaulted across the road from her house in Gray.

“She was lying on the ground crying and yelling for help,” she said. “He was yelling at her, swearing at her and eventually pulling, hitting and kicking her.”

While Ms Stankovic was on the phone, the violence escalated. “I told them ‘he is kicking her in the head right now’ and that he had fallen over while kicking her head and knocked his head on the concrete. I asked them to come help. They asked if the attacker was indigenous. How relevant is that when someone is getting their head kicked in?”

Eventually the couple stumbled off in different directions and Ms Stankovic went to bed.

She thought police did not attend the scene but records show two police cars did attend the job. The first police car arrived 15 minutes after Ms Stankovic’s call was made and the second 21 minutes later - but the attacker had left.

“They hurt each other but could have gone on to hurt other people too,” Ms Stankovic said.

She said she was disappointed with police’s response to this situation.

“Because they’re indigenous that means it’s more common so it’s not as big a deal.

“They don’t think this is as important?

“All white women get treated as individuals and family violence is not seen as just a cultural problem.”

Head of the communications division in the Northern Territory Police Force, superintendent Steve Heyworth, said asking whether the attacker was indigenous was about getting information into the system to help police identify individuals once they arrived at a scene.

“There is no way the race of people involved would drive police response,” he said.

Indigenous Territorians make up around 30 per cent of the population.

Indigenous women are five times more likely to experience violence and 34 times more likely to be hospitalised as a result of domestic violence than their non-indigenous counterparts.

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