16 February 2015

Alex Greenwich, the Independent Member for Sydney, will join a number of parliamentary colleagues to receive a petition calling  for an Independent Police Complaint and Oversight Body. The petition will be present by a coalition of LGBTI organisations at NSW Parliament today. Details are HERE.

Mr Greenwich said:

"We depend on police to keep us safe and investigate crime, so it is vital that the community have full confidence in them, and this needs open and transparent complaints investigation. I support an independent oversight body able to investigate serious complaints and make binding recommendations, which is a gap in the current system."

"The Police Integrity Commission deals with very serious corruption, while the Ombudsman lacks resources to conduct comprehensive investigations and does not have the power to make binding recommendations."

"The longstanding allegations about historic homophobic policing and failure to investigate hate crimes in the 1980s and 1990s leaves many in the LGBTI community worried that they cannot trust police."

 "There will always be questions about justice if police officers investigate the misconduct claims against other police in an internal and invisible process."