This New Program Is Set To Help Aboriginal People Fight Police Harassment
It's nearly met its crowdfunding goal!
Good news! A new program to run training in Indigenous communities on using mobile phones to document police harassment nearly has the green light after reaching 90 percent of its $60,000 crowdfunding goal four days before its deadline.
“Copwatch”, an initiative of human rights law firm the National Justice Project (NJP), is a response to requests from several Indigenous communities in the wake of events of police violence against community members. The program will send human rights lawyers and media professionals to participating Indigenous communities, to run training on safely using mobile phones and social media to film and share recordings of interactions with police.
National Justice Project solicitor George Newhouse says the program aims to make people aware of the “legal and practical ramifications of filming in public” so that communities can effectively “use technology and citizen journalism to expose inappropriate behaviour”.
“We use roleplaying to try to explain the practical implications of filming police, as well as the legal considerations,” Newhouse told Junkee. “We want the community to understand their legal rights but also their responsibilities, and to understand that even though it may be legal to film, filming can have serious implications … You may be assaulted, you may have your phone taken from you even though you’re not committing a crime.
“You may actually be filming a fellow community member committing a crime, which means there are ethical and practical considerations you need to think about before you start filming, including taking care of your own personal safety.”
In addition, Newhouse says, “there are special techniques that need to be used if you want to use the film as evidence later. It can be used to hold police accountable for their actions, but it can also be used to get you off a charge if the video shows that you were innocent. Video is very powerful — just look at what happened when the images of Dylan Voller were released to the public.”
The program’s successful funding comes after a week of high-profile protests about the justice system’s role in the deaths of Indigenous people. At a Sydney protest on Monday, relatives of 22-year-old Yamaji woman Ms. Dhu — who died in police custody several years ago — spoke of the fight to access police footage of the events leading up to Dhu’s death, and the need for greater transparency around police interactions with Indigenous communities.
Shaun Harris, a relative of Ms. Dhu, said that he hopes Copwatch will “educate and empower our community to enforce rights that everybody has in this country. Anything that amplifies the voices of Aboriginal peoples can only be regarded as positive and part of getting justice for my niece Ms Dhu.”
Darumbal woman and journalist Amy McQuire has also thrown her support behind the program. “Over the course of my career in journalism, I have spoken to countless First Nations people who have been left deeply affected by police brutality and over-policing in their communities,” she said.
“There has never been one police officer convicted over a black death in custody, and this is keenly felt across Aboriginal Australia. Copwatch is one way we can begin to help inform Aboriginal communities of their rights, and will give us the tools to keep the police accountable, and help make our communities safer.”
While current funding will see a trial program run in four communities across NSW, the Northern Territory and Western Australia, organisers say they have been inundated with requests from 16 other interested communities, and are trying to raise extra funds in order to cater to as many interested communities as possible. Their crowdfunding campaign is open for contributions until August 1, and can be found here.
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Sam Langford is a Junkee Staff Writer. She tweets from @_slangers.