Police Commissioner Karen Webb has made yet another uncomfortable comment in public, this time quoting a Taylor Swift song when she was (rightfully) grilled about her handling of the alleged murders of Sydney couple Jesse Baird and Luke Davies.
Baird and Davies were allegedly killed by NSW Police officer Beau Lamarre-Condon last Monday, who was on duty at the time and allegedly used a police-issued firearm.
Webb took days to make a statement about the alleged murders — which is already a long time but especially noticeable given the involvement of her own officer — and when she eventually did on Sunday, it was a measly online statement. Not, you know, an actual press conference.
Sunrise co-hosts Natalie Barr and Matt Shirvington questioned Webb’s leadership on the show following blistering coverage of the events, and her response was, well, less than professional.
“There will always be haters. Haters like to hate. Isn’t that what Taylor says?” she said on the breakfast show.
Honestly, if you’re going to try to be painfully relatable and quote Taylor in such dire circumstances, you’d think you’d at least do it with conviction. But no, she wasn’t even fully sure if that was the correct lyric. What a joke.
“I have a job to do. It is a big job. This is just one of many. We actually had seven murders last week,” Webb continued defensively.
“We had a triple murder out at Parramatta and we’ve had others.
“This, though, of course, is a complex matter. All we need to do now is find Jesse and Luke so their families know where they are. That’s my priority.”
Webb has already faced fierce backlash for other tactless comments regarding Baird and Davies’ deaths.
During a presser on Monday, she referred to the alleged murders as a “crime of passion” before clarifying she meant police believe it to be a domestic violence incident. Her comment earned the ire of women’s safety advocates who slammed her comments as downplaying domestic violence.
“[This wording] matters because violence is domestic settings is often reduced to a ‘crime of passion’ that downplays its significance and severity,” activist and lawyer Tarang Chawla, whose sister Nikita was murdered by her husband, wrote on Instagram.
“So-called ‘crimes of passion’ have been regarded as less heinous in the courts and have been punished less severely and treated less seriously by the media.”
During the same presser, Webb also pushed for NSW Police officers to attend Mardi Gras this weekend, despite fierce backlash from the LGBTQIA+ community following the deaths of Baird and Davies allegedly at the hands of a serving cop.
“I would hate to see that this is the year that we are excluded because of the actions of one person that is not gay hate related… to shut the door on [gay and lesbian cops] would set us backwards,” she said.
Mardi Gras officially uninvited NSW Police from its parade anyway. I’m sure her calling the concerns of members of the queer community “backwards” certainly didn’t help.
And yet, Karen Webb is still making thoughtless comments that completely shit on the serious topic at hand. What’s new?
Image: Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images.
Help is available.
- If you require immediate assistance, please call 000.
- If you’d like to speak to someone about domestic violence, please call the 1800 Respect hotline on 1800 737 732 or chat online.
- Under 25? You can reach Kids Helpline at 1800 55 1800 or chat online.
