Queensland Police really thought it *did something* when it released its 30-minute documentary Policing Young Offenders, but the only thing the institution has shown off is its officers’ flagrant disregard for the safety and rights of children. Shocker.
The documentary released on Tuesday and is described as a “real and raw” look into youth crime in Queensland, complete with footage of cops handcuffing kids despite their compliance with orders — which, you guessed it, could be a violation of the police manual.
According to Queensland Police Operational Procedures Manual, “an officer is not to handcuff a child unless the child is in lawful custody and cannot be controlled by other means.”
Meaning that if a child is complying to verbal orders (and therefore “controlled”), it would be a violation to handcuff them. It’s a last resort, basically. But hey, so is tasering and yet look at how that turned out.
Despite this, the documentary doesn’t shy away from showing cops treating children roughly.
Policing Youth Offenders, QPS’ new documentary, reveals the complexities behind the issue of youth crime in Queensland and how police are working to divert youth away from a life of crime.
The 30-minute film will be available online from Tuesday, May 23 at 12pm. pic.twitter.com/3qypJD0j6B— Queensland Police (@QldPolice) May 22, 2023
One clip even shows a roadside arrest where a girl gets out of a vehicle voluntarily and yet is still yelled at to get “on the ground” before she is handcuffed to the side of a road. Another shows a boy also being handcuffed while laying on the ground on his stomach, despite obeying verbal orders. He doesn’t appear to struggle or resist arrest.
According to Youth Advocacy Chief Katherine Hayes, the cops in the documentary could have actually been breaking the law.
“The police arguably did not have the power to handcuff that young girl because she appears to have been fully complying with their oral instructions and there was no risk of her running away, from what the video footage shows,” she said, per ABC.
“One of our clients is a 13-year-old boy who has been on the streets for about six months, a young Aboriginal boy, very small and underweight.
“He was asleep under the Grey Street bridge, and police kneed him in the back to wake him up and put him in handcuffs straightaway.
“There was no clear indication that he wasn’t complying with their instructions.”
Only cops are incompetent enough to make an entire documentary celebrating their own potentially unlawful behaviour without realising they could be committing offences. It would be funny if it wasn’t so terrifying.
On top of this, the documentary also contains concerning comments made by police officers of various levels of authority who claim, often implicitly, that Aboriginal children are more likely to be troublesome. We love some racial stereotyping that doesn’t at all take into account systemic pressures and failures that affect marginalised folk differently!
The whole thing is even more cooked given Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll couldn’t confidently recall the rules around handcuffing kids in a press conference — and then she went on to defend her own officers, who she claimed “get things done”.
If by “things” we mean terrorising marginalised kids, then sure. Ending youth crime though? Nope. In fact, maybe they’re making it worse — there’s no evidence to suggest harsher crime laws and more police powers do anything to mitigate crime. Despite that, here they are.
“Why are police funded to make videos about their failure?”asked Sisters Inside advocate Debbie Kilroy, per ABC.
“We as a community must hold police accountable and not fall victim to their marketing.
“Police are not victims, they are overly funded to do a job they admit they can’t do, ‘end youth crime’.”
The documentary comes off the back of a lot of drama around youth offending in Queensland.
New data released in January revealed Queensland has the highest youth detention rates in the country.
The Queensland government introduced a controversial set of proposed laws in March which would make breach of bail an offence for children, increase maximum jail sentences for kids, and force courts to consider a child’s bail history while sentencing them.
The legislation caused outrage and concern among critics who noted that locking up kids has never actually done anything to prevent crime, and in fact, only makes things worse.
“What we know from the evidence is that they are going to be more likely to reoffend and cause harm to other victims,” Rights Commissioner Scott McDougall said at the time, per 9News.
It’s common knowledge that kids who enter the justice system early are more likely to reoffend and find themselves back in it. Locking them up is not the answer. Whatever happened to compassion?
