Aboriginal Law Bulletin --- "Crime Out West: Criminal Justice in North-West New South Wales" [1988] AboriginalLawB 16; (1988) 1(31) Aboriginal Law Bulletin 2

• Crime Out West

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Crime Out West

The Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research has released its keenly awaited report, Criminal Justice in North-West New South Wales. The report was commissioned following public meeetings in Dubbo calling for tougher measures to combat an alleged crime wave. The meetings clearly targeted Aborigines as the chief source of the problem.

The researchers found that during the period of the allegations, reported offences increased by only 4%. They also found that Aborigines were greatly over-represented in crime statistics for the region. The report offers a dual explanation for this over-representation. In part, it accepts a higher rate of commission of offences by Aboriginal people. This it explains by examining their social, economic and historical situation. The other explanation is the level of over policing which is also examined in its historical context.

The report provides an invaluable source of statistical material and serves as a solid refutation of the hardline policies advocated by the law and order lobby.

The report quotes an Aboriginal woman in Bourke. She recalled:

I saw the police come to my house (we used to live in an old shack down on the Reserve) and drag my father out and hick and kick and kick him. I'm 32 years of age and it's still on my mind. This is why people feel the way they do towards the police.

During an address to a meeting in Orana last year, Nick Greiner, recently elected State Premier, was reported as saying:

There's nothing wrong with the old system where the police sergeant could plant his 'size 9s' in someone's backside if he thought that was. the most appropriate thing to do. And he ought to feel confident that he can do that without in any way jeopardising his own career. At the moment in NSW that's simply not the case.