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Last updated on June 10th, 2017 at 11:06 am
Former Sydney detective Tim Priest on the recent Macquarie Field uprising:
Two aspects of the weekend’s riots alarm me: the growing phenomenon of suburban riots in Sydney and the inability of police commanders to restore order and prosecute all of those involved. That hardly makes Sydney’s future all that attractive.
One can only imagine the fallout of multiple suburban riots held in Sydney at the same time. No amount of political tough talk and police spin doctoring would be able to quell what could be a public disaster. Just think of what has happened in London and Los Angeles in recent years.
Of course, the mayhem on the southwestern Sydney streets highlights the Peter Ryan-inspired madness of the new urban police tactic: negotiate, back down and withdraw. Don’t arrest on the night lest you attract bad media attention. Don’t intimidate the offenders because they might complain to Legal Aid, which will then haunt your every move for the next two years. The result? Two of the most dangerous riots in the city’s history in just over a year.
Drove around Macquarie Fields yesterday. Not exactly a hotbed of seething urban resentment; more like a place where opportunistic cop-haters might take advantage of circumstances to throw a few bricks without fear of appropriate response.
