Maha Abdo,who has helmed the Lakemba-based Muslim Women Association for more than 20 years,said families were complaining of COVID-19 compliance checks in the early hours of the morning and police vehicles driving up and down their streets.
The Muslim Womens Association’s Maha Abdo,who has called for a more holistic COVID-19 response that involves health and social service workers alongside police on the frontlines.Kate Geraghty
“No matter how much we talk about the effect that the police is having,there’s all these new traumatised emotions that are coming through where people fear police,” Ms Abdo told a forum hosted by urban think-tank Committee for Sydney on Wednesday.
“Only last night one mother was saying to me:I fear my 18-year-old son going out[for exercise]... For the last 20 years or 25 years we’ve been working so closely with police,promoting police engagement,promoting the effect of police in a positive way ... I’ve felt all of a sudden,[this] has just somehow gone out the window.”
She called for a more holistic response that involves health,mental health and social service workers alongside law enforcement.
Her comments follow condemnation from the Aboriginal Legal Service and the Public Interest Advocacy Centre’s homelessness outreach over NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller’s recent comments urging officers.
Police Deputy Commissioner Gary Worboys on Wednesday said he had “every confidence in NSW Police”,as complaints of over-policing where several people were fined for eating outside on the weekend.
“Police still have discretion. Let’s be clear that we are in a pandemic,in a situation that we want people to absolutely comply with the public health orders,and police will take action where they think that is appropriate,” he said.
Police are a common sight in Sydney’s south-west.Steven Siewert
A NSW Police spokeswoman said the force had met with more than 200 senior religious and community leaders in the past few weeks,“to share and develop strategies to deal with this pandemic while keeping the safety and wellbeing of the community at the forefront.”
“The NSW Police Force continues to engage with community members,leaders and organisations to address the concerns of the community,” she said.
“During welfare and compliance checks,officers have called ambulances,arranged food,organised additional welfare checks and even provided hay to feed animals ... Many thousands of care and welfare packages have been delivered to vulnerable community members and the NSW Police Force will continue to provide extra support during this difficult time.”
Ms Abdo,whose work against racial and gender discrimination has been recognised by the NSW government,told theHerald she did not want to “paint the whole thing with the same brush” or detract from positive work officers were doing in the community.
“But it is about the messaging,every morning at 11am. That’s about compliance,compliance,compliance,” she said.
“In south-west Sydney people are exhausted. Our people are wanting to comply,but we need to have a collaborative approach:health,community,welfare checks,along with the police,in a way that is effective and actually produces that adrenaline of hope,rather than just dampening things down so it is all about compliance out of fear.”
The youth service manager at Bankstown-based Humanity Matters,Selim Ucar,has called for youth workers to accompany police patrols and provide necessary social supports,after NSW Police warned law enforcement would crack down on young men in Sydney’s hotspots.
“We’re trying to find some avenue to be able to have our street workers accompany police as they are enforcing these curfews,so that when they interact with young people our street workers can ensure the young people are adequately supported and that potentially volatile situations may be defused before they erupt,” he said.
“[These young people] don’t use help hotlines or online support services,let alone taking the initiative to go out and seek help on their own accord. We’re really concerned for the safety and well-being.”
Canterbury-Bankstown mayor Khal Asfour,who has been engaging with police and community members during lockdown,said Ms Abdo was a respected,longstanding leader in the community whose opinion needed to be seriously considered.
“If someone like that is saying that ... we need to consider what she’s saying,and they should be thinking about those comments seriously,” he said.
Meanwhile,Pam Barker,head of youth services peak body YFoundations said she had received feedback that some youth workers had difficulty convincing officers at checkpoints to be able to leave locked down local government areas despite having letters from the Department of Communities and Justice.
A Service NSW spokesperson said essential workers would be able to apply for permits on the government website from Thursday night,one day before the new permit system for LGAs of concern comes into effect.
Former mental health commissioner Sam Mostyn urged the government and police to learn from the community,in comments made alongside Ms Abdo’s at Wednesday’s discussion. Ms Mostyn said she had met police officers who were volunteering at community hubs to deliver hampers and supplies to people they were checking on.
“They were trying to work out locally how they could do that[provide health,wellbeing and food supplies] because there’s no systemic response,” she said.
“But the good people who[come from] those communities in the policing system actually come up with the best ideas … There is a lesson for the big system designers and the people who drive policy.”
Earlier this week NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Leanne McCusker said officers were reaching into their own pockets to pay for groceries like bread and milk for people in isolation.
The Morning Edition newsletter is our guide to the day’s most important and interesting stories,analysis and insights.Sign up.