The Tribune

By FARRAH JOHNSON

Tribune Staff Reporter

fjohnson@tribunemedia.net

ENGLERSTON MP Glenys Hanna Martin said there has to be a “transparent accountability process” as it relates to investigations where officers are accused of breaking the law.

“I know I’ve had issues where I had to call the police and they’re the best faces I’ve ever seen and I just want to put my arms around them where I so appreciate them,” she said. “But we do have instances where certain things have happened that raised concerns and questions.”

Ms Hanna Martin said “police powers are constrained by the law” and insisted officers cannot act on discretion where they handle a situation based on how they see fit.

“They don’t have discretionary law (where) you see a situation and you deal with it like how you think you should deal with it –it doesn’t work like that,” she said. “When it is alleged that a police officer has gone outside of that constraint that is an issue of lawlessness, just like the persons they are seeking to apprehend.

“Unlike when there’s an ordinary citizen where there’s accountability, the question arises about whether what is the accountability when you are alleging that it is a rogue officer. And that is where we have not progressed in the way in which we should.”

Ms Hanna Martin made the comments while speaking about police involved killings during the Progressive Liberal Party’s new Facebook show, Coffee Break with Apryl, on Sunday.

She also said there needs to be a “transparent accountability process” when officers are accused of acting “outside of the law”. She said in the current system, the police are “basically investigating” themselves.

“That is not allowed in any other adjudication process where you’re seeking justice and that’s long overdue. I think that there (have) been many allegations and the danger you run is that if people feel that there is no accountability for those who enforce the law…then you are going to create an environment that is destabilised.

“And (then) it grows and becomes bigger and bigger and it has deep social issues. It’s a very serious thing. And so I think that it’s a matter of priority and it’s overdue that there should be a process for the investigation of complaints from citizens against those who are empowered to enforce the law.”

Several people have been killed by police this year. In June, Commissioner of Police Paul Rolle said police shot and killed three men on Cowpen Road, after an officer was “ambushed” by a gunman.

During the interview, the Englerston MP also spoke about COVID-19’s impact on the country.

“The pandemic has been a challenge globally so we’re no different,” she said. “But I think that for us as a people, it has exposed a lot of vulnerabilities (and) a lot of underdevelopments in our national life.”

She added: “You look at the healthcare sector. It (did) not take very long before it became overwhelmed. They had to spill over in other areas and you’re hearing the stories now about people who are allegedly falling between the cracks in our healthcare system.

“I think the first observation I’d make is that it has exposed the weaknesses in our national life and even in the economy.”