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Soon as there are cases in Western Sydney the calls for using cops as health workers grow louder.
FFS can you not.
FFS can you not.
This is what it looked like last time.
What it always looks like. https://twitter.com/hpstorian/status/1249251541724172288?s=19
What it always looks like. https://twitter.com/hpstorian/status/1249251541724172288?s=19
Unlike some states, the NSW coppers released pretty detailed info on who and where they issued fines for health breaches.
Guess who. Guess where.
And the descriptions also made it very very clear how their "discretion" on fines played out. https://twitter.com/hpstorian/status/1249256478688460801?s=19
Guess who. Guess where.
And the descriptions also made it very very clear how their "discretion" on fines played out. https://twitter.com/hpstorian/status/1249256478688460801?s=19
So much of the aftermath of events in Victoria illustrate that so many police orientated health decisions were not at the request of health officers, but at the request of police.
And in many cases those decisions made things worse.
And in many cases those decisions made things worse.
Most of the people I've seen saying "crackdown early, crackdown hard" are the kind to get caught a few points over the limit, or a few days out of rego, and get told to do better next time.
Cops cracking heads with expanded powers doesn't factor in to their idea of "crackdown".
Cops cracking heads with expanded powers doesn't factor in to their idea of "crackdown".
The use of police as a substitute for other public health measures is expensive: not just monetarily but socially.
Victorian police acquired not just new powers, they also acquired new and expensive equipment.
Victorian police acquired not just new powers, they also acquired new and expensive equipment.
People jump to such measures because they LOOK good & assuage fears of those who are served by the police.
Yet cash spent on expanding police power can be spent on other things, things that work but aren't flashy: making testing easier to access, making work less precarious etc.
Yet cash spent on expanding police power can be spent on other things, things that work but aren't flashy: making testing easier to access, making work less precarious etc.
The cost of installing and operating four "pop up surveillance units" was around 3.5 million dollars.
Units whose efficacy was and remains dubious, and whose surveillance range was line of sight.
Units whose efficacy was and remains dubious, and whose surveillance range was line of sight.
Of course the thing about fines is that someone has to pay them.
I don't know if the tens of thousands of fines issued by Vic cops was enough to buy back those units.
We DO know that the cops are less likely to fine you if you're wealthy and white though. We know who pays.
I don't know if the tens of thousands of fines issued by Vic cops was enough to buy back those units.
We DO know that the cops are less likely to fine you if you're wealthy and white though. We know who pays.
The more unjust the society, the more vulnerable they are to pandemics.
More vulnerable to disaster generally.
And history isn't finished.
As much as we'd like to leave 2020 behind, a post-covid world will not just abandon its legacies.
More vulnerable to disaster generally.
And history isn't finished.
As much as we'd like to leave 2020 behind, a post-covid world will not just abandon its legacies.
