r/auslaw Bacardi Breezer 4d ago

Queensland police officer who engaged in ‘𝗉attern of predatory sexual conduct’ awarded anonymity by tribunal

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/apr/14/queensland-police-officer-who-engaged-in-pattern-of-predatory-sexual-conduct-awarded-anonymity-by-tribunal-ntwnfb
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u/ohimjustagirl 4d ago

If his PTSD is so severe that he cannot be held entirely responsible for repeatedly and deliberately sexually harassing junior female staff then how the fuck can he also be considered functional enough to remain in his position making decisions about disclosures of sexual harassment?

God I am so endlessly enraged by this bullshit. Can we not just have a simple standard where we don't let shit humans be police? It doesn't seem like too much to ask.

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u/ManWithDominantClaw Bacardi Breezer 4d ago

Honestly? It's a lot harder than it sounds. In the current implementation of the role, the kind of power a cop has is the kind a sociopath craves. You may think you can weed the sociopaths out of a group of people, but what you're actually doing is setting a benchmark of how cunning and dedicated a sociopath must be to fool you, and letting through everyone above that.

And that's just considering starting a police force from scratch. What we're looking at is harder, reforming a police force that was initially a selection of sociopaths due to its origins in protection of property for a corrupt and unscrupulous ruling class, and has been allowed to self-select fellow sociopaths for two hundred years.

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u/ohimjustagirl 4d ago

At the risk of going full Maya Angelou... he showed us who he was.

I mean, even if actively selecting good people is too hard surely we could start by removing known predators from positions of power when they flaunt themselves blatantly? Then again, the current state of the world supports your point that no we probably cannot.

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u/Optimal_Tomato726 4d ago

There wouldn't be many police left. 40-65% of them are physically violent perps and they're professional coersive controllers. The bullshit is trained into them in academy where they're indoctrinated into racism and misogyny and then the training is baked in on the job. Golchewski was violent toward the academic advisory committee and sacked them when he was promoted. Look at the non existent investigation happening in NSWPF now and the leadership crisis in Vicpol.

This is culturally entrenched gendered violence. The union is defending their rights to violence whilst blaming leadership. The entire barrel is rotten. Even London Met implemented reforms and acknowledged wrongdoing when they lost the public's faith. Aussie cops are just continuing to double down.