Police forces, police powers and policing

As the tropical sun set over Manus Island detention centre on November 23, Walid Zazai wrote on Twitter for the final time that night. He reflected on the day as:

鈥淎 day of horror. A day of fear. A day I will never forget.

鈥淚 thought I鈥檓 back in Afghanistan in a war zone. There was no way to hide, just the sky.

鈥淔riends have been beaten, have been taken by force to town centres.

鈥淒on't know what will happen tomorrow. Remember us in your prayers.鈥

The decision by state and territory leaders at the recent Council of Australian Governments (COAG) meeting to give the federal government real time access to data, including driver's licences, is the latest measure likely to undermine civil liberties in the government鈥檚 so-called war on terror.

Days of angry protests have hit Paris and other French cities after police raped and bashed a 22-year-old Black man on February 2.

Windows were smashed and fires were started in Paris's Menilmontant district on the night of February 8, TeleSUR English said the next day. Activists took to the streets to call for justice for 鈥淭heo鈥 after French police were charged over his rape and abuse during a raid on a housing estate in the working-class department of Seine-Saint-Denis. One of the police officers has been charged with rape, while three others were charged with assault.

On January 11 at 6.30am, tree loppers started felling some of the 500 trees slated for destruction at Sydney Park to make way for WestConnex鈥檚 St Peters interchange near the corner of Euston Road and Campbell Street.

Before that, Steffie Leedham had climbed up to a platform connected to three trees. She told 91自拍论坛 Weekly from the platform that she would stay up there 鈥渇or as long as it takes to stop WestConnex vandalising Sydney Park鈥.

Several others tried to stop the felling but were mostly pushed aside by police. At least two were arrested.

More than 150 community members marched down the main street of the western New South Wales town of Cowra to demand justice for Dennis 鈥淒J鈥 Doolan, who was shot in the back by local police two months ago. Doolan remains in custody in Bathurst jail.

The peaceful protesters, with banners and flags, demanded justice for all Aboriginal deaths in custody as they made their way to Squire Park.

Doolan鈥檚 relative Les Coe thanked the community for their support and said he hoped this show of solidarity would unite the community beyond Cowra.

The Kensington Legal Centre (KLC) is running a police accountability program to try to raise awareness about racial profiling and police harassment after numerous young people have been harassed by Victoria Police.

This program, which has been running for some time, began when a group of young teenagers approached KLC after being harassed by Victoria Police.

The young men report being stopped while doing everyday things.

Victoria Police has evicted homeless people from empty properties in Bendigo Street, Collingwood, that had been acquired by the previous government for the now-cancelled East West Link.

The government said the homeless people had to be evicted so it could give the houses to homeless people.

The systematic police repression of African Americans that Black Lives Matter (BLM) has exposed has prompted Black athletes to express their solidarity. The latest has been the silent protests at sporting events initiated by Colin Kaepernick, quarterback for NFL team, the San Francisco 49ers.

His protest is simple. He kneels when the national anthem is played before games. In spite of attacks against him, other professional athletes have emulated his protest. Perhaps most significant has been the many high school players across the country who have joined in.

A new investigation by In These Times has revealed that, by percentage of population, Native Americans are more likely to be killed by police than any other sector 鈥 including African Americans.

It also found that while cases of African-American police deaths tend to dominate headlines, killings of Native people go almost entirely unreported by mainstream US media.

The star of the new Netflix hit Luke Cage, Mike Colter, said the new show 鈥 featuring a bulletproof African-American man sporting a hoodie 鈥 highlighted the plight of many young Black people in the United States who have been shot dead by police and the decades-long struggle against such brutality.

Jafri Alexandra X has been conducting a one-person crusade against racism in Melbourne for almost two years. He is well known as the person who holds a 鈥渟top鈥 sign with 鈥淪top Racism Now鈥 on it every Friday afternoon outside Flinders Street Station.

This interview with Jafri and Dilman Ramadan was broadcast on 3CR's Solidarity Breakfast show on October 1.聽

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New reports of police murdering Black people seem to occur daily. Three recent police killings that have sparked huge protests took place in Tulsa, Oklahoma; Charlotte, North Carolina; and El Cajon, California.

The Charlotte murder and demonstrations have received the most coverage. Before he was shot dead on September 20, Keith Scott, a 43-year-old African American, was sitting in his car waiting for his child to come home from school.