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Police Multicultural Advisory CouncilPMAC

Reflections 2013-2015

OPERATIONALPROGRAMS

Contents

What is the Police Multicultural Advisory Council (PMAC)? 2

PMAC Members 2013-2015 3

Council Activities 4

Consultations with young people 4

Consultations with Police 4

Taking part in the Community Awareness of Policing Program 5

Highlights for PMAC 6

Key issues for 2013-2015 8

Ideas to improve the future work of PMAC 11

Where to for PMAC in 2015-17? 12

A Note of Thanks 13

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What is the Police Multicultural Advisory Council (PMAC)?

PMAC was established to advise the Commissioner of Police about policing in a culturally and linguistically diverse environment. The NSW Police Force first established such a Council in 1996.

Between 1996 and 2002, the former Police Ethnic Communities Advisory Council (PECAC) focussed on the creation of dedicated resources within NSW Police Force including the establishment of the Cultural Diversity Team, the development and implementation of police and community training programs, and the review and expansion of the Multicultural Community Liaison Officer (MCLO) program. Council deliberations centred around issues such as cultural diversity training for police, the collection of ethnicity-based data on alleged offenders and ethnicity-based descriptors.

Australia’s diversity today requires a more sophisticated discourse on responses from government agencies, including approaches to law and order as well as the needs of our diverse communities.

Priority 3.1 of the NSW Police Force priorities for Working in a Culturally, Linguistically and Religiously Diverse Society and Multicultural Policies and Services Forward Plan (2011-14) makes a commitment to establish and maintain an executive level consultative body to inform, advise on and assess its responsiveness to cultural, linguistic and religious diversity. Priority 3.1 is implemented through the effective functioning of the PMAC.

The objectives of the current Council are to:

1. Inform the NSW Police Force’s approach and priorities with respect to delivering culturally responsive policing services across NSW;

2. Identify significant emerging issues capable of affecting relations between the NSW Police Force and non-Aboriginal communities from diverse cultural, religious and linguistic backgrounds;

3. Lead and facilitate partnerships between police and non-Aboriginal communities from diverse cultural, religious and linguistic backgrounds that contribute to reducing crime and antisocial behaviour and the perception and fear thereof; and

4. Facilitate open, direct and two-way communication between the NSW Police Force Executive and external stakeholders on identified issues relating to culturally responsive policing.

In early 2013, eighteen members were appointed to the Council for a two-year term. The Council has held all eight scheduled meetings in its first term.

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PMAC Members 2013-2015

COMMUNITY MEMBERS

Ms Bernadette Agyepong Ms Daphne Lowe Kelley

Ms Wajiha Ahmed Ms Mala Mehta OAM

Prof. Joe Chichoro Mr Pino Migliorino

Mr Jihad Dib Dr Jamal Rifi

Ms Faduma Geddi Ms Tia Roko

Mr Ken Habak OAM Ms Violet Roumeliotis

Mr Jeremy Jones AM Ms Thelma Thomas

Ms Zuleyha Keskin Mr Joseph Wakim OAM

Ms Namhee Ko Prof Nihal Agar (April - November 2013)

COMMUNITY RELATIONS COMMISSION – MULTICULTURAL NSW

Mr Stepan Kerkyasharian AM (until his retirement in November 2013)

Mr Vic Alhadeff, Chairperson (March 2014 – September 2014)

Mr Hakan Harman, CEO (From March 2014)

Dr Hari Harinath OAM, Chairperson (From November 2014)

NSW POLICE FORCE

Andrew Scipione APM, Commissioner of Police

Nick Kaldas APM, Deputy Commissioner of Police and Corporate Sponsor for Cultural Diversity

Corporate Sponsors for International Students and Bias Crimes

Regional Sponsors for Cultural Diversity may also attend on a need-to basis

Community Contact Unit, Counter Terrorism and Special Tactics Command

Ms Mary Hilmi, Multicultural Community Liaison Officer (MCLO), Liverpool LAC

Ms Chantha Mau, MCLO Ryde LAC

Secretariat support is provided by Cultural Diversity portfolio of the Program Development Team, Operational Programs Command.

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A PMAC Youth Consultation - Wollongong

Council Activities

The Council consults widely to identify community concerns, uses this consultation process to prioritise issues and drives these through deliberations with the Corporate Sponsor for Cultural Diversity and the Commissioner of Police.

Consultations with young people

In 2013, youth and police relationships were one of the priority areas identified by the Council. Eight youth consultations were held with over 250 young people attending. Council members explored policing specific issues of concern to young people, with findings tabled at Council meetings.

Consultations with Police

In order to obtain a balanced perspective on policing and young people, the Council also held focus group discussions with General Duties police officers and presented their findings to the Commissioner of Police.

The findings from the primary research undertaken by Council with young people and police were then linked to the NSW Police Force Youth Strategy 2013-2017. Objective six of this Strategy relates to the NSW Police Force working effectively with young people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.

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A group of participants – Community Awareness of Policing Program (CAPP)

Taking part in the Community Awareness of Policing Program

A number of PMAC members participated in the Community Awareness of Policing Program (CAPP). The Program provides community leaders with a unique and unprecedented insight into policing in NSW.

CAPP participants are exposed to a range of policing units. They interact with police from constable to commander rank and through realistic exercises, are put in the shoes of these officers as they respond to public order incidents, investigate crime scenes, direct maritime search and rescue missions and face armed offenders.

Having participated in the CAPP, Council members are in a better position to communicate to communities, accurate information about the complexities of policing, decision making and challenges faced by officers on the job.

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Highlights for PMAC

Council members articulated the following as highlights of their two-year term:

• Being actively involved in the work of the Council “I felt I was doing something not just attending meetings”

• Youth consultations – holding them as well as the process of planning for them “We didn’t assume what young people wanted, we asked them”

• Having access to senior and specialist NSW Police Force officers, such as:

– Deputy Commissioner Nick Kaldas APM, Corporate Sponsor for Cultural Diversity

– Assistant Commissioner Mark Murdoch APM, Corporate Sponsor for Domestic and Family Violence

– Retired Assistant Commissioner Peter Dein APM, Commander, Counter Terrorism and Special Tactics Command

– Detective Superintendent Gavin Dengate, Corporate Sponsor for International Students

– Sergeant Geoff Steer, Bias Crimes Coordinator

“Having robust conversations and feeling listened to by Senior Officers”

“It’s a reflection on the changing culture of the police hierarchy that Council gets regular time with the Commissioner and the Deputy Commissioner”

• Sharing the expertise of Council members, such as Pino’s presentation on multicultural communications, Namhee checking translations for community information and assisting when we met with the Korean media about international students’ safety issues.

• Forming internal and external partnerships, such as Ken organising consultations in Southern region for community and police.

• Participating and assisting in recruitment panels for MCLOs and understanding the needs of the Local Area Commands.

• Sharing information with communities “I could give accurate information to communities”

• Being stimulated though PMAC caucus meetings, debating, sharing and promoting issues

• Having clarity about the role of Council members, and

• Working and supporting one another behind the scenes.

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Police articulated the following as highlights from having attending Council meetings:

• Becoming aware of the issues and concerns of the community and taking this awareness back to other police

• Building relationships with the community and an enhanced understanding of the community’s experiences

• Seeing Council members as empowered community members who can speak with authority

• MCLO representatives providing a link between the PMAC and the MCLOs

• Learning about issues and the opportunity for robust two-way discussions

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Key issues for 2013-2015

In its first year Council raised issues for communities grouped under four key areas:

POLICE CAPACITY BUILDING

• Skills, knowledge and support to equip frontline police

• Making engagement with young people more effective

• Cross cultural communication with communities – being able to listen

• Application of diversity on the ground – evidenced through how police understand and talk about diversity, how communities understand police

RAISING COMMUNITY AWARENESS

• Are incidents of bias worth reporting?

• What can citizens do when confronted with public incidents (e.g. of racial vilification)?

• Visibility of police (more police on the street)

• Police response times

• Promoting good practice by police

• Contacting the police – how?

POLICY

• Use of ethnicity based descriptors

• Diversity in recruitment

• Use of language/terminology consistent with principles of multiculturalism

SERVICE DELIVERY

• Asylum seekers, students, temporary migrants – what are their vulnerabilities, are we informed about their needs, tackling mistrust of police

• Police capacity to undertake community engagement

• Public confidence in feedback mechanisms

• Who listens to reports of incidents of harassment/bias?

• Being aware of “gate keepers” in the community, drawing on information from a range of sources and relationships

• Being alert to flashpoints for overseas events, proactive networking in advance

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Jeremy Jones (AM), Violet Roumeliotis, Tia Roko, Pino Miglioriono, Shobha Sharma and Deputy Commissioner Kaldas (in the background)

In its second year, the Council worked through challenging issues relating to national and international concerns. The National Terrorism Public Alert levels were raised from medium to high in September 2014. This had an immediate effect on policing. Search operations conducted by the Australian Federal Police with the assistance of the NSW Police Force involved more than 800 police officers, with a perception arising in some communities that police could have used a less rigorous response.

The radicalisation of some people in Australia and their decision to travel to the Middle East to take part in conflict in that region caused grave concerns to their families and communities.

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Consequently, PMAC members focussed increasingly on these issues in the last quarter of 2014, particularly on community engagement strategies. A number of PMAC members undertook high level involvement and engagement with communities. For example:

Dr Jamal Rifi regularly presented issues in the media and provided support to the police executive. Dr Rifi also worked closely with Muslim communities, with his efforts revolving around concerns over young people leaving Australia to take part in conflict in the Middle East region, providing support to families who were victims of such events.

A website was developed to improve Muslim and non-Muslim community relationships. Public events were held such as a ‘great big BBQ’, to encourage public interaction.

Mr Joe Wakim, in his capacity as a newspaper columnist wrote opinion pieces for mainstream media that are cognisant of the importance of police and community relationship building. He initiated a joint press release by Arab faith leaders both Christian and Muslim, denouncing current attacks by the IS and showing solidarity across faiths. Reference to this press release was made by Prime Minister in his address to the United Nations. Mr Wakim also assisted in developing a media strategy to respond to a verbal attack at a Catholic Maronite school. He also facilitated meetings with parents at the school and encouraged the Church to work closely with police.

Reflecting on the operation of the first two year term of Council, members made the following observations arising from their participation in the PMAC:

• Continuous and clear communication to and from police and communities

• Police awareness of and capacity to deal with inter and intra community tensions

• Police awareness of the importance of good communication with communities and ongoing consultation with PMAC by the NSW Police Force in this process

• Opportunities to provide and receive honest feedback by Council members and members of the police executive

• Opportunities to work with police to develop positive strategies arising from public order incidents in Hyde Park in 2012 and the ongoing arrest and charging of alleged gang members involved in public place shootings

• Opportunities to reflect on, analyse and learn from incidents and events successfully handled by the NSW Police Force

• An enhanced understanding of police strategies on topics such as recruitment, diversity training and community engagement

• A more integrated approach at PMAC encompassing Bias Crimes, International Students, Crime Prevention, Counter Terrorism, and other relevant issues, where appropriate

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Launch of Community Relations Report 2013 – Deputy Commissioner of Police Nick Kaldas APM, Mr Hakan Harman, CEO of the CRC, The Hon. Victor Dominello MP, Minister for Citizenship and Communities, Commissioner Andrew Scipione APM, Commissioner of Police

Ideas to improve the future work of PMAC

• Greater and more frequent utilisation of the expertise of Council members

• More communication between Council meetings and sub-committee work

• Acknowledging and showcasing best practice models of work by Local Area Commands

• Exploring a ‘portal’ for PMAC where information can be shared

• Inclusion in the Commissioner’s briefings to community leaders pre and post incidents

• Succession planning for PMAC and promoting Council by bringing young people from the communities represented by Council members to Council meetings

• Council members and MCLOs being seen working together in the community more often

• Professional development and guest presenters on topics such as the psychology of radicalisation

• Development of strategies and resources to assist Council to engage with and provide information to other communities not yet represented by current membership

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PMAC members after a meeting

Where to for PMAC in 2015-17?

Council members expressed a willingness and desire to extend their input from being responsive to community events to undertaking visionary planning that could be integrated into the corporate planning process for the NSW Police Force.

Areas of work for 2015 – 2017 are to include:

• A continued focus on policing and youth issues

• A particular emphasis on issues of youth radicalisation

• The co-design of anti-family violence messaging to diverse communities

• A continued focus on effective policing of family and domestic violence in culturally and linguistically diverse communities

• The development of pathways for sustained community engagement

• Ways in which Council can improve community confidence and security

• Strengthening the media and communication strategies of the NSW Police Force to ensure a wider reach to diverse communities

• Strategies for the PMAC to maintain awareness of changes to relevant legislation, including changes to penalties for offences of particular sensitivity to some communities

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A meeting of PMAC with the Commissioner of Police and the Corporate Sponsor for Cultural Diversity

A Note of Thanks

The NSW Police Force thanks PMAC members for their valuable contribution to culturally and linguistically responsive policing in New South Wales. We recognise their efforts; the time they put in assisting to build strong relations between communities and police and in building police capacity to serve the community.

Working together makes us stronger, particularly in challenging times. This was evident during the siege event in Sydney in December 2014. Regular liaison with the Council helped the NSW Police Force ensure that the content and delivery of its messages to the community were both appropriate and relevant.

The NSW Police Force is committed to working with the Council to continually raise the level of our service delivery to multicultural communities and to enhance our ability to listen and respond to those communities.

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Police Multicultural Advisory CouncilPMAC

Reflections 2013-2015

OPERATIONALPROGRAMS