Have Australians Turned on the Police?

I was in the Police for a short time, and being a police officer can be a thankless job. However, police also have the job of keeping the public onside. You don’t want the people you’re sworn to protect hating you. It makes your job very difficult. In this video, I’ll show you some public comments related to a recent event where police officers in Queensland lost their lives.

On the 12 December 2022, four police officers went to a rural property in Queensland’s Western Downs about three hours west of Brisbane to investigate reports of a missing person and were met with a hail of gunfire. Sources likened the scene to an ambush. Police returned fire, but two officers were critically injured and died at the scene. They were Constable Matthew Arnold, aged 29, and Constable Rachel McCrow, aged 26. The slain officers were shot at close range by armed men wearing camouflage who subsequently took the officers’ pistols. Neighbour Alan Dare was also shot down and killed by the armed offenders. Two officers managed to escape. The male officer suffered a gunshot wound and was taking to Chinchilla Hospital. The female officer managed to escape after the offenders reportedly started a bushfire in a bid to find her. Specialist police officers responded shooting dead two men and a female. The two men killed in the firefight were brothers Nathaniel and Gareth Train. Nathaniel, 46, was a former Queensland school principal.

Queensland Police Union President Ian Leavers stated, “As they lay injured, this ruthless, murderous trio, have gone and executed the two police officers on the ground in cold blood. This was a pure execution... they had no chance. This murderous trio lit a fire to try and coax [the female officer] out. If she stood up, she would be shot. She thought she would either be shot, or she would be burnt alive. This is absolutely horrendous. Our thoughts are also with police who bravely contained and managed the subsequent operation that has now resulted in the deaths of all the offenders. We have never seen anything like this. It is an absolute tragedy.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese responded on Twitter, “Terrible scenes and a heartbreaking day for the families and friends of the Queensland Police officers who have lost their lives in the line of duty. My condolences to all who are grieving tonight – Australia mourns with you”. Of course, there were some mournful comments as expected: “Very sad day for Police in QLD in fact worldwide. They deserve to come home after work”, “It is unforgivable that our beautiful, innocent young men go to work and do not come home. What happened to Australia's GUN LAWS that John Howard introduced?”. However, many of the comments, perhaps the majority of them, were quite negative (noting that this is not me endorsing these comments): “Nobody would care if it were Victorian police. They are the most hated thugs and the line is getting thinner. They chose to stand under a [clears throat] and broke their oath”, “I don’t see you put out a tweet for people like Danny Lim Who receive police brutality which happens nearly every week somewhere in Australia”, noting that 78-year-old activist Danny Lim had failed to comply with a move-on order in NSW a few weeks ago, and was brutally arrested which left him in hospital with bleeding on the brain and now requires two canes to walk. “Yes terrible scenes. Sadly with governments and police treating society with total disrespect over the last 3 years creating the biggest mental health crisis ever seen, situations like these are to be expected and now you have cut funding which will make matters worse”, “Ask Defence lawyers and victims of police brutality how many bad police there are who do the wrong things first before you shred a tear for these lot”.

Most news agencies don’t allow comments on their channels, but Sky News do, noting that anybody from around the world, not just Australians, can leave a comment: “Why are they only mentioning the police that were killed? Doesn't the innocent civilian deserve condolences too?”, “Hollow words from our two-faced leaders. Never have these hypocrites ever considered the Police. Where was Anastasia’s care (the Premier of Queensland) when forcing these brave people to undertake an inoculation to keep their jobs? It is sad what has happened, but the police are far too heavy handed these days”, “What happened to the fun days of beating up peaceful lockdown protesters? Oh well. You get what you bring”.

Anyway, you get the idea. They’re just some of the comments that are filling up our comments sections regarding police in Australia. I’m definitely not saying I condone any of it (I know people in the Police Service). This tragic loss of life is completely horrible and unnecessary. However, police have seriously got to ask the question – Have Australians turned on the Police?

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