NSW Police: Don’t forget the many good among the bad and shameful

6 hours ago 3

The unforgettable footage of NSW Police Inspector Amy Scott running towards danger that April Saturday afternoon last year at Bondi Junction is a reminder of the “Sacred Trust” that encapsulates the high standards of conduct and ethical responsibility expected of the NSW Police Force.

And at those moments of bereavement, injury, natural disaster and personal terror, many of us have experienced that trust first-hand, as police restore order and calm, help the human spirit endure and give meaning to life even amid death, horror and personal loss.

And then there are Timothy John Trautsch and Nathan Black.

The two former NSW Police officers assaulted, kicked, stomped on and capsicum-sprayed a naked, mentally unwell woman in a Western Sydney street before one of them sent body-worn camera clips to a colleague. The woman suffered from schizophrenia and had been released hours earlier from the nearby Amber Laurel women’s prison in January 2023.

The pair have pleaded guilty to violently assaulting her, and details of their brutal attack only became public after the Herald and other news outlets launched a legal bid to reveal their misconduct. Police claimed body-worn and CCTV footage should be suppressed for 60 years to protect the woman from further trauma.

They left the force, but their behaviour only adds to the shadow that has fallen over NSW Police of late, courtesy of the actions of serving officers.

Former NSW policeman Kristian White was found guilty of manslaughter by a NSW Supreme Court jury last November.

Kristian White, a former police officer responsible for the taser death of 95-year-old Clare Nowland at a Cooma aged-care facility in May 2023, was found guilty of manslaughter by a NSW Supreme Court jury last November and sentenced to a two-year community correction order. Former officer Beau Lamarre-Condon has spent more than a year in prison awaiting trial after allegedly using his service-issued Glock pistol to shoot former partner Jesse Baird, a television presenter with whom he had allegedly become fixated, and Qantas flight attendant Luke Davies, inside a Paddington terrace in February 2024. And former senior constable Jonathan Charles Bettles admitted to repeatedly assaulting his former partner and pleaded guilty to 14 charges, including five counts of common assault, six of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, two of destroying or damaging property and one of perverting the course of justice.

Police often get bad press that can erode public trust and undermine the legitimacy of the force. Occasional headlines about death by Taser or police corrupt behaviour underscore the regrettable reality that members of the NSW Police serve the public within a paradox – a community that at times condemns them yet needs them in its most desperate hour.

Scott’s disciplined actions at Bondi Junction 15 months ago are an exemplar of courage under pressure.

The pity is that the police who do the hard yards and selflessly serve the community with loyalty and honour are shamed by association with the bad behaviour of their colleagues. But their fates are also a reminder that scrutiny and accountability await miscreants.

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