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Police Officer Resigns Because She Doesn’t Want To Enforce The Law… breaking news…

Amazingly, several media outlets seemed to be sympathetic to a police officer who said that she was resigning because she didn’t like enforcing the laws in Victoria…

I think I should point out at this point that I’m a Victorian teacher who thinks that because of the pandemic and the possible need for students to be contacted urgently, the current mobile phone ban should be repealed… however, I’m not likely to be interviewed if I say that I’m resigning because I don’t like enforcing it. And I certainly wouldn’t be interviewed if I were to resign over the Morrison government’s inability to sign up to net zero.

But sure, a “senior police officer” resigning because she doesn’t like the fact that the police are too close to the government is big news.

Now, I can see that there needs to be a separation of powers under our Westminster system. Parliament makes the laws and the police enforce them. That’s an oversimplification but the basic idea is that you don’t want too close a relationship between the two arms or you can simply have a politician saying to the law enforcement agency, “Hey look, I know that the land deal I just did was technically against the law but if you just give me five minutes, I’ll introduce retrospective legislation that makes it completely legal.”

And, ignoring the Gladys stuff for one moment, the whole absurdity about what some have been saying about ICAC is that they seems to be a suggesting that it should be subject to the government and not allowed to investigate a government MP even if there’s obvious corrupt behaviour. If ICAC were restrained like that then they’d end up resembling the federal government’s proposed integrity body which bans looking at things retrospectively. This is slightly confusing to me, because it seems to suggest that it will only be able to look at crimes that haven’t been committed yet because once you’ve committed the crime, then any investigation would be retrospective… Perhaps, I misunderstood but with “Tricky” as our PM, who can be sure?

But back to the very important news that a senior police officer is resigning over the idea that the police are both too close to the Andrews government and simultaneously don’t want to enforce the restrictions…

I’m always big on framing. You know the sort of thing: When the media asks “Should Polly Titian resign over her mistake or is an apology enough?”, we end up talking about those two alternatives and completely overlook that it’s only a mistake in the eyes of the paper asking the question and everyone else was just fine with until the question was asked. So let’s take a moment to look at the framing:

Senior police officer – She was an acting Sergeant, which puts her somewhere between a Leading Senior Constable and and a senior sergeant, but below an inspector, a superintendent and commander. In other words calling her a “senior police officer” is true but only in the sense that a store manager at Woolworths could be called a senior executive at a grocery chain.

Then we have her decision to quit the job she said that she couldn’t be happier on a day to day basis because she didn’t want to enforce the draconian restrictions. Interesting. She was working in the Gender Equality and Inclusion Command in a non-operational role. I have trouble seeing that as something that would involve a lot of “scaring people in the community”.

And, bless her little cotton socks, she was also taking a stand against the mandatory vaccination of police officers.

Now, I have every respect for her decisions and I’d like to congratulate her for standing up for her beliefs and refusing to work for an organisation that’s contrary to her personal code. Good on her, well done, Angus and all that!

Her personal stand is not the issue in all this. I get back to the point I made at the beginning. If I resign over the federal government ignoring the Gonski report or any other such issue, the media will show about as much interest as I’d have listening to the budget speeches of 1977-1982.

So why is this promoted as a BIG THING?

I suspect it’s for the same reason that they present Anna Palaszczuk as having locked down Queensland when she’s only banned people from hotspots. I suspect it’s for the same reason that NSW is leading the way on Covid by having a massive outbreak and then getting it “under control” after getting the bulk of vaccines. I suspect this is why Morrison’s failure to get his recalcitrants to agree to even the goal of net zero is fine, but Fitzgibbon is an example of Labor disunity on the issue. And I suspect this is why a debt of less than $300 billion was reported as a budget emergency but a debt of nearly a trillion with no surpluses in sight is just a necessary thing.

“When you wake up to the fact
That your paper is Tory
Just remember, there are two sides to every story”

Billy Bragg

 

 

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51 comments

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  1. GL

    Rossleigh,

    If it involves any of the Labor states then the main sleaze meedja will be all over it like the LNP on a donation.

  2. Kate

    Rossleigh, there is a difference between a direction and a law. You are not alone in failing to understand this. The msm has it down to either the fine art of manipulating public perceptions or a blundering attempt to make sense of the world. Fact is, Acting Senior Sergeant Krystle Mitchell is facing an investigation by Victoria Police’s professional standards command after she quit the force over the state’s stringent COVID-19 directions.

  3. Howard Whitton

    Nice piece, Rossleigh. ‘Framing’ of meeja questions (and Polly Titian’s answers, and non-answers) is a necessary strategy for all citizens in a democratic society. But much worse than retrospective enabling legislation (may I suggest) is legislated secrecy or non-reviewability of government decisionmaking – see the recent decision in Collaery’s case. I recall the words of the speech made by the first President of the Senate at Federation: “Government will be of the people, for the people, and in sight of the people”. What happened to that lofty ideal?

  4. Phil Pryor

    Like everyone, I can do a few things and am not able to do a huge list of other possibilities, unless trained, qualified, practised, prepared. If I were ordered to fly a plane, even in an emergency, without the essentials, I would refuse, Most of us are not in a position to actively operate in medical, commercial, industrial, professional and licensed ways, beyond our position as defined in law. Decency would inform us not to listen to, believe in or obey the self appointed executive or loudmouth or dictatorial demanding dickhead, say, of the Alan Jucking-Fones or T Carlson types, nobodies with nothing relevant and no modesty or self restraint. Let anyone resign, but, orders, laws and regulations are old civilised cultural requirements. Obey yourself as you accept responsibilities and requirements, for the sake of us all. Otherwise, get out, stay out, shut up, clam down. There’s freedom, at the end of your decision…

  5. Mark

    Not sure what the real issue is here. Yes there is a difference between a Law and a Direction but “delegated legislation”, “secondary legislation”, “subordinate legislation” and/or “legislative instruments” are increasingly common these days for a whole variety of reasons that go beyond this discussion (I think.).

    But is that the issue of (readers’) concern here? The relative lack of transparency? Or is it the ‘direction(s)’ themselves?

    That all these (so-called lesser instruments – but still under the legislative umbrella) should be debated? (And not just tabled within a limited time-frame.)

    In a nutshell – please unpack for all the non-lawyers who are also readers (and not Victorians).

  6. A Commentaror

    The issue is newsworthy because there is a legitimate discussion about whether the Victorian police response has been proportional

  7. Clare De Mayo

    Thank you ‘A commentaror’ , that is indeed the issue. And this police woman is not content to ‘just follow orders’ when she feels that those orders are disproportionate, and she is no longer ‘serving the people’, which is indeed what her role is supposed to be. When the executive use law enforcement to suppress the public’s right to legitimate dissent and protest, with rubber bullets, then we are in dangerous territory indeed. Rossleigh’s ad hominem criticism of the women (she’s not really very senior, a bloody upstart more like) is really a very poor response to someone making a moral choice that has weighty personal consequences

  8. Mark

    Clare De Mayo – what particular order did the police officer in question find disproportionate? You know – the order (involving her) that caused her to make this difficult moral choice. (My understanding is that she was not personally involved. But do understand the desirability to engage in collective action.)

    Or is it the case HER primary motivation was related to her anti-vaxxer attitudes and values? (Context is usually important – is it not?) And she did make the conscious decision to go political via the media which always has consequences.

    Is it not the case that for anti-vaxxers, this service of the people comes from not being vaccinated? And encouraging (if not preventing) others from such vaccinations is considered highly moral as well?

    More info please – because many of us also seek the moral high ground.

  9. A Commentaror

    Does anyone believe the response of the Victorian police has been proportionate?
    I’m not at all sympathetic to the protests, but I’ve found some of the behaviour and actions of the police to be disturbing.
    I tend not to find heavy handed/brutal policing a subject of mirth and it is seriously missing the point to ridicule the woman involved

  10. skip

    Oh wow.

    The Pharma mob has no bribe that will tempt a sane person. Let alone coerce, force, deceive, and imprison. In violation of The Nuremberg Code (1947).

    Alexander Solzhenitsyn – Live not by lies:

    “And therein we find, neglected by us, the simplest, the most accessible key to our liberation: a personal nonparticipation in lies! Even if all is covered by lies, even if all is under their rule, let us resist in the smallest way: Let their rule hold not through me!“

    As Edward Bernays said in his book “Propaganda:”

    “If we understand the mechanism and motives of the group mind, it is now possible to control and regiment the masses according to our will without them knowing it.”

    Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have the exact measure of the injustice and wrong which will be imposed on them.

    Fredrick Douglass

  11. Phil Pryor

    Skip, thanks for your attempt/nonattempt to clear/cloud the issue for us, with facts/ nonfacts, random quotes, some connected/nonconnected argument/nonargument about everything/nothing relevant. It was most enthralling/boring and fills us with hope/dismay at all possible outcomes, perhaps.

  12. Mark

    A Commentaror – do you draw a distinction between police (used as a collective noun and embracing all) and some police? So far you have not drawn any distinction. Is that just an oversight?

    Seems important to me! (a person who is in favor of protests, generally speaking even if they might be counter-productive in some instances).

    If a police person has behaved badly then charges should be brought. If ALL (or even a majority) have over-stepped the mark, then the Police Commissioner should act. Or at least investigate. And if the PC doesn’t, then the Minister or even Andrews should relieve the PC of responsibility.

    Take into account that many see this virus as a war that has taken many lives (mainly elsewhere) and some people are somewhat fearful it may include them.

    And in war – involving life and death – the rules tend to change. Death is expected in war. Remind me – how many protestor deaths have been reported?

    As for ‘skip’ – seems he’s on a religious mission. Born again and all that.

  13. A Commentaror

    Last year Victoria had 3 times as many fines as NSW. We had a mother fined for teaching her daughter to drive, a delivery driver (shift worker) fined for washing his van at 1am. We had footage of a pregnant woman in her pajamas being handcuffed in her home in front of her children. There were so many examples of police seeking soft targets. This year we have outrageous and heavy handed policing of (ill informed) protests. It very disturbing. I’m old enough to have participated in protests decades ago. Back then there was a problem with the bullying culture of the Victorian police. It seems that the unsatisfactory culture has continued.
    And certainly it is newsworthy that it is an issue within the police, it is odd that anyone would ridicule the woman raising the subject

  14. Michael Taylor

    I must be missing something, because I don’t see how Rossleigh has ridiculed the police officer, but rather, has ridiculed the media.

  15. A Commentaror

    Fine… “Police Officer Resigns Because She Doesn’t Want To Enforce The Law…”
    …that’s trite
    “a “senior police officer” resigning because she doesn’t like the fact that the police are too close to the government is big news”
    …that’s diminishing the fact that it is important and in the public interest
    “Senior police officer – She was an acting Sergeant…”
    …that’s ridiculing the significant achievements of a woman in a tough male dominated occupation
    And the orientation/tone of the article is a distraction from the important fact that the Victorian police is full of dull bullies that failed the IQ test for the army
    The key issue is that the police have employed heavy handed, over the top, tactics, and that’s not a subject I find humorous

  16. GL

    Skip,

    “Every time you think you weaken the nation.”

    Moe to Curly in “Half Shot Shooters” 1936.

  17. Michael Taylor

    I think you missed my point.

    But we all interpret what we read differently. I accept and appreciate your views, but it’ll be a waste of your time and mine if we were to enter into a slanging match over it.

    My advantage is that I have a deeper understanding of the way Rossleigh’s mind works. I’ll leave it at that.

    Has been nice chatting to you.

  18. Michael Taylor

    GL, I’m being way off topic here, but my mother was a pen friend of Larry Fine (Larry from the Three Stooges) for many years. She visited him on her last trip to America shortly before he and my mother passed away. I still have a Christmas card Larry sent to her saying how excited he was to finally be meeting her.

    The photo below was taken at a fancy dress wheelchair parade of which she was his guest.

  19. Clare De Mayo

    Mark, here is a link regarding the police officer. The description goes as follows: ” Acting Senior Sergeant Krystle Mitchell is a sworn member of the Victoria Police in Australia. She has served Victorians for 16 years as a police officer including 6 years at Professional Standards Command – the division responsible for investigating police misconduct, corruption, discrimination and freedom of information, referring investigations to the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (IBAC) where appropriate.

    Acting Senior Sergeant Mitchell cites ethical conflicts as the reason for speaking publicly about conduct of Victoria Police officers, their Chief Commissioner – Shane Patton, their Minister – the Hon. Lisa Neville MP, and ultimately their Premier – the Hon. Daniel Andrews MP. She feels she can no longer remain silent with the division between police and community is growing, and totally ignored by the leadership of both the police and government.

    Despite a promise to focus on ‘Community Policing’ and ‘Back to Basics’ policing by Shane Patton, Acting Senior Sergeant Mitchell has witnessed the opposite trajectory during the Covid-19 pandemic and is reminding her colleagues that ultimately they will individually be held accountable for their actions, and are still subject to s 462A of the Crimes Act 1958 (Vic) which forbids the disproportionate use of force.

    She is also calling for Victoria Police to remain consistent to the values, ethics and decision making frameworks (such as SELF) that it used to demand of its members a mere 2 years ago.” SO, it doesn’t appear to be about any anti-vax position, but about police operating standards.

  20. GL

    Michael,

    That’s neat. You should frame it if you haven’t done so already. It also looks like he was a ham right up to the end. He was a pretty good violin player as well.

    I’m not in the least bit jea…grumble…lo…grumble…us.

  21. Fred

    Interesting dilemma – what do want from “employees or conscripts” in Govt “departments”. The Germans have found somebody who used to be a guard at one of the concentration/death “holocaust” camps and charged him with the usual. The expectation is that he should have refused to partake in the heinous goings on, which would have seen him shot for treason or refusing to obey an order. I’m not saying that there is no culpability, but it wasn’t the done thing back in the day to say no to “superiors” or manager.

    Yet it appears to be NOT OK to resign because of what a Police Officer found to be unacceptable in the force. While she may not be directly involved, if she knows that bad behavior, violence, overreach, whatever is occurring and is condoned or overlooked and feels there isn’t any real avenue of recourse then she is entitled to resign. (Police investigating police via internal review has and always will be problematic.)

    So what do we really want?

  22. Fred

    Clare De Mayo – Just read your post. Thanks. I’m on Krystal Mitchell’s side. The brutality of pepper spraying elderly protesters, attacking somebody from behind and slamming that person face down onto concrete floor, etc. etc. was seen by us Sydneysiders. Not a good advert for Victoria Police.

  23. Michael Taylor

    GL, that one was a photo of a photo.

    All of Mum’s letters from Larry have been lost to the years, but I’ve only recently found all her long-lost slides from her trips and I’ve bought a thingy that loads them onto a computer.

    It turns out that a lot of Mum’s relatives in the US were in the film industry. Don’t get too jealous, but she’s got Elvis’s autograph, had lunch with Lucille Ball, met Walter Pidgeon, was given the clippings of the editing of an episode of Ironside, had dinner with the owners in the house used in the Munsters, plus lots more.

    The photo of Larry above was taken at a nursing home for old actors. After I’ve downloaded all the slides I intend to send a copy of them to the nursing home.

    Larry, btw, seemed to be a bit of a political animal (from what I read in the letters many years ago). He also told Mum this bit of trivia: both Lucille Ball and Gregory Peck made their TV debuts on episodes of The Three Stooges.

    Anyway, I better stop hogging Rossleigh’s post.

    But … I do intend to write an article about my mother’s family, from their days as refugees to the days of wine and roses in Hollywood.

  24. Michael Taylor

    I’m generally very respectful of police officers and do not envy their jobs.

    But a word of warning: do not drive through Horsham displaying interstate number plates. They love nothing more than harassing you.

  25. Clare De Mayo

    Fred, I know what I want. I want every individual employee to recognise that they are still always ultimately responsible for their own moral choices and decisions. We must learn from history, and realise ‘just following orders’ is not a legitimate excuse for unethical behaviour, no matter what committments or contracts we enter into with our employers or governments. Was Nuremburg really for nothing? It should also school our governments, who should never ask of their employees any action which places them in a moral dilemma, having to choose between obedience to their employers or following their own conscience and the broader ethical frameworks of international human rights and justice.

  26. Fred

    Clare, so it is important that Krystal’s comments be evaluated, but given Vic Police and Lawyer X with no heads rolling, who will evaluate and what hope is there of any systemic change?

  27. Mark

    Then there’s this:

    Ms Mitchell has claimed to be the founder of a group of police officers opposed to mandatory vaccination of the force and before her resignation she was working in a non-operational role as part of the Gender Equality and Inclusion Command.

    https://www.sbs.com.au/news/victoria-police-sergeant-quits-over-enforcing-covid-19-public-health-orders/aaf7adf7-1535-404d-a7d2-d4d52421b380

    Is she as pure of heart as she suggests? Certainly she didn’t seem to face immediate problems.

    Looking at the bigger picture? Try this.

    This Is the Newest Front in Anti-Vaxxers’ War on Instagram Misinfo Controls

  28. Clare De Mayo

    Mark, I’ll just make one point here as it’s late. I think it is a gross error to conflate resistance to mandatory vaccination with a broader ‘anti-vax’ position. The two are absolutely not the same thing. Resistance to mandatory vaccination is absolutely supported by human rights legislation, and is not really a matter of science. please refer to this article https://www.abc.net.au/religion/human-rights-and-mandatory-covid-19-vaccinations/13577278?fbclid=IwAR2qbCHbcVcYC9lqreT_76M5rQa_YrEZPoMWKb018texUvhjFdARa_ke194

  29. wam

    I have had a good laugh at right wing police confronting right wing protesters but they did their job. As for this copper complaining about being too close to the left government. If she looked at the AFP over the last decade she will see political control in spades. Indeed from my perspective she would not be complaining in canberra I got this from a queensland lnp.
    “…You DO NOT have my consent to trap me in this country. To make me seek an “exemption” to leave. To decide where I must live my life. Is there any clearer sign that you have lost the consent of the governed than to force them to stay? How dare you masquerade as our saviours. Our behavioural masters. Our moral enforcers. Our life extenders. I do not want your “protection”. You have forgotten what you are. ‘Public servants’. Think about those words. Don’t twist them. Why don’t you let us be the judge of our own safety? Let those who wish to hide, hide? How dare you make these decisions on my behalf. You are destroying our lives in order to save them. You are no longer ‘public servants’. Instead, you demand the public’s obedience down the barrel of a gun. How have you become convinced that using force to prevent people from moving freely is anything other than criminal? You are destroying everything I love about this country: our bravery in the face of danger, solidarity between neighbours, the strength to muddle on, the freedom to come and go as we please. Let’s be clear: there are many who despise you. These are the ones you are trying to silence. These are the ones you are afraid of. They are growing in number and they are enraged by your conduct.”
    What selfish ignorant bullshit???
    ps Cynicism says if they want 100% police vaccination then make attendance at these rallies only for the vaccinated

  30. Max Gross

    Australia doesn’t have a Commonwealth government. It has a scam.

  31. A Commentaror

    No worries, good talking to you too

  32. Roswell

    Recently in America a hospital in one state (I think it was Texas, but don’t quote me) gave all staff two choices: get vaccinated or resign. Something like 15% resigned (don’t quote me on the exact percentage).

    Some people have a duty, and that includes police officers.

  33. GL

    Skip,

    You go first and then post a message here and let us know what you were reincarnated as because I believe in reincarnation as much as I believe in the magic bearded sky fairy.

  34. Roswell

    @ skip

    There’s nothing wrong with you that evolution won’t cure.

  35. skip

    @roswell

    Fine words, we wonder where you stole them.

    And gee whiz, you’re just a shiver looking for a spine to grovel down.

  36. GL

    Skip,

    Naughty, naughty, you stole “There’s nothing wrong with you that reincarnation won’t cure.” without attribution (it was Jack E. Leonard by the way) so “…we wonder where you stole them.” aimed at Roswell makes you a plagiarist. Roswell can possibly get away with his comment because it could be considered paraphrasing. So you might want to pull your head in.

  37. Roswell

    Well spotted, GL. I just didn’t take too kindly to the way he spoke to you and Phil. People should be able to comment here without being on the end of the vile degradation he revels in.

  38. Roswell

    I have deleted his comment.

  39. BB

    @Skip

    I must say I had a good laugh at Roswell’s quip. Most amusing and rather clever eh skip, lol.
    A search on Google reveals his words are not attributed to anybody, so not stolen.
    Of course though Google is not perfect, all knowing, so if you know where he stole, plagiarised from, please provide a link.

    You also write “we wonder……“.
    So who is “we”? Which group, or crowd are you referring to?
    What you mean is yourself, yes, and should have written “I wonder……”

    Whereas you, skip, have stolen, plagiarised, “A shiver, etc”…… Stolen the quote as you do not attribute them.
    You are a naughty boy/girl! (I’m not sure what gender your pseudonym is.)
    https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/gospel-of-insults-according-to-paul-20110724-1hvbb.html

    Have a nice evening skip… 😎

  40. BB

    Roswell, I didn’t see your comment on deleting skip before posting mine, I had been quietly writing it, then hit ‘post comment’
    Now don’t go deleting his shiver comment ok, it would leave my comment up in the air… lol..
    But seeing as your a moderator, I can’t argue…

    But I also found skip’s comments to you GL and to Phil, over the top.

  41. Mick

    Just another COVID zealot virtue signaling into an echo chamber, and poorly written. I am disappointed with myself for reading it to the end.

  42. Michael Taylor

    It always amuses me that when we lefties agree with each other we’re called an “echo chamber,” yet when the right agree with each other they congratulate themselves on reaching a consensus.

  43. GL

    Michael,

    Right wing “consensus” – Con sens(eless) us(eless)?

  44. BB

    Michael, the only consensus the “RW” reach with each other is how to rip the commonwealth off at mates rates…..
    Anything else is not possible as they are too busy backstabbing each other.

  45. skip

    Screen Shot 2021-10-11 at 1.05.19 am copy

  46. Brozza

    Clare and Fred, I find I’m agreeing with you if it’s true that acting Senior Sergeant Krystle Mitchell is resigning because she can’t countenance the Vic. gummint supported actions of the police against protestors, regardless of the actions of some of the protestors.
    Two wrongs don’t make a right.

  47. Michael Taylor

    skip, I’m not sure what you’re getting at.

    Is it a threat?

  48. GL

    skip,

    Please enlighten us as to “Screen Shot 2021-10-11 at 1.05.19 am copy” is all about otherwise it makes no sense at all.

  49. Josephus

    Well I don’t agree with some stupid law that makes me drive on the left or wear clothes outside in summer. Freeedom! My rights!
    Someone needs to explain to this woman about community rights to protection from stupidity… oh wait, we elect fools. Not really, because we have to choose often between equally substandard human beings.

  50. Michael Taylor

    I’ve followed this guy for years on Twitter because his replies to Trump’s tweets were sidesplitting. Yet he always made sense.

    He still does.

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