Shooting the messenger

Local filmmaker Cate McQuillen is appalled by comments from a Lismore-based police officer who suggested protesters at the Doubleduke State Forest should be shot.

Ms McQuillen was in the forest last Friday with a group of four other people filming a project for the UN’s International Year of the Tree in 2011. As they were driving along Glencoe Road they came across a police vehicle driving the other way and stopped alongside it.

“They told us they were looking for protestors who were lost and they were concerned for their well being because they didn’t have water or shoes on, and they were thinking they would have to mount a rescue operation for them,” she said. “Then he asked if we were locals and I said we were and that if we saw them we’d give them a lift and some water. Then he said ‘you can shoot them if you like’.”

Ms McQuillen said there was a stunned silence.

“He was trying to be funny, but his humour fell flat. I was really shocked and a bit taken aback. All I could manage was ‘I don’t think we will be doing that’.”

She said the biggest concern about the incident was that there was a nine-year-old girl in the car.

“Kids see the police as keeping the law... and that they are there to look after and protect you. The comment just came out of left field. I felt it was most inappropriate that a police person should be speaking like that, even as a joke.”

Ms McQuillen rang Lismore Police Station to complain and said she hoped there would be some sort of apology. She also rang Lismore MP Thomas George, who said he would raise it at his next meeting with the police.

“I hope the police investigate and see whether this is an isolated incident or whether there is a bigger problem about the perception of protestors. If that’s the case, if it is bigger than just one officer, I hope there would be some training about valuing the community and how to communicate with the community,” she said. “They should leave their personal opinions aside and represent the force they work for.”

Inspector Mick Dempsey, the acting duty officer when Ms McQuillen called, told The Echo that the officer involved was not on duty this week.

“It was an off-the-cuff comment that was inappropriate and he will be spoken to when he returns to duty,” he said.