A paddy wagon has been removed from a NAIDOC event after complaints of “shameful” behaviour by police liaison officers accused of letting kids pretend to be criminals.
A local claimed officers were “throwing black kids in the paddy wagon for fun” at the event in Brisbane’s south on Wednesday, with children reportedly taking turns pretending to be police and criminals.
The vehicle was eventually removed from the Inala gathering after a member of the public complained.
Inala resident Chelsea Watego – a professor of Indigenous health at Queensland University of Technology – posted a picture on social media of a paddy wagon with its back door open.
“So this is what the qldpolice think is an appropriate activity at the NAIDOC Week family fun day in Inala – throwing Black kids in the paddy wagon for fun … and even more tragically, it was the police liaison officers who ran this ‘activity’,” she posted.
“These positions were introduced as a direct result of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody as a measure for reducing the hyper incarceration of Blackfullas and now here they (are) facilitating the normalisation of it.
“This is absolutely shameful and disrespectful to our community, many of which have lost loved ones in custody and who continue to fight for justice for our people.”
She told the ABC that Queensland Police did not have a marquee at the event and instead backed up the paddy wagon.
Ms Watego said kids took turns pretending to be officers and “cosplay as criminals”.
Police said officers had been invited to the family day and had a vehicle on display as part of a “hands-on” experience.
It said the use of police property had been approved for community engagement.
A liaison officer immediately removed the vehicle from the event after a community member expressed concerns about kids using it, police said.
“Further discussions around this event have since been had with relevant local community stakeholders,” a police spokesperson said.
“The QPS takes community feedback seriously and will ensure it is incorporated in planning for next year’s event.”
Queensland has the most children behind bars in the country, a Child Death Review Board report said in March.
First Nations children are significantly over-represented, with 64 per cent of 10-to-17-year-olds under youth justice supervision and 66 per cent in detention identified as Indigenous in 2021-22.
The report said Indigenous kids aged 10-17 are 21 times more likely than non-Indigenous juveniles to be under youth justice supervision and 23 times more likely to be in detention than their non-Indigenous people in Queensland.
