Police overreach or political influence? Either way, the ‘Fixated Persons’ unit got it wrong arresting Friendlyjordies’ producer
The Fixated Persons Investigations Unit was set up in NSW to target potentially violent lone-wolf offenders. By arresting a YouTube producer, it's overstepped its mark.
In 2017, the NSW Police Force created a special section, the Fixated Persons Investigations Unit (FPIU). Its remit, as advertised, was to plug a growing and scary gap in policing: lone-wolf violent (or potentially violent) offenders who have been showing signs of dangerous extremism but fall short of the threshold for terrorism.
The target market, we were told, were the (mostly) men we traditionally refer to as “crazies”. Individuals who have become obsessed with a single mad idea, a group in society or another person, and who are at risk of turning that obsession into acts of violence. An example might have been the man whose actions were part of the reason for the unit’s creation: Man Haron Monis, the Lindt cafe gunman.
Two years after its formation, the FPIU had reportedly completed more than 100 investigations, charged 40 people and seized 31 firearms. It was, we were told, working well and achieving its purpose. Mostly below the public radar, manning the wall that enables us to sleep.
No argument with that, provided the unit operates within the law and does not fall into one of the two obviously tempting traps that lie always open when law enforcement expands its traditional reach. The first trap is that of taking on extrajudicial function — judge, jury and executioner. The second is that of being co-opted by government for political purposes
Vice …: “Thousands of protesters are filling the streets of American cities to protest the police killing of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, and police brutality writ large. Police officers have shown they’re more than willing to escalate violence with pepper spray, tear gas, rubber bullets, vehicles, and other dangerous crowd suppression measures. In addition, law enforcement are likely heavily surveilling protests with all sorts of tech and spying gear. Already, we’ve seen a Customs and Border patrol drone flying over Minneapolis protests. It’s not just the cops that protesters need to worry about: when much of a protest is broadcast via tweets, viral video clips, and livestreams, those watching may also want to digitally target protesters, perhaps by identifying them publicly. So, if you’re a peaceful protester, but you don’t necessarily want your participation in a demonstration to follow you around or lead to harassment online, what sort of steps can you take around your digital security?…”
How to Delete Your Personal Data From Public Record Websites
Make Use Of: “When someone searches for your name, they can find a lot of information about you. Sometimes, these will be things that you want to be found—like links to your personal website or Twitter account. But in worse cases, they can discover your phone number or where you live. Fortunately, there is a way to get this information taken down. In this article, we’ll show you how to remove information from public records…” [Note – it is not possible to remove all or even most of the data available about yourself that is purchased, sold an traded online.]
