People found innocent in court are fully exonerated, and should be treated that way, CLA's Rex Widerstrom says. With the hideous offence of sexual assault of children, it is better to focus more resources on programs to prevent the crime rather than to concentrate on police task force investigation after the event, he says.

Full story »

In spite of immensely powerful criminal laws, police always lobby for 'tougher laws' and 'steeper penalties' whenever a nasty crime hits the headlines, even when crime is rapidly falling, says Dr Buck Emberg. They should just get on with it, he says, and deliver simple law and order to the people who pay their salaries.

Full story »

Terry Briscoe died in custody in Alice Springs early in 2012. Police say he fell and hit his head, soon after dying of cardiac arrest. People arrested with him allege police officers bashed him. CLA doesn't know which is correct, but we do know that both police and the NT justice system are on trial in this case. CLA believes interstate police should be called in to assist the coroner's investigation, rather than NT police investigating their own.  Here is an open letter from the dead man's uncle to the Chief Minister of the NT.

...and NT Police Association chief Vince Kelly has penned an impassioned letter about Aborigines in the NT, in which he defends his police officers and asserts there was no bashing.

Full story »

"Giving police the power to ask a driver to remove their face covering or veil is a reasonable response to a legitimate public concern," Civil Liberties Australia director and media spokesperson, Tim Vines, said.

Full story »

How come many hundreds of personnel carrying weapons, some who almost certainly have committed crimes under international law, can enter Australia without Customs or security questioning, Humphrey McQueen asked in a speech outside Parliament House during the US President's visit? In truth, there's a wide range of Americans we would welcome to this country, historically or currently, but it doesn't include members of the Obama Gang, he told the audience.

Full story »

The Editor, The Age: Community expectations of law and order can be sensibly met if Tamar Hopkin`s advice in her article 'Police searches need new profile' (8/11) is heeded. As is explained, racial profiling by police – stopping and searching individuals because of their race – is counter-productive as it leads to distrust of the police and feelings of alienation by those apprehended. Her call for the police to issue a receipt when they stop someone (as is done in Britain) is on the right track, that will compel them to show just cause for doing so, leading to a greater transparency of police procedures and so reducing any likelihood of unwarranted harassment by those charged to uphold the law and respect people`s rights.


– Keith McEwan, CLA member, Castlemaine, Victoria

Professional photographers working on the streets of Australia claim they are frequently harassed by police, who try to stop them doing their job. But Bernard Keane and Crikey found Australia's police were themselves – officially – laid back about being filmed in public, and quite aware of both pro and amateur photographers' freedom-to-film rights.

Full story »