June 2000 Volume 81 Number 6 "serving the protectors"
By Andy Dunn

Two-Way Tolerance

The new SAPOL handbook, A Practical Reference to Religious Diversity for Operational Police, was hailed as a success at its launch last month.

It outlined key doctrine from five non-Christian faiths, and was reported to be designed to “help prevent officers inadvertently causing offence during stressful situations” (The Advertiser, May 18, 2000).

If the book helps operational police better perform their duty, then it is not only praiseworthy, but also deserving of Police Association support.

But do we as a community, and SAPOL as an employer, have the mix right. It seems all very well to make police au fait with the intricacies of others’ faiths, cultures and belief systems. But where, for those others, is the reciprocal education in the police role in Australian society?

The Advertiser article detailed the book’s advice on the death rituals of Buddhists, Hindus, Jews, Sikhs and Muslims. Three of these faiths, according to the article, deplore, or at least avoid, autopsies. This advice will no doubt be invaluable to and used by police officers.

But do members of those faiths understand and appreciate that the law - in cases of death for which causes are unknown - imposes exacting responsibilities upon police officers? Those responsibilities may conflict with some religious dogma, but this calls for two-way tolerance.

Police officers are naturally cognizant and respectful of others’ faiths, cultures and practices. But others must understand that police have obligations, too, which must be fulfilled according to law.

Police are not empowered to compromise the law on religious, cultural or ethnic bases. If compromise is what some seek, they must look toward law makers, not law enforcers.

True tolerance and effective, two-way communication will exist when all groups in society can be heard to say: “...and we understand the police have a job to do, too.”

Remember Families

The entire Australian police community breathed a sigh of relief when it was reported that three Brisbane officers had survived a vicious shooting attack last month.

One officer, Constable Sharnelle Cole, was shot eight times, sustained 11 wounds (from bullets that exited and re-entered her body) and has since undergone several operations. With rare courage, she is now forging ahead and has already vowed to return to the streets.

It is, of course, essential to provide officers such as these with unceasing police and public support. But also vital - as the Police Journal Editorial has previously highlighted - is consideration and care for injured officers’ families.

To leave their equally devastating pain unaddressed is to fail the injured officers.

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