The Sydney protest that led to a record number of complaints against police

A record 800-plus complaints were received over the way NSW Police handled Sydney’s anti-Herzog protest, as the watchdog described the organisation as obstructive and overly defensive.

The Law Enforcement Conduct Commission’s Chief Commissioner Peter Johnson, SC, appeared before a parliamentary committee hearing on Friday advocating for greater powers to obtain documents from police to prevent delays in crucial misconduct investigations.

Allegations of police heavy-handedness at the February protest against visiting Israeli President Isaac Herzog led to the largest volume of complaints received by the LECC on a single issue. The watchdog is investigating the use of force by police on the night, and will consider future improvements in police responses to protests.

Johnson told the committee the LECC needs simpler and stronger powers to avoid costly delays to investigations.

“Accessing information from the NSW Police Force remains difficult and unfortunately, there is often an overly defensive approach taken to the commission’s requests,” he said.

“I have to say, in an area where there are two public agencies and where there would be an expectation in the community of an open approach, it is difficult to understand why the at-times very technical, and in our view erroneous, approach is taken on a range of issues.”

Johnson’s comments were directed generally to the attitude of police, rather than specifically about co-operation on any specific inquiry.

When asked by Greens MP Sue Higginson if he believed there was an ingrained cultural attitude towards this defensiveness inside the police force, Johnson said the culture was at least part of the explanation.

Tensions between NSW Police and the LECC over the handing over of documents made it to the NSW Court of Appeal in 2024, when the police refused to hand over its manual on the use of “less lethal” measures following the death of a woman who was shot by a bean-bag round. The court ruled in favour of disclosure.

LECC Inspector Bruce McClintock, SC, told the committee hearing the watchdog can only work effectively if there is co-operation from police.

“It will lead to dysfunction if there is an adversarial relationship,” he said.

The watchdog is poring over hours of video evidence from protesters, police bodycam, and from CCTV cameras from around Town Hall before holding public hearings, which will take place no earlier than September, the commissioner said.

Multiple protesters were arrested for a range of offences, from refusing to comply with a move-on direction to assaulting officers. Police are now reviewing all charges laid in connection with the protest after the government’s Public Assembly Restriction Declaration law, passed following the Bondi attack, was struck out by the courts after protesters successfully argues it was unconstitutional.

“Pending a review, police would drop charges laid under the public assembly restriction declaration law,” NSW Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon told the ABC.

Police have so far withdrawn charges against at least one protester.

NSW Police was contacted for comment.

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