AAP – Indigenous communities across Australia could be trained to expose police harassment with mobile phones and social media if a human rights group’s plan succeeds.
The Copwatch project will provide human rights lawyers and journalists to teach indigenous communities how to film and share interactions with police and authority figures.
Sydney-based National Justice Project is developing the program as a response to complaints of over-policing in indigenous communities.
Sixteen Aboriginal communities in NSW’s central west will put their hand up for Copwatch if it gets off the ground.
Chair of the Murdi Paaka Regional Assembly Des Jones – whose organisation represents 16 communities – says he wants to put the experiences Aboriginal people have with police in front of human rights watchdogs.
A spokesperson for NSW police says they respect the rights of citizens to film in a public place.
