Sydney’s Lord Mayor Concerned About Heavy-handed Police Presence At WorldPride 2022
Sydney Lord Mayor, Clover Moore has revealed she has concerns about visitors to Sydney WorldPride in February being faced with “a wall of drug-sniffer dogs” and “heavy-handed policing”, reports Sydney Morning Herald. WorldPride will draw thousands of people to Sydney, where policing is often criticised by the LGBTQIA+ community, and there are fears that many visitors will be intimidated by authorities.
SYDNEY’S PLAN FOR BETTER POLICING
The LGBTQIA+ community has a long history of tenuous relations with authorities that linger to this day. Many queer people report that being faced with police presence at Pride events can be intimidating despite their purpose being to protect event-goers.
“People feel really quite intimidated if a uniformed police officer comes through a bar with a dog to check people out, and I’d like to think we’re not going to see that sort of thing happening,” says Mayor Clover Moore.
Ms Moore has been responsible for policies that aim to soften policing while maintaining harm minimisation strategies. Examples can be seen in the implementation of safe injection centres and the reforming of heavy-handed policing, reports Sydney Morning Herald.
“We’re going to be welcoming people to WorldPride, not welcoming them with a line-up of police, frankly, which is not what we’re about,” says Ms Moore.
Policing bodies are working closely with WorldPride organisers to ensure that events are safe and fun for all in attendance.
