00:00Growing up as a Gomeroi teenager in northern NSW, Steve Bartholomew said he regularly experienced
00:09racism from local police.
00:11The police have turned up pretty much nearly every night and asked us not to be out of
00:16our pockets.
00:17He joined the NSW Police Force in 2014 as part of its Indigenous Recruitment Program,
00:22hoping to help change the culture.
00:25I believe I was just used as a poster boy just to promote the police.
00:29Mr Bartholomew says the force was far from the culturally safe workplace he was promised.
00:35It goes from the highest ranks down to the lowest ranks in the co-ops of racism.
00:40So I believe it's a racist organisation and they'll say, oh we've done cultural awareness
00:44training.
00:45It's a load of garbage.
00:47He said the discrimination was also directed at members of the public.
00:51Their racial profiling is out of control and that's why I believe incarceration rates are
00:57as high as they are.
00:58Mr Bartholomew said the toxic culture contributed to his severe PTSD, anxiety and depression.
01:05He said the catalyst for his decision to leave the force was a conversation he overheard
01:10between other officers during NAIDOC week.
01:13They started talking about letting all the blackfellas drink it out and fight until the
01:21death and the last one gets shot as a prize.
01:24Working with these people, we are a moment to trust them and their views on my people
01:28are that we all should be dead.
01:30Mr Bartholomew is now suing NSW police for racial discrimination and neglecting his mental
01:36health.
01:37And he's not alone.
01:39Another Indigenous officer has also called in the lawyers.
01:42She can't be identified but wanted to go public with what she witnessed in her short time
01:47at an inner Sydney station in 2022.
01:51I seem to be part of ordinary business, day-to-day business in the police force.
02:00The officer made formal complaints about the racist language used by her fellow officers
02:05during patrols, including saying they were just harassing Aboriginals because someone
02:11has to do it and referring to the Aboriginal Legal Service as the Abo Army.
02:17Another officer she worked with has since been charged with assaulting an Aboriginal
02:21woman during an arrest.
02:24All officers involved remain on the force.
02:27I think it lifts the veil on some explanation for the over-representation of Aboriginal
02:33and Torres Strait Islander people in the criminal justice system.
02:37Commissioner Karen Webb said in a statement,
02:39There is absolutely no place for racism or discrimination of any kind in the NSW police
02:44force.
02:45We have put significant resources into ensuring we provide an equal opportunity workplace
02:50for all staff.
02:52Both officers hope to participate in the cultural review recently announced by the Commissioner
02:57as a result of our ABC investigation.
03:00I just want something positive to come out of a negative experience.
03:06They believe the entire force needs an overhaul.
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