Redfern LAC Commander Catherine Burn Update

There are two items I would like to let you know about. They may be of interest to your readers:

 

Firstly, it is with the deepest sadness that I have to announce that I will be finishing as the Commander, Redfern Local Area Command in early December. I have been promoted to Assistant Commissioner and will take up a position in the Police Executive in December.  My 14 months at Redfern have been the highlight of my 22 year police career. The police at Redfern are enthusiastic, dedicated and hard working. I have never worked with a better bunch of cops.  The community is one of the best. It is dynamic, interested, and committed. I have met so many good people during my time at Redfern that it would not be fair to only name a few. Suffice to say that I thoroughly enjoyed working with each and every group, agency, community member, program, and service. I would particularly like to thank the members of the Redfern Aboriginal community. I am a far better person because of what I have learned from many Aboriginal people over the last 14 months. My daily walks around the Block and other areas in Redfern have given me a greater understanding of so many troubling issues but have also given me a greater hope that we can move forward and achieve positive change. 

 

During my time at Redfern I have led the Command into one of its better periods. Crime, particularly robbery and drugs, is substantially lower than when I first started there, as is anti-social behaviour and attacks on police. This has been achieved through a combination of targeted, intelligence-led policing as well as working effectively with the community to identify those who commit crime, and acting swiftly.  Through the Local Area Command Aboriginal Consultative Committee (LACACC) we have been working toward achieving two goals for 2006: reducing the incidence of family violence and breaking down the barriers between police and Aboriginal people. I believe we have achieved some positive steps in both areas including the formation of a Domestic Violence Team at Redfern, the implementation of a 10 point action plan which includes priorities such as improving our investigative response to domestic assault and improving the way we manage victims. We have also tried very hard to overcome some of the obstacles that have traditionally been present between police and Aboriginal people through such programs as the Youth Mentor Program, Oz Tag, Horse Whispering, sea skills, community BBQs and a whole range of other activities. I will always remember with great fondness my trip to the State of Origin with the kids on our Youth Mentor Program. They are great kids who have experienced more trauma in their short lives than most of us have ever, or will ever, experience. Throughout my time I have also pushed for Redfern Police to be more responsive and open to the community and I believe that we have also achieved progress in this direction. I will miss Redfern immensely. I could have quite happily remained as Commander for several years but it was not to be.

 

Secondly,  Between the 26th and 30th of November, New Zealand Police is holding its annual Ngakia Kia Puawai Conference in Wellington. The theme of this year's conference is 'Effective Interventions.'  The conference will be opened by the New Zealand Prime Minister and Police Commissioner. There will be representatives from several countries around the world who will be giving presentations on policing and Indigenous communities. I have been invited to address the conference on Redfern post the riot in February 2004 and to discuss some of the things that may have worked and what has been achieved. The New Zealand organisers also requested that a member of the Indigenous community in Redfern be invited to address the conference and to discuss some of the traditional problems between police and the Aboriginal community and some of the things that are working now. I am pleased to say that Dixie Gordon will be accompanying me to New Zealand to speak frankly about these issues and to also give a presentation on the extremely successful Blackout Violence project. If you are interested I am happy to provide more information and let you know how the conference goes, what we learned and what we can do to work on effective interventions.

 

Thank you for all your hard work and your continued contributions to the community.