CABRAMATTA YOUTH INTIMIDATED BY ADDITIONAL POLICE POWERS

Young people who attended a Cabramatta Youth Forum on police powers yesterday expressed concerns that they were being unreasonably "moved on" by police.

The Forum was organised by Fairfield Councillor Thang Ngo to seek the views of young people in relation to sweeping new police powers, which will be passed by state parliament next week.

"Some young people who attended the forum alleged that police in Cabramatta hassled young people in particular" said Cr Ngo.

"This comes mostly in the form of moving them on even though they were lawfully congregating in a public place with friends.

"They also alleged that the police officers sometimes do not wear ID badges, making it harder for them to lodge complaints".

It was clear that young people didn’t know their rights in these cases according to Cr Ngo.

Two areas of consensus that came out of the Forum was a need for the government to educate young people about their rights under the law and for police to also be made aware of their powers.

"Many young people felt that police were not keeping up with legislative changes and tended to misinterpret or misuse their powers" said Cr Ngo.