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An investigation into police officers who removed their name badges during the Saturday 8th APEC protest have been cleared, citing the badges compromised the safety of the officers as they could be used against them. This is despite protesters claiming that many of the officers wore badges attached with velcro. The clearing comes after public criticism that name tags were removed so that the officers could not be identified.

Human Rights Monitors member Dale Mills took over 200 photographs [2] of officers with removed name badges. The Sydney Morning Herald [2] reports that a video clip taken by Drew Bowie has one officer saying "It's one of the policies the bosses have this week".

I find the explanation given by officers to be false, deliberately misleading, and illogical. There are a number of reasons this:

1. It would be extremely difficult to remove a name tag during a scuffle with a strong, well-equipped officer.
2. The pins in the name tag would have to be bent 90 degrees in order to be used as a stabbing weapon. This could not happen during a scuffle.
3. If the pins were on a hinge, they would need to be rotated out 90 degrees and held at that angle. This highly dexterous task could not be achieved during a scuffle.
4. Removing an officer's pin would be just as difficult as unclipping and removing any of the officer's other weapons. It would illogical for a protester to go for such an ineffective weapon
5. The pin metal is too weak and prone to bending to be an effective weapon
6. There are far more dangerous implements that could be used as weapons: rocks, rings, protester poster sticks.
7. Officers were not searching protesters, as indicated by officers being hit by darts and an iron bar. If the use of weapons was a concern, protesters would have been more carefully inspected.
8. If this was a valid concern, police badges used in normal street duties would have been replaced with velcro substitutes prior to this. The long-standing practise of retention security on police belts indicates this policy.

Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione originally stated that "There are times when officers might lose those badges in a scuffle." However, as the protests were largely peaceful, it became apparent that this could not be the case for so many officers. The linked video is soft and of low-quality. It would need to undergo forensic video analysis for it to be taken seriously.

Today I attended the largest of the anti-APEC protest rallies to hit the streets of Sydney. Estimates of attendees [2] have been put between 3,000 to 10,000, with 6,000 being the most likely number.
 

Not Happy John - mums and dads on the streets of Sydney

The march was peaceful and virtually without incident. Marching from Town Hall down to Hyde Park, the procession was slow but boisterous. The protesters were comprised mainly of students, and mums and dads, standing in stark contrast to the police force that was on display. During the walk I kept flicking my gaze skyward, running my eyes across the rooftops looking for snipers and spotters, as has been reported. More than once I noticed people looking down at us. When they saw me looking, they quickly popped back out of sight. It was a comforting thought knowing that there were probably a half-dozen high-powered sniper rifles aimed at us at any one time.

The police message was clear: intimidation through overwhelming force. Police put the protest numbers at 3,000 while stating their own force numbered at 3,500. Their demeanour was cold, unhelpful, and overtly dismissive - most likely under orders not to engage with protesters in order to maintain the tangible power distinction. As the protest moved down George Street, an enormous convoy of police consisting riot trucks, attack dogs, the expensive new water cannon, and rows of riot police formed behind us.

Show of force 

The Chaser's War on Everything stars Chas Licciardello and executive producer Julian Morrow have been detained by police after staging a fake motorcade through Sydney during APEC.  Using the motorcade, the crew were able to penetrate the security zone surrounding the Intercontinential hotel where President George W. Bush is staying.

The pair had been detained but not charged over the incident. The fake convoy had been dressed to mimic the official Canadia, though Chris Taylor stated there was no particular motivation for this decision. The Chaser stars have a history of trouble with the police, much to the delight of their audience.

An Australian man has gone on a rampage in inner Sydney, smashing over mobile phone towers, relay sheds and an electrical substation in a privately owned armoured personnel carrier. This is the funniest thing I have seen today.

Today the Australian 'Do Not Call' Registry came on-line. The registry was put in place to allow people to opt-out of receiving Australian-based telemarketing calls. You can register your fixed line and mobile numbers at www.donotcall.gov.au. Here's an article providing some background information on the scheme.

At around 1:50pm today, Australian racing legend Peter Brock was killed in a motor racing accident in Western Australia. Driving a silver Daytona Coupe, Brock's co-driver Mick Hone, survived the incident.

It's been a tragic week for Australia with loss three luminaries: Steve Irwin, Colin Thiele, and now Peter Brock. I have enormous respect for each of these individuals; all were deeply passionate about their pursuits, and each helped progress very worthy humanitarian and educational causes. It is however very disappointing to see the near total neglect in the discussion of Colin and his achievements by the commercial media; a rather sad indicator of how much Australian culture values sport and crazy cultural icons over education.

Australian comedian Chas Licciardello, one of the stars on the ABC comedy program The Chaser's War on Everything has plead not guilty to the charge of offensive public behaviour in court today. Last month Chas filmed a skit in which he sold "Bulldog supporter kits" containing fake weapons outside a Bulldog's match; a response to supporter violence earlier in the year. You can watch the scene in question at YouTube. The Sydney Morning Herald also has more information on the incident when it first occurred.

Appearing in court with Chas was his girlfriend and The Chaser's executive producer Julian Morrow. When reporters asked Morrow why he appeared, he replied "to make sure the legal fees don't get too high."

Chas also appeared on JJJ briefly this afternoon at 5:20pm, making light of the situation. While the court has been adjourned until September (misreported as October by ABC news), he was expectant of a good result; as Andrew Hansen noted, Chas shouldn't worry as they've "managed to get the lawyer who got the Canterbury Bulldogs people off the rape allegations."