NSW Police given broad powers to remove facial coverings - Polidicks

[quote] [b] POLICE will be given powers to force people to remove facial coverings if they are suspected of committing a crime, the Premier, Barry O'Farrell, has said.[/b] NSW Muslim organisations have largely welcomed the new laws, but civil libertarians have criticised them for giving unnecessary powers to police. Mr O'Farrell announced late yesterday that cabinet had approved laws allowing police to direct people to remove coverings, including veils and motorcycle helmets, if they had reasonable grounds for suspecting breaches of security may occur, or breaches of the law had occurred. [IMG]http://images.smh.com.au/2011/07/04/2471998/ipad-art-wide-pg1-muslim-420x0.jpg[/IMG] The laws come after the high-profile case of the Muslim woman Carnita Matthews, who successfully appealed against her conviction for falsely accusing a police officer of trying to rip off her veil. The judge found there was not enough evidence Mrs Matthews had made the statutory declaration accusing the officer. The Islamic Council of NSW and the the Lebanese Muslim Association supported the laws. [B]The chairman of the council, Khaled Sukkarieh, said there was nothing in the Koran or the Hadith saying women should not remove facial coverings for identification if a crime was suspected. [/B]''It's got to be done sensitively but we trust our police officers," he said. Mariam Veiszadeh, a solicitor and Muslim who wears a hijab, said the laws were fair if they only applied to the face for identification purposes, and not to hair. But Stephen Blanks, the secretary of the NSW Council for Civil Liberties, said the government had not provided any information indicating how often facial coverings had hindered police investigations. "This is a knee-jerk reaction to a situation that has got a lot of publicity," he said. [b]He said the bigger problem in the case of Mrs Matthews was that police had not properly recorded the identity of the person making the complaint, nor her apparent earlier refusal to remove her face covering. [/quote] [URL]http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/police-given-broad-powers-to-remove-facial-coverings-20110704-1gzer.html[/URL] This is kinda causing a fuss over here. Basically Police can now remove facial coverings (burqas) if they suspect of commiting a crime. I honestly see nothing wrong with this. It's not like they're stripping you down + giving you a cavity search on the middle of the street. Some people are going to freak out about racism but this isn't in the same league as the stuff France did a while back. Funnily enough, the majority of complains come not from Muslims but Libertarians :rolleyes:

The thing is. What if it's a protest?

Who knew libertarians were Muslim fundamentalists?

We have laws like this in the UK, aimed at allowing the police to remove helmets (and those guy fawks masks). I had never given thought to the law being used to removed burqa's etc. This sort of law (IMO) is needed, but I can see why its causing a bit of fuss.

The 'NSW' title confused me for a second, I thought it was a typo for 'NSFW'.

I'm against Burqas and any kind of veil, but I can see this getting easily abused. Any officer who just doesn't like Muslims could easily harass them over this, especially if these people are just minding their own business.

Religious people are so touchy..

[QUOTE=TAU!;30907795]I'm against Burqas and any kind of veil, but I can see this getting easily abused. Any officer who just doesn't like Muslims could easily harass them over this, especially if these people are just minding their own business.[/QUOTE] They could also harrass them by hitting them with a baton / putting them in handcuffs/ tackling them. I don't think removing a facemask is really an issue

[QUOTE=TAU!;30907795]I'm against Burqas and any kind of veil, but I can see this getting easily abused.[/QUOTE] have fun getting sand in your hair lol

[QUOTE=TAU!;30907795]I'm against Burqas and any kind of veil, but I can see this getting easily abused. Any officer who just doesn't like Muslims could easily harass them over this, especially if these people are just minding their own business.[/QUOTE] But there's thousands of other ways they could possibly harass them. You shouldn't bring wild possibilities into things, a police officer [B]might[/B] harass a Muslim by insulting them. Should be sew up the mouths of all police officers to prevent it?

I'm not surprised Libertarians would be up in arms about this, a lot of them tend to be incognito anarchists. There's a difference between just covering your face or whatever, and covering it while committing a crime, for the purpose of evading the law.

I think it's more of anonymity thing than anything else. Though I suppose it doesn't matter when you're getting arrested.

[QUOTE=Novistador;30907963]I'm not surprised Libertarians would be up in arms about this, [B]a lot of them tend to be incognito anarchists.[/B][/QUOTE] lmao

[QUOTE=Novistador;30907963]I'm not surprised Libertarians would be up in arms about this, a lot of them tend to be incognito anarchists. [/QUOTE] do you even know what libertarianism or anarchism are

I hope this helps them identify criminals.

NO MODS NO MASTERS

[quote]The judge found there was not enough evidence Mrs Matthews had made the statutory declaration accusing the officer.[/quote] Wow, has no one picked up on this? There was not enough evidence she had made a statutory declaration accusing the officer? It's a fucking stat dec, they tend to be kind of declarative, and not particularly vague. The only legitimate way that there wouldn't be enough evidence, is if someone had gone and burned the original and all copies in existence, electronic and otherwise.

[QUOTE=TAU!;30907795]I'm against Burqas and any kind of veil, but I can see this getting easily abused. Any officer who just doesn't like Muslims could easily harass them over this, especially if these people are just minding their own business.[/QUOTE] Cops who are going to abuse their power will do it anyways, with or without this power.

dont see how thats bad, it applies to any type of facial cover

They should of had the power to do this in the first place. Glad to see the Muslim community is happy with this as well.

I don't agree what happened in France, but agree with this.

France should do the same. [editline]5th July 2011[/editline] But they're to xenophobic.

I agree with the muslims here, I'm fine with it as long as it's done respectfully, and not just torn off or someshit.

-retarded post snip-

Why do I keep misreading "NSW" and "NSFW"

[QUOTE=Laserbeams;30910890]I should be able to wear whatever the fuck I want, this law sucks.[/QUOTE] Please read the OP again before making another post, it's about people who are suspected CRIMINALS, they can't just go up to a random person and do it, they have to have reason to suspect them of a crime.

[QUOTE=Crimor;30910923]Please read the OP again before making another post, it's about people who are suspected CRIMINALS, they can't just go up to a random person and do it, they have to have reason to suspect them of a crime.[/QUOTE] I should really learn to fucking read. Sorry.

Seems better than Frances policy of ban everything that isn't of French origin.

[QUOTE=Lonestriper;30907703]Who knew libertarians were Muslim fundamentalists?[/QUOTE] I'm a Libertarian, and I think this is perfectly acceptable if done correctly.

[QUOTE=JLea;30907834]They could also harrass them by hitting them with a baton / putting them in handcuffs/ tackling them. I don't think removing a facemask is really an issue[/QUOTE] I don't think physical harassment is comparable to what he's trying to say.