Legal chatbot to combat police misconduct launched

A Victorian-based CLC, legal tech start-up and SME firm have collaborated on a bot to give voice to victims of police misconduct.

Jerome Doraisamy • 12 March 2020 • NewLaw

In what is being heralded as an “Australian first”, Flemington Flemington Kensington Community Legal Centre, Josef and Robinson Gill have teamed up to launch “Police Complaints”, a legal bot which will enable users to converse with a bot which will then automatically draft a letter of complaint with all required information, including how and where to send a complaint so as to get a desired outcome.

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The bot has been launched following the making of thousands of complaints in Victoria last year to the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (IBAC) and other institutions about police corruption and misconduct.

In a joint statement, Flemington Kensington CLC, Josef and Robinson Gill said that the process for making such complaints has been “often complex, inaccessible and confusing”, but now, such victims will have an automated tool “to help them seek justice”.

Speaking about the launched bot, Robinson Gill principal of the firm police misconduct team said: “Clients repeatedly tell us of their enormous frustrations with being able to lodge a complaint regarding an interaction with Victoria Police.”

“We are stuck with the current complaint system until Daniel Andrews acts and gives IBAC the necessary powers and resources it needs. In the meantime, this website is designed to alleviate some of those frustrations,” he said.

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Flemington Kensington CLC executive officer Anthony Kelly added: “When a person takes the time and effort to lodge a formal complaint, they create an opportunity for reform of systemic failures in police practices.”

“The onus remains on the Victorian government not to waste this opportunity and to make sure the police complaints system works for all Victorians. This is our contribution to that effort,” he submitted.

Sam Flynn, co-founder and COO of Josef (pictured) supported this, saying that for too many people, the law is inaccessible.

“More than half of those who face a legal problem in Australia never get assistance. We started Josef so that we could use cutting-edge technology to leverage the expertise of people like Jeremy King and Anthony Kelly, making legal services accessible to everyone, no matter who you are,” he said.

Jerome Doraisamy

Jerome Doraisamy is the managing editor of Lawyers Weekly and HR Leader. He is also the author of The Wellness Doctrines book series, an admitted solicitor in New South Wales, and a board director of the Minds Count Foundation.

You can email Jerome at: jerome.doraisamy@momentummedia.com.au

Anonymous Thursday, 12 March 2020

Anonymous wrote:
This app still doesn’t resolve the ongoing problem with VicPol’s complete indifference to public accountability. That has to come from the Minister and the Parliament, starting with the dismissal of CCP Ashton and more than half of his executive.

The RCMPI and the recent Bourke Street Inquest demonstrate the lengths to which VicPol will go to hide it’s misbehaviour and corruption from the public gaze. Current and former senior officers lying to the Royal Commission. Senior Officers deliberately withholding relevant evidence from the inquest, only to be caught out when rank and file tell the truth in the witness box.

The fish rots starting at the head. VicPol needs an overarching Royal Commission, not just one into an historic informant program. Having an app help you write a letter of complaint about a constable is of questionable use when the agency is corrupt at the top and is likely to ignore your complaint anyway. And IBAC is an untrustworthy paper tiger. In the Inflation Nightclub shooting, it lied about overseeing a non-existent investigation into the police involved and then tried to get the court to reinforce its lies.

Victoria has taken over the title of the most corrupt state in the nation. An app is merely tinkering at the edges. The only viable solution is the minister immediately purge the executive suite at the VPC, and the premier appoint a multi-commissioner RC into VicPol and IBAC with adequate resourcing.

1
Anonymous Thursday, 12 March 2020

It's time criminal activity by the Crown and her agencies was addressed.

3
Anonymous Thursday, 12 March 2020

This app still doesn’t resolve the ongoing problem with VicPol’s complete indifference to public accountability. That has to come from the Minister and the Parliament, starting with the dismissal of CCP Ashton and more than half of his executive.

The RCMPI and the recent Bourke Street Inquest demonstrate the lengths to which VicPol will go to hide it’s misbehaviour and corruption from the public gaze. Current and former senior officers lying to the Royal Commission. Senior Officers deliberately withholding relevant evidence from the inquest, only to be caught out when rank and file tell the truth in the witness box.

The fish rots starting at the head. VicPol needs an overarching Royal Commission, not just one into an historic informant program. Having an app help you write a letter of complaint about a constable is of questionable use when the agency is corrupt at the top and is likely to ignore your complaint anyway. And IBAC is an untrustworthy paper tiger. In the Inflation Nightclub shooting, it lied about overseeing a non-existent investigation into the police involved and then tried to get the court to reinforce its lies.

Victoria has taken over the title of the most corrupt state in the nation. An app is merely tinkering at the edges. The only viable solution is the minister immediately purge the executive suite at the VPC, and the premier appoint a multi-commissioner RC into VicPol and IBAC with adequate resourcing.

2

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