Image by AAP, from ABC News
Dear Premier Daniel Andrews,
Imagine calling the police because someone was having a heart attack. You wouldn’t. You’d do first aid and call an ambulance.
We need to keep this logic in mind when responding to the detection of COVID19 cases in the Flemington, Kensington, and North Melbourne social housing buildings. If we’re going to attempt to prevent a health issue from getting worse, we need to design a holistic health response.
We need a more caring response, not a more controlling response.
Just because the response needs to happen quickly, and just because the potential harm of not acting is high, it does not mean we need 500 police to arrive at people’s homes unannounced.
I’m sure a number of others have already expressed to you why police are not the right match for this job. I trust you understand that people living in these buildings may experience racism, surveillance, and/or violence by police. Experiences of brutality from authorities may have occurred in Australia and/or overseas. We can deliver health responses in caring ways that do not cause alarm, miscommunication, trauma, or violence.
We need to prepare an alternative response so we’re ready for the next time it’s needed.
500 workers, representing all languages required, could reach 3000 residents in a matter of hours. What would these workers do? Perhaps from the hall, to keep a safe distance, they’d let the residents know that the virus has been detected in the building. They’d share personal protective equipment, share information about the virus and how it’s spread if that was needed, and have a conversation about the specific challenges this might bring up for people so specific needs could be met. Strangers in masks knocking at your door wanting to talk is not ideal - but compared to what we’ve seen - immediate lockdowns, poor communication, and high police presence - it does seem preferable. Of course this response would be complimented by the rent relief you’ve announced, COVID19 testing, delivery of food and supplies, and ongoing cleaning - all possible without police.
Do we have 500 workers standing by for this type of action? Perhaps we didn’t this time. Could this be a possibility next time? Could they be on-call? They could be social workers, but I don’t necessarily mean professionals who’ve managed to navigate university degrees - I mean people who care. People without guns, cuffs, and pepper spray. Many community members would raise their hand to take this role, myself included.
We know that restricting people’s rights (like movement and self-determination) in order to ensure other rights (like health) are upheld is dangerous territory. Today, people inside the buildings have listed their demands; among them, they want to maintain their right to movement and they want to get tested for COVID - without police presence in their homes or at testing sites.
I am writing to echo these demands, and to encourage you to consider an alternative to the police in similar future scenarios. It is not acceptable that those most negatively affected by economic inequality lose the most rights during this pandemic. There will be other similar situations in our future. Prepare now so the next response can be better.
Sincerely,
Nathan Stoneham