NOONGAR FAMILY FEARFUL AFTER REPEATED POLICE RAIDS

BY GERARD MAZZA

Footage seen by Ngaarda Media shows police officers in the home of Renata Miller and her family. Credit: Supplied.

A Ballardong Noongar woman has said her children were left frightened and anxious after her family’s Hilton home was raided by police multiple times.

Police have said the searches were justified as part of an investigation into a ‘high harm’ suspect.

Renata Miller’s home was searched by police on the evening of March 6, while she, her husband and five children aged between 11 and 17 were at the house.

Ngaarda Media has seen video footage showing at least four police officers inside the home.

Ms Miller alleged police did not knock or make themselves known before entering, but simply entered the house through the front door before beginning to search.

“I was asleep and manitj [police] woke me up, standing around shouting a person’s name,” she said.

Ms Miller said police entered her daughter’s closed room without knocking while the thirteen-year-old was not fully dressed.

Ms Miller said this was the third time the house had been raided within two weeks as police searched for a male relative of hers as part of their investigations.

Two weeks prior to the most recent raid, the relative, his partner and their children had stayed at the house for three nights, as they had nowhere else to stay, according to Ms Miller. She said she was not aware police were looking for the individual and had not seen him since he left the house.

“He doesn’t live at this address,” she said. “We told them he [had been] here, but he doesn’t live here. We said to them, why do you keep coming to our house when you know he’s not here?”

A WA Police Force spokesperson said the officers had reasonable suspicion a ‘high harm’ suspect being sought for arrest was inside the house, a circumstance in which there is no need for police to obtain a search warrant.

“In this instance officers identified themselves to the occupants, explained who they were looking for and maintained a professional interaction with the occupants present at the time,” they said.

“Upon establishing the person they were seeking was not present, officers left the residence.

“On occasions, officers will attend the same residence on multiple occasions, especially where the Suspect has strong connections to the residence or the residents, or where there is information to suggest they have returned to the same property.”

Ms Miller said police were “never apologetic and never had a discussion.”

“They just walked through the house like they owned it; like we were real bad criminals,” she said.

“I don’t have a record. My husband’s never been to prison. I’ve never been to prison. So they made us feel really uncomfortable.”

Ms Miller said her children were frightened of police after this and other incidents.

“They don’t like the police at all, because they don’t protect and serve,” she said.

“They fear these Indigenous kids. I witness what they do to these kids.”

“The kids are scared to walk the street, most of the time. They walk in a big group just so they feel safe sometimes, or make me and my husband walk with them, or ring us constantly to tell us where they are so they feel safe.”

“They don’t like to be walking around because they get picked on by everyone and then the police are always getting called. They discriminate them. They’ve been through it plenty of times.”

Ballardong Noongar man and Deputy Chairman of the Deaths in Custody WA Watch Committee Desmond Blurton said Aboriginal people are regularly discriminated against by police.

“Our young people are traumatised,” he said.

“They get traumatised when they come into contact with the police and the thug tactics they use.

“That then affects our old people, who get drawn into the issue because of family matters.”

Ms Miller said police could undertake home searches in a more culturally appropriate way.

“When they come to Aboriginal homes, they should come with an Aboriginal male and an Aboriginal female,” she said.