The police watchdog should not do its work behind closed doors

Read the original at The Sydney Morning Herald ↗
Cite

View, T. H. (2026, October 19). The police watchdog should not do its work behind closed doors. The Sydney Morning Herald. https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/the-police-watchdog-should-not-do-its-work-behind-closed-doors-20261019-p616p9.html?ref=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=rss_feed

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

The Sydney Morning Herald · collected 2026-10-19 · by The Herald's View

Quick Summary

The Law Enforcement Conduct Commission (LECC) is set to begin private hearings into NSW Police's handling of a February protest against Israeli President Herzog, despite a large number of public complaints about police behavior during the event. Chief Commissioner Peter Johnson plans for most evidence to be heard in secret, citing concerns over social cohesion, but the article argues that transparency is crucial for maintaining public trust and confidence in law enforcement. A record 800-plus complaints have been filed regarding the protest handling, underscoring significant public interest in how the LECC's inquiry proceeds.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-19, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

The Law Enforcement Conduct Commission (LECC) has launched an inquiry into a February 9 protest against Israeli President Isaac Herzog's visit to Sydney, focusing on alleged police brutality and misuse of pepper spray. The commission reported that protesters were "largely peaceful" with limited evidence of physical violence from their side. Key areas under investigation include the use of OC spray by police and allegations of excessive force. Senior NSW Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon led a critical briefing at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) on the day of the protest, where no formal notes were taken or slides shown, leading to inconsistencies in witnesses' recollections.

The LECC inquiry will continue for five weeks with private hearings involving junior police officers who were on duty during the chaotic event. Critics argue that these closed-door sessions could undermine public trust and transparency in the investigation process. The commission is also examining how policing decisions were made and communicated, as well as the decision to prevent a protest march. Counsel assisting the LECC, Kirsten Edwards SC, stated that the inquiry will not be a corruption probe but rather an effort to improve police responses to future protests.

Written for “Police Inquiry Into Protest Handling” on 2026-10-19, grounded in this article and the 2 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The article's own words the score was based on. Each is quoted verbatim and was checked against the article text before being stored, so you can find it in the original.
Reading Leans left (beta estimate) Confidence high
Leaning: leans left for article 90040 (high confidence, 3 verified quotes) · logged 2026-10-19

Story

📰 Police Inquiry Into Protest Handling
Crime & Law · 3 article(s) covering the same event. See how they differ ↓

Compared with similar articles

This article reads leans left and hedges 18% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
‘Limited evidence’ of protester violence at Sydney demonstration against Israeli president Isaac Herzog visit same event · 95%
The Guardian
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 7% hedged 2 of 30 📰 publisher trust 67
“Both articles discuss the same Sydney protest against Israeli president Isaac Herzog's visit, mentioning an inquiry by the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission into police conduct at the rally.”
Commissioner’s SCG briefing, police miscommunications in spotlight at Town Hall protest inquiry different event · 80%
The Sydney Morning Herald
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 21% hedged 5 of 24 📰 publisher trust 61
“The articles discuss the same high-profile protest and inquiry, but Article A focuses on a specific briefing about the incident while Article B discusses the principle of open justice in relation to the overall inquiry process.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
22
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
18%
4 of 22 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
Leans left
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Publisher signals
61/100
The Sydney Morning Herald's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
3
Crime & Law
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-19 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

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Running correction rate · 11 correction(s)
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Who wrote this

The Herald's View
21 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 Instead, the opening address given on Monday will be the only public element of the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission’s inquiry before it embarks on five weeks of private hearings with junior police on the frontline as the February 9 protest descended into chaos.
2026-10-19 · assertive framing · The police watchdog should not do its work behind closed doors
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Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 21 articles by The Herald's View →

Topics

Israeli LECC NSW Police PIC the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission’s

Subjects

LECC ORG · 6× NSW Police ORG · 3× Edwards PERSON · 2× PIC ORG · 2× Isaac Herzog PERSON · 1× Israeli NORP · 1× Kirsten Edwards PERSON · 1× Peter Johnson PERSON · 1× Sydney GPE · 1× the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission’s ORG · 1×

Narrative

Instead, the opening address given on Monday will be the only public element of the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission’s inquiry before it embarks on five weeks of private hearings with junior police on the frontline as the February 9 protest descended into chaos.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-19
🔮 Instead, the opening address given on Monday will be the only public element of the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission’s inquiry before it embarks on five weeks of private hearings with junior police on the frontline as the February 9 protest descended into chaos.
2026-10-19 · The Sydney Morning Herald
The police watchdog should not do its work behind closed doors · assertive framing

Claims (22 extracted, 4 hedged)

The principle of open justice is important to maintaining confidence in our justice system. asserted
principle → maintain → system
Justice should not only be done, but be seen to be done. asserted
Justice → do → ?
The same principle should be applied to the state’s police watchdog, particularly when it is probing an event as high-profile and politically charged as February’s protest against visiting Israeli president Isaac Herzog. asserted
it → apply → Herzog
Instead, the opening address given on Monday will be the only public element of the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission’s inquiry before it embarks on five weeks of private hearings with junior police on the frontline as the February 9 protest descended into chaos. asserted
protest → give → chaos
The LECC is investigating the use of force by NSW Police while dispersing protesters. asserted
LECC → investigate → protesters
According to opening submissions from counsel assisting Kirsten Edwards, SC, it will also probe the deployment of capsicum spray on crowds that included elderly people, and the way policing decisions were made and communicated. uncertain
decisions → accord → people
Edwards said in her statement that Operation Makalu is not a corruption inquiry, and the commission would work collaboratively with police on any recommendations needed to improve the way they respond to protest events. asserted
they → say → events
“This is not an exercise in retrospective blame for its own sake,” Edwards said. asserted
Edwards → say → sake
Senior officers will give public evidence in the weeks to come. asserted
officers → give → weeks
However, LECC Chief Commissioner Peter Johnson, SC, has decided that police witnesses up to the rank of inspector would not be identified during proceedings, in part because of his view that conducting the hearing entirely in public could have a negative impact on social cohesion in Sydney. uncertain
conducting → decide → Sydney
While there is no doubt social cohesion has been frayed since the Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023, the Herald believes it is not aided by shielding police from public scrutiny. asserted
it → be → scrutiny
There may be reasonable examples of when the LECC should hear evidence in camera, such as if it relates to classified information. uncertain
it → hear → information
However, beyond evidence that could have serious and legitimate national security implications, the hearings should not be behind closed doors. uncertain
hearings → have → doors
A record 800-plus complaints were lodged over the way NSW Police handled the anti-Herzog protests. asserted
Police → lodge → protests
There is significant public interest in the events of February 9 and whether the police handled that difficult event appropriately. asserted
police → be → event
NSW Police today is a vastly different organisation than the one hauled before the Wood royal commission in the mid-1990s, which found systemic and entrenched corruption in parts of the force. asserted
which → haul → force
That hugely damaging inquiry resulted in the creation of the Police Integrity Commission (PIC), which has since been replaced by the LECC. asserted
which → result → LECC
Both the PIC and now the LECC have been crucial in ensuring the public, and police, know that the NSW Police Force will never again be above reproach. asserted
Force → ensure → reproach
Thirty years on from the royal commission, the public must continue to have confidence in its police force. asserted
public → continue → force
The LECC plays a key role in maintaining that trust. asserted
LECC → play → trust
Transparency and fairness, through open hearings, are crucial to this, and the public should have full access to Operation Makalu. asserted
public → have → Makalu
Get a weekly wrap of views that will challenge, champion and inform your own. asserted
that → get → own
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