State government gives NSW police right to ban people from public places

NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione has announced new laws targeting organised crime gangs. 

Photo: Dallas Kilponen
 

Police will be able to ban people from public places and events without a judge's approval as part of a raft of anti-organised crime legislation proposed by the state government.

A bill unveiled by the state government on Tuesday aims to "cripple" organised crime groups by clamping down on their movements, associations and business dealings.

But critics warn the laws could lead to an overreach of police powers.

Deputy Premier and Justice Minister Troy Grant says the changes will make it "quicker and easier" for law enforcement to take action against gangs, including "bikies". Photo: Dallas Kilponen
 

Under the legislation police will be able to apply to judges for "crime prevention orders" that would stop people involved in serious criminal activity from activities such as using a phone or a computer.


The legislation would introduce "public safety orders" which will give senior police officers the power to ban a person deemed a risk to public safety from a public place or event for 72 hours, a right usually reserved for judges. Breaches of the orders will carry a maximum penalty of five years' imprisonment.

Deputy Premier and Justice Minister Troy Grant said the changes will make it "quicker and easier" for law enforcement to take action against gangs, including "bikies".

"My concern is in relation to the public safety, and not in relation to the sensibility of civil libertarians," Mr Grant said. "[This is a] significant step forward".

The bill introduces other measures including stricter penalties for laundering money or property, with increased sentences of between three and five years in prison if the crime is below or above $100,000. The current sentence is two years in prison.

Substitution orders would force criminals who use someone else's property to commit their crime, such as a car, to pay for damages to that property out of their own pocket.

NSW Greens MLC Jeremy Buckingham said the Greens were concerned that increased police powers may focus on legitimate activities.

"The Greens are very concerned Public Safety Orders can be easily misused by police to stop certain people from attending or taking part in protest activity, such as against coal seam gas or coal mining," Mr Buckingham told Fairfax Media.

The bill comes a week after controversial anti-mining protest laws were passed, putting some protesters at risk of massive fines and seven years' imprisonment for "interfering" with equipment on a mine site. Fines for trespassing were also increased significantly.

NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione said the legislation would enhance police powers to fight organised crime.

"The reality of this legislation means we'll be able to be flexible, we'll be able to be nimble in the way we go about those organised crime groups we target and we continue to target today," he said on Tuesday.

Last year Premier Mike Baird introduced similar legislation which allowed police officers, with the aid of the courts, to forbid people from "attending places they may commit a crime".

The NSW Police Association supported the announcement, saying gangs had a devastating impact on individuals, families, businesses and local communities.

"They are deceitful and unscrupulous in their pursuit of money, power or personal gratification through the harm of others – through dealing in drugs, money laundering, aggression and violence," President Scott Weber said.

"Hitting them where it hurts, namely their hip pocket means police can maximise opportunities to restrict and target serious crime. Taking away the assets of criminals also takes away their sense of power."

smh.com.au 22 Mar 2016

 

More 'Martial Law' type laws implemented on this penal colony, under a very plausible excuse.

 

As the rights of the masses erode, the people are too busy being addicted to watching reality television, right where the authorities want them to be.

 

Corrupt police WILL overuse their newly (unlawfully) given powers.

Scientists use maths to hunt for identity of elusive Banksy

A new artwork by Banksy opposite the French Embassy in London.

Staff writer and AP, News Corp Australia Network

 

 ELUSIVE street artist Banksy may have been unmasked — by mathematics. 

Scientists have applied a type of modelling used to track down criminals and map disease outbreaks to identify the graffiti artist, whose real name has never been confirmed.

The technique, known as geographic profiling, is used by police forces to narrow down lists of suspects by calculating from multiple crime sites where the offender most likely lives.

The researchers used the location of 140 Banksy artworks in London and Bristol, western England.

Writing in the Journal of Spatial Science, they said the artworks “are associated with sites linked to one prominent candidate” — Robin Gunningham, previously named in media reports as Banksy.

A spray paint work by Banksy is adjusted at Bonhams auction house in London.Source:AP

They said the study is not conclusive but “does provide some support for the theory that he is Banksy.”


Banksy’s spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment yesterday.

The artist’s satirical stencils — rats, kissing policemen, riot police with yellow smiley faces — first appeared on walls in Bristol before spreading to London and then around the world.

His works have fetched as much as $1.8 million at auction.

The researchers say their art-sleuthing “demonstrates the flexibility of geographic profiling.” Lead writer Steven Le Comber, a mathematical biologist at Queen Mary University of London, said the technique had uses beyond criminology, such as working out where epidemics start.

Banksy’s Rat Stencil 2002. 

Source: Supplied

He said that during a malaria outbreak in Cairo, “we found that if we used the addresses of people with malaria we could find the mosquitoes that were spreading the disease very easily.” Le Comber said the Banksy hunt suggested geographic profiling could even be used to track down terrorists before they commit an attack.

“Some terrorists will engage in graffiti, banner-posting and leafleting to establish their credibility,” Le Comber said.

A new mural by Bansky, which highlights the use of tear gas by French police against migrants, was quickly covered over in January after it appeared on a building opposite the French embassy in London.

The mural features the character Cosette from French author Victor Hugo’s classic novel Les Miserables, holding a French flag and crying as tear gas billows out of a canister below her.

news.com.au 5 Mar 2016

This technology is not only used to hunt for the illusive Banksy...

The store nerds who know everything about you

From supermarket aisle to mind bank.

 

A TRIP to the store isn’t the simple exercise it used to be. Every aisle layout, product placement and promotion has been pored over and meticulously arranged with you in mind. 

The retail nerds have been analysing your brain and they know more about you than ever before — whether you’re rich or poor, single or married, pregnant or a parent and even where you went to school.

“The more advanced companies in Australia are really stepping up in the neuromarketing and neuroscience area,” retail doctor Brian Walker told news.com.au.

“They’re learning about the human brain and neurotransmitters. Classically, it’s been about product push, but the latest trends around consumer pull, and drawing you to a product with subconscious cues.”

On the front end, there’s the store layout, design and look — all now influenced by your needs and desires.

Behind the scenes, say the experts, there’s some heavy number-crunching going on, with scientists mining historical data and interpreting patterns.

Retailers are targeting women from their second trimester all the way through the baby’s childhood. Picture: Bradley HunterSource:News Corp Australia

WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN YOU’RE EXPECTING

In 2012, Target in the US made headlines when it worked out that a teenager was pregnant before she had told her father, who turned up at the store to complain that they had sent baby-related ads to her in the mail.

He was forced to apologise after it emerged that the retailer’s analytics had simply recognised the signs before him. Those clues might include purchases of vitamin supplements, maternity clothing, large quantities of lotion and hand sanitisers, a store statistician told the New York Times.

What a shop knows about your pregnancy, and your life, is quite terrifying. After learning your preferences through direct mail, purchasing patterns, surveys, social media and loyalty cards, they will entice you into the store and direct your behaviour.

“It’s down to the level of product location,” said Mr Walker. “Products are strategically placed alongside related adjacent products. As your pregnancy advances, the products that are most relevant are placed more strategically, so you don’t have to bend over, for example.

“Your purchases can tell them when your baby will be born, then there’s a whole campaign towards the baby and the cycle continues.

“If you’re of a certain age and profession, they might introduce men’s shirts.

“It’s all about data, understanding consumer behaviour at a greater level than before. And then piling and segmenting that data to move it to the power of one.”

It’s all about eye line, placing related products side-by-side and predicting what you want before you know it. Picture: Tara Croser.Source:News Corp Australia

BRAVE NEW WORLD
On the one hand, many would argue that this deep understanding of us as individuals is a good thing. It means we only receive tailored adverts and promotions for products we’re really interested in.

But Mr Walker admits it sounds “a bit Brave New World” and “has implications for our privacy.”

“That’s the role of regulators, to regulate privacy — or try to,” he said. “It’s a double-edged sword.
“It’s efficient. As long as the consumer stays in control, I think it’s OK.”

Can we remain in control if our subconscious is being targeted? It’s getting increasingly difficult. Right now, we face an onslaught on all sides by sophisticated marketers working with big data and trying to pick our brains.

A few years ago, we learned that Google ad settings knew our age, sex and interests. Sign into your personal account and take a look at who it thinks you are here. We found out that eBay is predicting what we want to buy, based on trends and major events such as the World Cup and Olympics, for example, when flatscreen TV purchases spike.

As for social networking sites like Facebook, thanks to your likes, clicks and shares, they “know you better than you know yourself,” from whether you’re depressed or your relationship is in trouble to whether you’re a hard-worker or a bad credit risk.

What’s more, they’re all sharing the data with each other.

Four years ago, the NYT said the main challenge for retailers now was camouflaging what they were doing so it wasn’t obvious they were tracking everything about you. Since then, the discussion has gone very quiet.

When news.com.au sought comment from big retailers for this story, we received an immediate “no” from Woolworths and Kmart and silence from Target and Coles.
It’s all a little spooky.

news.com.au 20 Mar 2016
 

Every time the peasants by something on plastic, add the purchase to their 'frequent flyers' or some other 'reward' points they are giving away valuable information which is used to profile and enslave even further.

But that's what the general populous really is ... just corporate slaves, right?