EXCLUSIVE
INVESTIGATION
The drawn-out investigation into police brutality at February’s anti-Herzog rally means officers who have broken important laws — including failing to report other officers for assaulting protestors or destroying bodycam footage — will avoid penalties.
Those offences carry a six-month statute of limitations, which will expire long before police investigation body the NSW Law Enforcement Conduct Commission (LECC) delivers any findings, it can be revealed.
Last week marked four months since the anti-Herzog protest at Sydney’s Town Hall, where NSW police were filmed punching and attacking attendees, sparking national outrage and international headlines.
No police have faced any penalty.
By contrast, over 30 people who attended the February 9 protest – against the visit of a foreign head of state accused of inciting genocide – having been arrested and at least 30 charged, with almost all having already appeared before the courts.
Days after the rally the LECC announced an “independent investigation”, but has more recently confirmed it will not hold any public hearings — let alone deliver any findings — until at least September.
Under section 211F of the NSW Police Act, it is an offence for officers to fail to report “reasonably suspected misconduct” by fellow officers, including committing assault and destroying bodycam footage.
“After six months, offences of failing to report misconduct by fellow officers are statute barred”
Police who break that law are guilty of the offence of “neglect of duty”, under section 201 of the Act — yet it carries a six-month statute of limitations, after which offences are “statute barred”.
That means police at the rally who witnessed other officers committing assault, including using “unreasonable force” — and who have broken the law by failing to report it — cannot be penalised under section 201.
“Police who witnessed other officers committing assault, and fail to report it, cannot be penalised under section 201”
James Ricketson, 76, surrounded by police before being thrown to the ground at the Sydney ant-Herzog protest. Numerous NSW Police are filmed watching on. Source: ABC/Justine Muller
In a public statement that followed questions from The Klaxon about the section 201 statute of limitations, the LECC confirmed it would not complete its probe within the six month timeframe. It said public hearings would not happen “until at least September”.
September 9 marks six months since the rally.
Investigations show that in two major recent probes by the LECC the six-month statute of limitations has played a key role.
“The six-month statute of limitations has played a key role in recent LECC probes”
It has meant no action was taken against a string of officers for the offence of neglect of duty, including for report assault committed by a fellow officer, and for failing to report a fellow officer destroying bodycam footage.
“It has meant no action was taken against a string of officers for the offence of neglect of duty”
Images James Ricketson said showed injuries he sustained. Source: ABC News
In Operation Bendoc, a NSW police officer assaulted a 14-year-old and a 15-year-old, then threw his bodycam — and that of a fellow officer — into the “ocean”, to destroy the evidence.
He told five other NSW police officers of his assaults, and of destroying the footage, yet only one reported them, and then only months later.
The LECC found those four officers who failed to report the crimes guilty of “serious misconduct” –- but no action could be taken under section 201 because more than six months had passed.
“The Commission has found that (the officer)…disclosed to (the four officers)…that he had used excessive force against some young people and subsequently thrown his BWD device into the water,” the LECC said.
“A finding of serious misconduct is made against each of (the four officers).”
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The Klaxon’s revelations last month. Source: The Klaxon
The officer admitted to the LECC he had repeatedly “engaged in excessive us of force” and had thrown “2 BWD (body-worn) devices into the water” to “conceal or destroy evidence of his misconduct”.
“The Commission has found that each of the 4 officers failed to meet their statutory duty under s 211F Police Act 1990 (Police Act) to report the reasonably suspected misconduct,” it said.
Yet that misconduct had occurred in February 2024, and the LECC delivered its findings in November 2025.
More from The Klaxon’s on the anti-Herzog rally:
May 8: NSW Police and LECC close ranks over anti-Herzog rally “secrecy notices”
May 7: “Police information” loophole at heart of anti-Herzog rally probe
May 2: No police charged over anti-Herzog brutality
Apr 16: Minns’ anti-protest laws struck down
Feb 15: “I was among the protestors attacked by police” – Journalist
In Operation Eacham, a NSW police officer ignored an Aboriginal man who was repeatedly self-harming in custody, instead actively choosing not to call an ambulance for the injured man.
The officer, who knew the man had a history of self-harm and range of mental health issues including schizophrenia, instead drove the man “in the back of a police caged vehicle” for over an hour.
“(The man) was hitting his head with such force that it shook the police vehicle whilst the vehicle was travelling at 100km along the highway,” the report states.
The Aboriginal man was later found to have blood on the brain.
The LECC found the police officer had engaged in “serious misconduct” — and cited section 201— yet the findings, in June last year, were more than six months after the event.
Bodycam
Police facing no penalty under section 201 for failing to report the illegal deletion of bodycam footage is particularly striking.
In February, NSW Premier Chris Minns, responding to community outrage, repeatedly called on the public to “not look at a 10-second clip without the context”.
Minns made the comments in relation to video of multiple officers bashing a cyclist, and video of officers breaking up a Muslim prayer session.
Earlier this month an ABC’s Four Corners investigation shone the spotlight on police brutality in NSW, including regarding bodycams.
It cited Operation Bendoc, although not the six-month statute of limitations or the anti-Herzog rally.
The June 1 Four Corners report, “Brutal Force“. Source: ABC
On May 14 The Klaxon put to the LECC that section 201 carried a six-month statute of limitations and that it was almost certain the LECC investigation would take longer.
In questions to LECC Chief Commissioner Peter Johnson, we asked what action, if any, he or the LECC had taken to attempt to rectify this issue, and why the LECC was “taking many months for its investigation”, given many protestors had been charged “with some already fronting court”.
A response, signed “LECC Media” said:
“The Commission has received and is currently reviewing a substantial volume of material from the public and the NSW Police Force.
“The Commission has and will continue to take steps to inform the public of any scheduled action, including any public hearings to be held, as the investigation progresses.”
On May 24 the LECC issued a press release, titled “Operation Makalu: Investigation Update”.
“The investigation is now in its 14th week and involves the largest number of complaints ever received by the Commission,” it states.
“The Commission is committed to a fair, objective and thorough investigation. That investigation will include Commission examinations, some of which will be held in public.
“The public hearings will start no earlier than September 2026,” it states.
“The public hearings will start no earlier than September 2026” — LECC
Serious questions over LECC probe
That there is a six-month statute of limitations for section 201 offences raises serious questions about the length of the LECC’s probe, and the failure of NSW Police to take any action itself.
Those concerns are magnified given the substantial action against protestors, including finalised court appearances, relying on much the same evidence.
Raising further concerns, Premier Minns; NSW Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon; NSW Assistant Commissioner Peter McKenna; and NSW Police Minister Yasmin Catley have all made public statements defending the actions of police, despite there being no investigations completed or findings delivered.
The LECC publicly announced its “independent investigation” on February 13, after receiving a “significant number of complaints”.
The day before, Minns publicly stated that he did not support an independent investigation and that it should be left to NSW Police.
“I do not support an independent investigation,” Minns told parliament.
“I do not support an independent investigation” — NSW Premier
Commissioner Lanyon has publicly stated police “did what they needed to do” and showed “remarkable restraint”.
Minister Catley has accused anti-Herzog rally organisers of being “untruthful”.
Raising further concerns, The Klaxon last month revealed a “secrecy” loophole at the heart of the law governing the LECC.
Under the LECC Act, the NSW Police Commissioner can declare any information provided to the LECC — by themselves or by any other officer — is to be kept secret, if it is “contrary to the public interest”.
What is “contrary to the public interest” is not defined.
LECC and NSW Police refusing to say what evidence the Police Commissioner has moved to keep secret from the public. Source: The Klaxon
As previously revealed, NSW Police and the LECC are refusing to say what evidence Lanyon has moved to keep secret from the public.
“NSW Police and the LECC are refusing to say what evidence Lanyon has moved to keep secret from the public”
NSW Police and the LECC are also refusing to say how many times Lanyon has issued such “secrecy” notices to the LECC over February 9.
The protest was against the visit by Israeli President Isaac Herzog, who has been found by a UN commission to have “incited genocide”.
His visit to Australia followed the Islamic State-inspired Bondi Terror attack, in which 15 people were killed by shooters targeting a Jewish gathering.
Anti-protest laws used by NSW Police to prevent people from marching on February 9 were illegal.
“Anti-protest laws used by NSW Police to prevent people from marching on February 9 were illegal”
The “Public Assembly Restriction Declaration” (PARD) anti-protest laws, rushed through by Minns in late December, were in April deemed unconstitutional.
They were struck down by the all three justices of the NSW Court of Appeal, the state’s highest court, as against the nation’s constitutional freedoms.
Regardless, Minns said his government “absolutely stands by” having implemented the laws.
More to come…
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