One of Luke’s main agendas was to make Redfern a safe place, especially for children. He wanted the police to be seen as good friends to the community, participating in things like boxing together and other activities at the National Centre of Indigenous Excellence, with people like himself and Indigenous leader Shane Phillips, finding mentors for those who struggle and giving young people ideas which would enhance their futures. There are already more than 100 people involved in the Clean Slate without Prejudice program.
Having these sorts of relationships has opened up opportunities to talk about things like drug addiction and other things which deny young people self-respect and do a great deal of damage. Luke knew that abuse is related to power and that developing creative relationships could lift the lives of vulnerable people and give them more possibilities and ways of working together.
The police were encouraged not to be judgemental so that they could be told and listen to things the community wants them to know. He organised community meetings to allow all sorts of things to be discussed, especially about drug dealers – where they were living and how they were accessing local people. He feels that drug dealers should be evicted from public housing where they have easy access to many vulnerable people. Young people should be supported in staying away from drugs, but also mentored and counselled if they become addicted. Luke feels that caring relationships can be helpful to many struggling people and that mental health is often a significant factor in situations.
He has seen enough of prison life to face the fact that there are few rewards for criminal life in the end and that, when they come out of prison, people have few resources for beginning life again in a positive way.
He recognises the power of working together for a common cause and how important it is for police to be patient with each other as well as the community they serve. It is all too easy to “stew” and to get bitter and twisted, rather than working things through in a creative way together. It you do the latter, you can move towards being proactive rather than just reacting, developing community values rather than simply your own.
Redfern is now, obviously, a varied population. Over the last decade, it has become more gentrified, alongside the strong Indigenous community and working-class population. There are now 156 police in the Redfern Local Area Command and Luke has always recognised the complexity of their work – often dealing with sad and difficult situations, but with great possibilities for encouraging the various people to respect each other as they live together.
So that he might more deeply understand the local people, Luke has spent time attending all sorts of community events. He has encouraged community members to meet with police and discuss what is happening.
One of Luke’s hopes, when he first became superintendent, was that he might diminish crime and help build good relationships in the area and he has achieved that goal. He is aware that the mainstream media, even now, when referring to Redfern, often refer to the past including using photos of riots. In 2005, Redfern was the number one place for robberies in NSW. In May 2018 there have been no robberies at all.
When he retires, Luke hopes to have a focus on volunteer work of various types, probably beginning with participating in the work of the RSPCA – helping vulnerable animals for a change.
He knows that he will certainly miss being in Redfern and the profound satisfaction of relating to its people in efforts to build community. He hopes that work will continue after he goes.
Given all that he has added to life in Redfern, I am sure that he will be missed now and long remembered for all his hopes and dreams for its people. Thank you, Superintendent Luke Freudenstein!
