Organisers of this weekend's gay and lesbian Mardi Gras parade have told police they aren't welcome in Saturday's march.
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00:00 In light of the deaths of Luke Davies and Jessie Baird, there's been an outpouring of
00:06 shock and grief in Sydney's gay community.
00:10 There were calls in light of that for police to not march in this year's Mardi Gras.
00:18 The Mardi Gras board had a meeting late last night and the outcome of that meeting was
00:23 a decision to request New South Wales police not to march this year.
00:28 In a statement this morning, the board said, "We believe their participation in this year's
00:32 event could intensify the current feelings of sadness and distress."
00:40 As for police, Gemma, this would be the first time in 20 years that they don't march in
00:46 the parade.
00:48 Police Commissioner Karen Webb was responding this morning to criticisms of police and their
00:53 handlings of this.
00:55 This is what she had to say.
00:57 There will always be haters.
01:00 Haters like to hate, isn't that what Taylor says?
01:03 But I've got a job to do.
01:04 As I said, it's a big job.
01:05 This is just one of many jobs.
01:07 We actually had seven murders last week.
01:10 We had a triple murder out at Parramatta.
01:12 We've had others.
01:13 This, though, of course, is a complex matter.
01:17 All we need to do now is find Jessie and Luke so that their families know where they are.
01:27 There are other parts of the gay community that have come out and said already that they
01:32 would like this decision for police who've been requested not to march.
01:36 They'd like that decision to be reviewed or even overturned.
01:39 One of those voices is Independent MP Alex Greenwich, who says that if there are problems
01:45 with police, he wants them participating and part of the solution to those problems.
01:51 Here's what Alex Greenwich had to say.
01:53 Those police officers marching in the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras are members of
01:58 the LGBTQ community themselves.
02:00 They're marching to show visibility of our community within the police force and support
02:05 for our community.
02:07 Look, the relationship between the police and the LGBT community has a long way to go.
02:11 The police need to do a lot of work.
02:14 We need to do that work together.
02:16 Sean, New South Wales police have also been under fire from a special inquiry into LGBTIQ
02:22 hate crimes.
02:23 What can you tell us?
02:25 Well, just this weekend, Police Commissioner Karen Webb issued her apology to the victims
02:32 and families of hate crimes between the 1970s and 2010, which was the scope of this inquiry.
02:40 For context, the inquiry went over 18 months and reviewed the practices of police in investigating
02:49 and prosecuting hate crimes through those times.
02:52 It handed down its findings in December and found that there were failings in the investigation,
02:58 the storage of evidence, and it recommended police review those practices and even open
03:03 cold cases.
03:04 But from that inquiry as well...
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