Protocols protecting young people’s right to silence ‘forgotten’ by NSW police, watchdog finds

Requests by NSW police to confirm a young person had invoked their right to silence often turned into an interview, the law enforcement conduct commission said. Photograph: Dean Lewins/AAP

New South Wales police officers have been interviewing young people in custody in a way that compromises their right to silence, with a report by the state’s law enforcement watchdog finding it is a “systemic problem”.

The Law Enforcement Conduct Commission (Lecc) found that NSW police had also failed to act with any urgency to prevent officers interviewing vulnerable people, including Aboriginal people and young people, after they had received legal advice and said that they did not wish to be interviewed.