Remembering Patrick Fisher, chased to death by NSW Police

February 19, 2021
Issue 
Patrick Fisher. Photo: Indigenous Social Justice Association

Waka Waka man and father of three Patrick Fisher was remembered by his family and friends on February 7 in front of the Waterloo housing block, where he fell to his death after being chased by NSW Police three years ago. Fisher was just 31 year's old.

Fisher’s mother Aunty Candice Williams spoke, along with Aunty Frances White, Gabe Foster and Ross Fisher. Indigenous Social Justice Association (ISJA) activists Faith Black and Raul Bassi chaired the memorial.

β€œThey took my baby away … I hurt very much every day … I am not forgetting,” Williams said.

Fisher died of his injuries after falling from the 13th floor of the Joseph Banks tower block after four .Β The police had two outstanding warrants for him.

White, Fisher’s mother-in-law, said: β€œCarly White, the mother of Patrick’s children, lives in pain and trauma every day. The children are living in pain. It is so unfair the police get away with it. They need to be held accountable to what they did to Patrick.

β€œThis family is shattered. We want a proper inquiry in to what happened; we want the truth. The coroner needs to look deeper because Patrick was a human being, a father, not a statistic.”

The coronial inquest into Fisher’s death, which took place almost two years after he fell to his death, found that the β€œpolice were aware of the possibility that Fisher might attempt to climb over the balcony, as records showed he avoided or attempted to avoid police on 44 other occasions”.

But, as Bassi told the gathering, the police β€œβ€.

β€œThe coroner did not investigate the reasons for the fall,” Bassi told ΒιΆΉΣ³»­. β€œThey also cut the inquiry back by two days, after telling the family there would be a five- day hearing. They could have used the two days to investigate the reasons for Fisher’s fall.”

Foster, a friend of Fisher, said: β€œThe police need to be held accountable. The sad reality is that we, Indigenous people, are overlooked. The police are there when they take someone into custody or when they decide they need to take a child, they are there in a heartbeat. But when we are victims of abuse, of over incarceration, the police are nowhere to be seen.”

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