Harry Rasmussen was a police officer stationed at Clarence Street Sydney throughout the 1920s. He spent about 4 years in Redfern, worked at Central Police station, and was stationed at Kogarah during the 1930s. He describes the crowded living conditions, poverty, gangs, sex workers and community attitudes towards police that he witnessed in his job.
Children in inner city Sydney often didn’t have adequate clothing, footwear or food, according to Harry. Three or four families lived in a single terrace house. They relied on shilling in the slot gas meters and were lucky if they had a bath once a week.
Describing where Chinese and Aboriginal communities met in Waterloo and Redfern, Harry reveals police attitudes at the time. He says he remembers charging hundreds of sex workers in a single night when he worked at Central.
Police used to work in pairs around Darlington as it was considered too dangerous to work alone with razor gangs operating. Harry also says gangs of young men would gather together in each local area, naming several gangs and where they were from.
Harry recalls that police were violent towards offenders, and says this began to change around 1936 with the influence of The Truth newspaper. He believes that there was a better relationship between the community and the police during the 1920s and 1930s compared with the 1980s.
A/41:21 HR: You must realise that it was a different time. It wasn’t up until around about 1936 that the police started to be restricted in their movements. Prior to that was a day when the young hoodlums got together, you’d give them a kick in the backside and send them home. Used to be Friday night shopping and that. Well in 1936, when MacKay became the Commissioner of Police, you had the first, had the Truth newspaper opposed him. …..
Then you had everyone then wanted to go to the police if they got a backhander or a kick in the backside. Prior to that, a young hoodlum would go home and he’d tell his father he got kicked in the backside by a policeman and that, and possibly his father would give him a hiding for being out and that, but then they started to bring them up to the police station saying that his son was assaulted by a policeman, got kicked in the backside and wanted to go on with the police. Well, prior to this turnout they’d get a short shrift at the police station. Then the police then were restricted in their movement or dealing with hoodlums. Prior to that they were told, they’d get out of the way or were told to get out of the way. They’d know they would get a whack if they didn’t. Then they started to fire the police. Then they started calling them coppers mugs and everything else like that. Prior to that, this didn’t happen. There was respect for the police force until it was destroyed by the Truth newspaper who were the instigators of it.
