‘Inadequate’: NSW police criticised for not getting out of cars after triple zero call reported woman being bashed

At 7pm on 3 January 2023, New South Wales police received a triple zero call reporting that a woman was “being bashed” behind the Salvation Army building in Ballina. “I’m just letting you know, there’s a woman getting bashed behind Salvation Army in Ballina and that’s all I got to say I don’t want to be reported or anything,” the caller said. Almost six hours later, the woman’s partner of five years, who would later be convicted over her death, walked into the Ballina police station. He said he thought his partner, Lindy Lucena, was dead. He then led the police to a covered area at the side of the Salvation Army building, where they found her body. What happened in the hours between that first call being made and Robert Huber leading police to 64-year-old Lucena’s body was investigated by the independent police watchdog, after concerns were raised by her family and Greens MP Sue Higginson. On Tuesday, the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission (Lecc) handed down its final report. It made no findings of misconduct but found there was an inadequate police response after two officers attended the scene, but did not get out of their respective cars, while Lucena was lying nearby, either dying or dead. The Lecc report found systemic issues may have contributed to the delayed response. Delayed response Three minutes after the emergency call was made, it was logged in the police dispatch system as a priority 2 job. …