Police review 'customer service' after officer's finger gesture offends Wellington man

Giuseppe Greco, 30, said he had lodged a formal complaint about the police response because he was offended by the way the officer had spoken to him while using the same gesture and homophobic slur that had upset him.

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Mr Greco said he had come to fear for his safety after being subjected to regular homophobic harassment over the past three years.

He had called Wellington police "many times" to complain about the abuse but they had ignored his pleas and treated him like a "pest".

"It's been three years, I go to the front of my house to have a smoke, because I can't smoke inside the house, and this lady keeps driving up with her car full of [people] sticking their finger at me and call me a f****t," Mr Greco told the Daily Liberal.

"I let it go, let it go and let it go till one day I said 'This is enough, I got kids, no one should be exposed to this kind of behaviour'."

Mr Greco said the officers who showed up at his house on December 8 following the latest episode told him the behaviour wasn't a crime and that there was nothing they could do about it.

"His exact wording was 'I can call you a f****t, stick my finger at you right now and nothing you can do about it because it's not a criminal offence. There's nothing you can do and nothing I am going to do about it," he said.

Mr Greco said he was offended by the officer showing him his finger and the manner in which he had been spoken to.

He supplied the Daily Liberal with CCTV footage which had captured the exchange with the officer as his colleague watched on. The footage provided does not contain audio.

Mr Greco said the cameras fitted to his house had also recorded footage of his alleged harasser driving past his house on separate occasions and giving him the finger.

Asked to comment on Mr Greco's complaints about the harassment and the conduct of the officers who visited his house, NSW Police's media unit issued a statement.

"Orana Mid Western Police District are conducting inquiries into a formal complaint made by a member of the community, including a review of the customer service offered by police," the statement said. "As inquiries are ongoing, no further information is available at this time."

Mr Greco, who has previously volunteered for the State Emergency Service, said he installed cameras at his Wellington residence because he felt the area was unsafe. He said he'd also employed a security guard for a period.

Having lived and worked in Sydney in the past, Mr Greco said his experience with police there was much "friendlier".

"People need to stop and think before they talk because we are losing a number of people in the LGBT community due to this kind of behaviour," Mr Greco said.

He said he and friend Gary Burns, a well known anti-discrimination activist in Sydney, had phoned police stations in Wellington and Dubbo as well as the Professional Standards Command, the division responsible for conduct and integrity within the force.

Both said they were told that an officer would call them back but they hadn't heard from anyone about their complaints.

"In the 80s and 90s, police did nothing and there were homicides," Mr Burns said.

"They're sitting on their cross-stitching while there's still homophobia in the community."

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