Family members and supporters want police to make amends. Photos: Ian Bushnell.
Police have been accused of ‘cowboy’ behaviour and racial profiling after taking an Aboriginal teenager off a bus at gunpoint, handcuffing and restraining him, only to discover he wasn’t the suspect they were pursuing.
The incident occurred at Woden on the afternoon of 12 November when multiple police responded to reports of a youth armed with a knife who had held up a store in Westfield before attempting three carjackings, stabbing one person and throwing another to the ground.
Chief Police Officer Scott Lee defended the officers’ actions in the context of a violent and dangerous situation, but apologised to the family and said a Professional Standards Investigation was underway, with participation from the Ombudsman.
Deputy Commissioner Lee said three officers entered the bus, one at the driver’s door, and two at the middle entrance. It was the latter two who drew their weapons and arrested the boy, who raised his hands and was led out to be restrained.
The 17-year-old boy’s family said he had been traumatised and the incident was proof that racism was systemic within the police, as found in this year’s Jumbunna report into the overrepresentation of Indigenous people in the ACT’s justice system.
They said the boy was scared to leave the house alone, refused to catch a bus and lived in fear of police.
“It was not a mistake or a misunderstanding but a gross violation of a child’s human rights,” his aunt said.
“The officers pointed a gun, stopped a Transport Canberra bus, and dragged him out, slammed him onto the ground while multiple officers had knees on his back, causing him pain and difficulty breathing,” the family said.
“And even after admitting they had the wrong boy, the officers still searched him. That is not policing, that is abuse.”
The family is calling for a formal public acknowledgement of police misconduct and racial profiling by police, a written public apology to the boy, and immediate access to full body-worn camera footage and the incident report.
They want all officers involved disciplined and an independent investigation, “not police investigating police”.
They are also calling for long-term trauma counselling for the boy, funded by ACT Policing, a full review of use of force policies involving minors, mandatory cultural safety and de-escalation training for officers.
Chief Police Officer Scott Lee and Police Minister Marisa Patterson. Deputy Commissioner Lee said there was no place for racism within ACT Policing.
Deputy Commissioner Lee conceded there were questions around the searching of the boy after he was cleared of any suspicion and placing him back on the bus without any follow-up care, but was adamant that the officers acted appropriately in a dynamic situation.
He said the officers acted on a description of the armed offender, including that he was of Aboriginal appearance.
Once police had checked CCTV images of the offender, they released the boy and apologised.
“Given police were responding to multiple eyewitness reports of an active armed offender in a heavily populated area of Canberra, officers acted with the immediate aim of preventing a worst-case scenario from occurring and further harm to members of the public,” said Deputy Commissioner Lee, who has viewed the body camera footage.
The alleged offender, a 15-year-old boy, was arrested later that day in Ainslie and has faced court.
Deputy Commissioner Lee said there was no restriction on police drawing and aiming firearms if they believed it necessary in the circumstances, including in a public place.
Deputy Commissioner Lee said there was no place for racism within ACT Policing.
“First Nations liaison officers have been part of the overall response, since the incident, and that remains ongoing as we engage with the family,” he said.
Deputy Commissioner Lee defended the independence and integrity of the Professional Standards Investigation.
Despite police meeting with them on Monday at Winnunga Nimmityjah to explain the situation, the family remains dissatisfied and angry.
Winnunga Nimmityjah Aboriginal Health and Community Services CEO Julie Tongs: “Our mob are just terrified.”
Winnunga Nimmityjah Aboriginal Health and Community Services CEO Julie Tongs said the police relationship with the community was only getting worse, calling the boy’s treatment disgusting.
Ms Tongs rejected the police’s denial of racism in the force or that it played no part in this incident.
“If that had been a busload of black kids, would they have done what they did to the only white kid on that bus?” she said.
Ms Tongs said police did not contact the family until Monday, five days later, only to give them “the same old spin”.
“We want you to acknowledge that you’ve done it and how you’re going to change things for our kids in the future, because this is not the end of this, this is just the beginning,” she said.
Ms Tongs said police needed to back off and stop racial profiling and targeting Aboriginal people the way they do.
“It’s always cowboy behaviour when it comes to our mob … our mob are just terrified,” she said.
Deputy Commissioner Lee said he was concerned about the incident’s impact on the police relationship with the Aboriginal community.
“Certainly we need a relationship built on trust and understanding … I acknowledge the concerns that are within the community, the impact that that’s had on the trust within the community,” he said.
Acting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children and Young People Commissioner for the ACT, Barb Causon, said the incidents would have far-reaching effects.
“We need to understand the ripple effect of incidents like this, not just for this young boy, but for his whole family, for other young people in this community, and right across the Aboriginal community. What it does is to have a negative influence on the way our young people perceive police and how they will protect them,” she said.
Independent MLA Thomas Emerson said the police should have confirmed his identity before they pointed their weapons at him.
Mr Emerson said it was a plain case of institutional racism.
“We’ve had so many reviews say you have to do something about systemic racism, and if you’re going to do something about it, you have to start by acknowledging it exists,” he said.
The Jumbunna review made that clear, not just within policing, but across the ACT Government.
“Why do we commission these reviews if we’re not gonna take them seriously? We have to call this for what it is, and it’s difficult, it’s uncomfortable, especially in a place like Canberra, but this is institutional racism.”
