Further to the recent example discussed by Margaret Simons’ at The Content Makers of Police misbehaviour in New South Wales, the NT Ombudsman’s Report for 2007/2008 details a pretty good justification why the NT needs a standing Commission (or similar body) to conduct independent investigations (and prosecutions where appropriate) of misconduct by the NT Police, politicians and government agencies.

As Rebekah Cavanagh reported in the Northern Territory News on December 19:

Police used force to arrest a drunk 15-year-old boy, before putting him in a cell with a violent man and saying “have fun”. The Northern Territory News reports that police then turned a blind eye while the teen was punched up to five times by the Aboriginal man. The police officers then returned and moved the man to another cell before telling the teen “you got bashed by a black”. The teen was told by police the next morning he only had a black eye because he was “racist”.

And it gets better:

“…two of the officers involved were charged with assault but the DPP later withdrew the charges.”

Cavanagh’s story came from the 2007/2008 report of the Ombudsman of the NT, which, at page 44 of that report cites this matter as one of a large, for this smallest of Australian jurisdictions, number of finalised complaints against NT Police that the office investigated.

The incident occurred in August 2006 but only came to public attention through this year’s Ombudsman’s annual report.

Certainly the boy who made his complaint wasn’t someone you’d want to meet every day at work – he admitted he was drunk and abusive and said nasty things about a policeman’s wife and mother.

Whether that justified his treatment by the Police would normally be a matter for a Court to decide. But it didn’t get that far.

The young boys ‘fun’ really started when he got to the Police Station and was processed by the civilian Auxiliary officer in charge of the watchhouse.

As the Ombudsman’s report notes:

At the watch house, the complainant stated that he was slammed against the bench a few times by more than one Police member at the same time. He also claimed that when he was emptying his belongings on to the bench one of the members threatened to steal his money. The complainant was placed into a cell and soon after an Aboriginal male was placed into the cell with him. The complainant soon realised that this was the Aboriginal male who had been making signals towards the complainant that he wanted to fight the complainant, when he was at the watch-house reception counter being processed. The complainant alleged that when Police placed this person into the cell with him they said “have fun” and walked off.

The Aboriginal male asked the complainant “do you want to fight me?” to which the complainant replied “no”, however this person allegedly punched the complainant up to five times with both fists. The complainant alleged that Police casually strolled in, removed the Aboriginal male and placed him in the opposite cell, whereupon he commenced laughing about how he had just bashed the complainant. The complainant continued that he began kicking the cell wall and pressed the intercom button, to which someone answered “you got bashed by a black”.

The complainant also states that loud classical music was played in the cell all night. The complainant claimed that the next morning a police member came to the cell and told him that he got the black eye because he was a racist, and that this member also threatened the complainant.

Some might claim that for a teenager having ‘loud classical music’ played in your cell all night might amount to torture…but there is a serious side to all of this.

Following the complaint to the Ombudsman commenced her investigation.

As she notes in her Report that Investigation was:

…conducted by the Ethical and Professional Standards Command of the Northern Territory Police on behalf of the Ombudsman, under the supervision of the Joint Review Committee (JRC). The JRC is established pursuant to the ‘Guidelines Between the Commissioner of Police & Ombudsman For The Handling Of Complaints Against Police’ and is charged with the oversight of investigations against police. The JRC comprises of the Commander of the Ethical and Professional Standards Command as a representative of the Commissioner of Police and the
Deputy Ombudsman as a representative of the Ombudsman.

No disrespect to the Office of the Ombudsman or the officers (some of whom I’ve known in the past) running the Ethical and Professional Standards Command of the NT Police but the investigation process outlined here sounds awfully like Police investigating themselves…

The Ombudsman’s report notes the findings from the JRC’s investigation in the sort of polite bureaucratic language that only a lawyer or policeman could love:

The JRC recommended that the Constables be given managerial guidance as to the proper procedures to be followed regarding persons taken into protective custody, especially in regards to juveniles and contacting parents or guardians in the first instance. The JRC found that the force used by the members involved in pushing the complainant against the counter was reasonable given the circumstances. The JRC also found that the Senior Auxiliary failed in his duty of care to the complainant by deciding to house the complainant and the other male in the same cell, when the hostility between the two was clearly displayed. The JRC found that the Police failed in their duty of care to the complainant, by not questioning the decision of the Senior Auxiliary to place the other male in the same cell. They could have fulfilled their duty by notifying the Watch Commander of the situation, but they chose to do nothing. Instead they relied on the excuse that the Senior Auxiliary was the Watch House Keeper and thus it was his decision to make. The JRC was of the opinion that the evidence lent itself to the proposition that the Senior Auxiliary, Senior Constable, Auxiliaries, and Constables ought to have realised that, given the circumstances, the Aboriginal male was likely to assault the complainant when placed together in the cell at the Darwin watch house and, as such, failed to fulfil their duty of care to the complainant who was a person in their care and custody. The JRC noted that both the Senior Auxiliary and Senior Constable were charged with assault in respect to this matter but the DPP withdrew all charges against the two members. This did not alter the JRC’s finding that these two members’ failed in their duty of care. The JRC recommended that the Commissioner of Police formally apologise to the complainant for the action of his members. The JRC found that an adequate examination of the complainant’s injuries was not carried out. The JRC found that section 13 of the Custody Manual was not complied with and that the responsibility for this failure rested with the Watch House Keeper. The JRC found that effectively no medical treatment was rendered to the complainant for the injuries suffered during the assault.
The JRC also found that the Watch House Keeper failed to make the required journal/database entries about the injuries suffered by the complainant. (emphasis added)

So out of this sad & sorry incident two officers have been recommended for ‘managerial guidance’ (whatever that means) and the JRC reckons that the NT Police Commissioner give the complainant an apology.

And, for reasons unknown and not stated in the Report, the assault charges were withdrawn.

A pathetic result all round.

Time for an independent body to conduct these investigations…or at least give the Ombudsman some powers, funds and staff to conduct them.

I’ll keep a watching eye on these matters and will give a few more selected highlights from this and previous Ombudsman reports in the near future.

Maybe I’ll also keep a close(r) eye on the activities of the NT Police as well. And of course the NT Police Association doesn’t favour the introduction of an Anti-Corruption Commission or similar body. In the NTPA’s view there is no need for such a body in the NT.

When the issue was last raised by the Country Liberal Party opposition in 2006 the NTPA’s President, Senior Sergeant Vince Kelly issued a press release that said in part:

“There is absolutely no demonstrated need for a Corruption Commission in this jurisdiction.”

I’d appreciate any perspectives or thoughts from near or afar about this issue.