The refusal to put police before a court to answer charges of excessive force causing the death of suspects is causing unease on a world wide basis. The families of victims have every reason to expect that the full circumstances will be examined in an open court but usually the police involved are totally exonerated by an enquiry conducted by fellow officers.
A "death in custody "event here in Sydney has languished for two years and nine months without coming to closure - and now that it finally made it to a court hearing many will be far from satisfied with the outcome.
On March 18, 2012 a young Brazilian student became affected by some sort of illegal drug and ran into a Sydney CBD convenience store and stole a packet of biscuits. A police radio report of the incident mistakenly described it as an "armed robbery "and this resulted in eleven police officers chasing the student, tackling him, applying handcuffs - and attempting to make an arrest. The student resisted violently.
What is not denied is that this young man was tasered nine times - and two full cans of capsicum spray were directed at him. He died at the scene. It was claimed that this was a total over reaction and there has been continuous foot dragging in having the arresting officers brought before a court and judged on whether this constituted a criminal act.
Finally - four officers were charged with assault - and three of them were summarily found to be "not guilty ". The fourth was found guilty of " assault causing actual bodily harm and common assault ". The magistrate decided not to record a conviction and record a mark against this officer, and placed him on a two year good behaviour bond.
This seems to confer an aura of impunity on police officers whenever they overstep the bounds of excessive force in carrying out their duties. The Taser is a weapon only slightly inferior to a police firearm and the fact that it was used nine times in subduing an offender in the hands of multiple police officers must be a cause for alarm.
Capsicum spray is also a substance that has the capacity to cause death. It is intended to be used sparingly to irritate the nose and cause weeping eyes to discourage hostile crowds of people. If sprayed into a suspects face constantly and at close quarters it would certainly impair that persons breathing function. The use of two full cans on a single person would certainly need explanation.
The police do a difficult job. They encounter violent people and they suffer injuries in making arrests. It is necessary for them to deal in violence in many cases and often they face claims of using excessive force, but they are not above the law. There seems to be a growing tendency for the world's police forces to use their muscle to intimidate governments into accepting police excesses without bringing the offending officers to justice. Governments see their police force as the insulating factor standing between them and the restless citizenry - and will do nothing to fray that bond of loyalty.
Part of the answer would be to insist on police officers wearing body cameras, but once again that reluctance to impose limits comes into play. Police Taser guns have a built-in camera, but in most controversial incidents - it was not activated. Police interviews are supposed to be both verbally and digitally recorded, but so often in events where violence has occurred - there is a claimed "mishap "with the recording device. It seems strange that these devices always seem to be working when the evidence suits the police case - and malfunction only when the evidence would be detrimental to what police claim actually happened.
The danger comes if the public lose confidence in the police. In some parts of the world, the police are as much feared as the criminal elements in society. Some even claim that they are much the same in their deprivation of civil rights and worldly goods. If we ever reach that stage in Australia - then we are in very serious trouble.
Both the government - and the judiciary - need to impose limits on police powers !
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