WA Police has been slammed by the Corruption and Crime Commission for its bungled handling of the unlawful arrest of a 14-year-old Aboriginal girl in 2022.
The girl was walking home from a friend’s house late at night pushing her electric scooter that had run out of battery not far from her home when she was arrested by officers in an unmarked police car.
She had done nothing wrong, but it took three internal investigations before action was taken against the officers who arrested and handcuffed her in action the CCC called “unlawful, unreasonable, oppressive and unjust”.
The CCC tabled a report in Parliament into the incident on Friday, detailing how WA Police initially found officers did not have sufficient grounds to request the girl’s personal details, but that a second internal investigation reversed this.
“[It concluded that] the officers had been entitled to reasonably suspect she may have been engaging in criminal activity, based on youth crime trends in the local areas,” the report stated.
That outcome was sent to the CCC who performed a comprehensive review of the evidence, including reviewing body worn footage of the incident.
This kind of targeting happens on a constant basis where people are arrested based on their mere look
Indigenous affairs advocate Megan Krakouer
Their concerns prompted a third investigation by WA Police, that led to the officers in question being reprimanded.
The CCC claims they “departed from various procedures” and handcuffed the girl for too long, however WA Police still claimed the arrest had been lawful and that the force used was “reasonable”.
“The Commission formed a different view,” a statement released on Friday read.
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