Australia police reduce taser use

March 10, 2011
Patrick Rocca, ABC News

New figures reveal taser usage by Western Australian police has plummeted since changes to the force's policy on their use.

In December last year the Police Commissioner Karl O'Callaghan changed the taser use policy to stipulate that officers only use the weapons to prevent serious injury.

The change was introduced as an interim measure and will mean officers have to believe they are at risk of serious injury before using a taser.

It came in the wake of video evidence released by the Corruption and Crime Commission showing Kevin Spratt being tasered dozens of times while in police custody.

In the two months to December, tasers were drawn a total of 148 times by police.

But in the two months since the new policy was implemented, the weapons have been drawn just 82 times.

There has also been a drop in how often police have actually discharged the tasers, from 62 in the lead up to December, to just 21 in the two months to the 31st of January.

The Commissioner says the figures show a change in the attitudes and behaviour of police.

"We've seen a 60 per cent reduction in the use of tasers since the introduction of that policy, " he said.

He says the figures show officers are adhering to the policy and adjusting the way they respond to offenders.

"I think police officers are now thinking about their deployment a lot more and we are not seeing an increase or a corresponding increase in the number of assaults on police, " he said.

He says he is not alarmed by the figures.

"We have been seeing this right across Australia since the introduction of tasers, police forces have been adjusting their policy to make sure it's properly controlled," he said.

"At this stage the statistics are quite new statistics so we need to be quite careful about the long term but we have seen quite a significant reduction in the first two months after the introduction of the policy."

Supreme Court quashes Spratt conviction

February 24, 2011
Aja Styles, WA Today

A wrongful conviction against Taser victim Kevin Spratt has been quashed by the Court of Appeal after horrifying footage showing nine police brutalising the 41-year-old Aboriginal man was made public.

Internal CCTV footage from inside the East Perth lock-up showed Mr Spratt being Tasered 14 times while on the floor screaming in agony was broadcast worldwide last year, after being released by the Corruption and Crime Commission.

Mr Spratt had been arrested in August 2008 after an incident in King William Street in Bayswater. But he was further charged with obstructing officers in the Watch House, which related to the Tasering incident.

Advertisement: Story continues below Mr Spratt served two months jail for the offence, which ran concurrently with other jail terms imposed for three other charges.

Mr Spratt brought his conviction for obstructing police before the Court of Appeal today.

The action was against his arresting officer, Detective Constable Brett Fowler, who wrote up the report in which it stated that Mr Spratt "again became violent and aggressive towards police who were attempting to restrain him by kicking and flailing his arms towards police as they approached".

Internal CCTV footage of the Watch House showed Mr Spratt simply sitting on a chair grabbing hold of the seat with his arms and hands as the Taser barbs were deployed.

Justice Stephen Hall found that Mr Spratt had been denied justice by not being able to view the footage prior to pleading guilty to the charge in the Perth Magistrates Court and his appeal was granted.

Outside court Mr Spratt's lawyer Steven Penglis said they were seeking financial compensation for what occurred in the watch house.

"The system failed Kevin in this regard in two ways; first, as you've heard, we had a charge laid by a police officer who wasn't there at the time of the alleged offence and didn't take steps to verify that it was true by looking at the CCTV footage and secondly, when that police officer realised that it was wrong he didn't take any steps to ensure that it came to the attention of Kevin, the prosecuting sergeant or the court," he said.

Mr Penglis has written to the Police Commissioner about these concerns.

Mr Spratt said he was pleased with the outcome.

"It has brought a lot of bad memories back but I just want to move on with life," he said.

Earlier today, Police Commissioner Karl O'Callaghan conceded claims about Kevin Spratt resisting police in the Perth Watch House appeared to be wrong.

Mr O'Callaghan rejected shadow attorney-general John Quigley's assertions in Parliament last week that he lied the the public in a "flow-chart" of the events displayed to the media to explain the lead-up to that night, saying at the time he believed the statement of material facts to be correct.

"There is no deliberate intent to mislead anybody at all, it is not my style, I have never done it nor will do it," he told 6PR Radio.

The flow chart was designed to help media understand the chain of events when reporting and was only meant as "an aid", Mr O'Callaghan said.

He did however concede he was "not (happy) now" after it was revealed that the charges of obstructing officers came after the Tasers were deployed.

But he said he has been unable to interview the officers involved because the CCC had taken over the inquiry since November 15 last year and it was now up to the corruption watchdog to release their findings.

Australia: Taser victim was not violent: police

December 15, 2010
Amanda O'Brien, The Australian

A POLICE officer has admitted Kevin Spratt was not being violent before he was tasered in the East Perth lock-up in 2008. And a stun gun was used because he wanted the Aboriginal man to hurry up.

Senior Constable Troy Tomlin told the Corruption and Crime Commission yesterday that Mr Spratt had only become violent after he was tasered, and all of his strikes were in stun-mode, which caused intense pain.

The commission is investigating whether any officers engaged in misconduct when Mr Spratt was tasered 14 times in a matter of minutes on August 31. The incident began when he refused to be strip-searched.

Video, which shows Mr Spratt surrounded by nine police while on the floor, caused international outrage when it was released in October.

The first four taser strikes were fired by Constable Tomlin.

The CCC yesterday produced evidence showing Mr Spratt was not the only person to be tasered at the East Perth lock-up, giving examples of two other men who also refused to be strip-searched.

One was tasered four times before police removed his clothes. Another was tasered once when he wouldn't drop his pants during a search. The police incident report said the taser "made him let go of his trousers". The names of the men were suppressed.

Constable Tomlin told the hearing he was "unprofessional" when he told Mr Spratt to "give me your hand or I'll f..king taser you". But he claimed Mr Spratt had threatened to kill him. This was not supported by CCTV.

He also said he was trying to protect Mr Spratt when he tasered him because he thought he had been struck by another officer and would "get another kick" if he did not co-operate.

Detective Sergeant Gary Thwaites, who was in charge of the lock-up at the time, said his officers behaved properly. "None of them are cowboys. They're not vindictively tasering Mr Spratt for no reason," he said.

In a heated exchange with counsel assisting the CCC, Peter Quinlan SC, he said Constable Tomlin had "every right to defend himself" and he was not swayed by the video not showing any overt threat.

He said Mr Spratt was affected by drugs and had a history of violence. "At the end of the day, Troy has got every right to look after himself. Does he have to wait until he's struck?" he said.

Second Spratt Taser video is chilling: MP

The release of a "chilling" second video of the tasering of Kevin Spratt will trash Western Australia's reputation for treatment of Aboriginal prisoners, a state MP has declared.

The state's corruption watchdog is inquiring into whether any members of Western Australia Police or the Department of Corrective Services engaged in misconduct during Mr Spratt's repeated tasering while in custody.

The tasering of Mr Spratt at Perth Watch House on August 31, 2008 first came to light with the release of a report by the Corruption and Crime Commission into the use of Taser stun guns in WA.

CCTV footage showed the unarmed and subdued man being tasered 14 times while nine officers surrounded him.

Corruption and Crime Commission commissioner Len Roberts-Smith said the inquiry was triggered by the widespread media exposure, serious public concerns and revelations Mr Spratt had been repeatedly tasered again a week later by corrective services personnel.

The footage of that incident, which occurred on September 6, 2008, was shown for the first time on Thursday after the government had previously refused to make it public.

Seven heavily protected prison officers wearing helmets and carrying batons are shown entering Mr Spratt's prison cell and yelling at Mr Spratt to turn around and lie down.

"If you don't lay down, I'm going to taser you. Turn around and lay down. That's it, I'm not going to ask you again. If I have to ask you again I'm going to taser you," one officers shouts.

After an unarmed Mr Spratt apparently refuses, a prison officer tasers Mr Spratt twice and he is then pinned face down on the floor.

The officers then demand Mr Spratt extend his arms straight out while an officer drives a Taser into the small of his bare back and uses it nine times.

During the ordeal Mr Spratt can be heard talking in native tongue and praying to God.

As the footage was played, Mr Spratt's fiancee, Tayunna Schatkowski, was unable to watch and broke down in tears.

In his opening address, counsel assisting, Peter Quinlan, said on the day after the tasering by the prison officers, Mr Spratt was treated at Royal Perth Hospital.

"Mr Spratt was diagnosed as suffering from at least one, and possibly other fractures of the ribs, a collapse of his lung, his right shoulder was dislocated with a comminuted fracture of the humerus," he said.

"In addition Mr Spratt had multiple superficial cuts and abrasions including several puncture wounds consistent with the use of a Taser in probe mode."

Shadow attorney-general John Quigley said the conduct was disgraceful and would damage WA's reputation.

"The violence was absolutely chilling. Tonight WA's reputation in the way we treat Aboriginal prisoners will be trashed internationally," he told reporters outside the hearing.

"This video depicts disgraceful violence against an Aboriginal prisoner in police custody."

CCTV footage released previously of the first incident in which Mr Spratt was tasered showed him refusing a strip search by sitting on a bench and locking his arms onto the armrests.

"Senior Constable Troy Tomlin said 'Give us your hand or you're going to get f***** tasered, do you understand? Now!' and within seconds deployed a Taser in drive stun mode against Mr Spratt," Mr Quinlan said, describing the footage to the hearing.

"Without warning Senior Constable Tomlin again deployed a Taser in drive stun mode. Sgt Aaron Strahan and Constable Geoffrey Toogood each grabbed one of Mr Spratt's legs."

The hearing will continue on Monday.

Western Australia police shift policy on Taser use

December 1, 2010
Sydney Morning Herald

Western Australia's police commissioner has announced a policy shift on Tasers, saying the stun guns should only be used when officers believe they are at risk of serious injury.

The change follows recent publicity over incidents in which police were deemed to have overstepped the mark in their use of tasers.

Karl O'Callaghan says the WA Police Professional Standards Division will also review police use-of-force incidents captured on CCTV to determine if officers' accounts of incidents match the tapes.

The policy change comes after charges against a Perth family were dropped after CCTV footage undermined the police case against them. The footage shown in the Perth Magistrates Court on Monday showed no evidence Ryan Walker, 24, had punched a plain-clothes officer, as police had alleged. An assault charge against him was dropped as were obstruction charges against his parents, Ken and Raelene Walker, who had questioned officers over their handling of a melee outside a Perth nightclub on January 16. Ms Walker sustained a broken ankle as she was taken from the scene by officers. The family is seeking an apology from police.

WA Police were heavily criticised earlier this year after video footage was released of unarmed man Kevin Spratt being tasered 13 times in East Perth Watch House in 2008 with nine officers present.

Mr O'Callaghan on Wednesday told reporters the new trial policy on Taser use meant officers had to believe they were at risk of serious injury before deploying the weapons.

That could include officers being attacked with a broken glass or some other type of weapon, he said.

"We are moving forward but what we are doing is making sure all of our processes are correct, because questions have been asked and I don't want those questions to continue; I want to answer them."

WA Premier Colin Barnett has apologised to the Walker family but says he retains confidence in the state's police force.

"These police men and women doing the day-to-day frontline work do need strong support and maybe do feel a little bit isolated at the moment, as there have been some situations that have gone wrong," he told reporters on Wednesday.

"Some mistakes have been made ... and maybe it's time to look at whether they do need to have some extra training in dealing with difficult situations they encounter on a daily basis."

Former WA deputy police commissioner Murray Lampard said the tasering of Mr Spratt was indefensible and the obstruction charges laid against the Walker family showed young officers lacked training.

Professor Lampard, who retired from the force in 2008, stressed the need for negotiation and communication skills training for young officers.

He said they needed to be trained in the importance of "verbal judo", conflict resolution and negotiation.

"When you're dealing with people, the community has an expectation that the police will act responsibly and will act appropriately and basically keep their oath of office to preserve life," Prof Lampard told ABC Radio.

"I think police need to, in certain circumstances, explore a number of options, to negotiate with people before deploying a weapon like a Taser."

Australia: Corruption and Crime Commission takes over Spratt probe

November 16, 2010
Josh Jerga, Sydney Morning Herald

The West Australian corruption watchdog has taken over police investigations into the repeated tasering of an unarmed Perth man at a watch house in 2008.

The Corruption and Crime Commission directed WA Police and the Department of Corrective Services to stop any investigations into events which led to Kevin Spratt being tasered more than 20 times in two weeks.

On August 31 2008, Mr Spratt was tasered 13 times while in custody as nine officers surrounded him at the East Perth Watch House.

CCTV footage released by the CCC in a report last month showed Mr Spratt was subdued on a bench during the tasering.

No officers were charged over the incident despite a police internal inquiry finding two had used undue and excessive force.

However, police will assist the Director of Public Prosecutions in deciding whether to charge any of the officers.

A week later, Mr Spratt, now 41, was tasered 11 times when corrective service officers tried to "extract" him from his cell at the East Perth Lockup.

Commissioner Len Roberts-Smith said the CCC would try to determine the circumstances surrounding the use or threat of Tasers on Mr Spratt on five separate occasions.

These include a threat by police on August 30, the incident at the East Perth Watch House on August 30, the occasion of Mr Spratt's arrest on September 6 and his time in the lock-up.

The CCC will also examine WA police's internal investigation of the incidents.

"There is a high level of public interest in the circumstances surrounding these incidents and the investigations into them," Mr Roberts-Smith said in a statement.

"It is in everyone's interest that these matters are investigated thoroughly and that the outcome be placed on the public record."

Last week the WA opposition obtained the statement of police facts regarding the August 31 incident, which appeared to contradict the CCTV footage.

It said the use of the Taser had little effect on Mr Spratt, who had continued to "violently resist against police trying to restrain him".

As a result the Aboriginal man was charged with two counts of obstructing police.

Shadow Attorney-General John Quigley has accused the state's police force of misleading the courts.

Mr Quigley asked the government in state parliament on Tuesday to clarify how many times Mr Spratt was charged and what were his alleged offences.

WA Police Minister Rob Johnson said he would not comment on the matter while the CCC investigates, claiming Mr Quigley was "slowly killing off any possibility of a fair trial".

"I would think the member for Mindarie in all of his years of alleged legal expertise would appreciate the legal process surrounding these matters."

Australia: What is the truth about the Kevin Spratt affair?

November 16, 2010
Andrew O'Connor, ABC News Australia

The truth can be elusive, morphing into different forms over time.

In the weeks since the Corruption and Crime Commission released the video of Aboriginal man Kevin Spratt being tasered 13 times in the Perth Watch House, we've been offered three versions of the truth.

The first is Kevin Spratt as victim.

In this version of the truth, he is the victim of a criminal assault perpetrated by two police officers as seven of their colleagues looked on.

In this version, the jumpy frames of a security camera in the Perth Watch House show Mr Spratt being tasered again and again and again after he refuses a strip search.

The tasering is depicted as an act of brutality, a violation of his human rights and internationally embarrassing to Western Australia and its police.

Shadow Attorney General John Quigley called it torture.

"It is of the same quality of torture as the criminal US marines practised at Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad, that is torturing a prisoner by electric shock."

The next version is Kevin Spratt as villain.

In this version, Mr Spratt is an extremely violent criminal with a long history of violence toward police, a man who posed an ever-present danger to the public and police officers.

A specially prepared police flow chart was released to the media which timelines his criminal activities and interactions with police, making it clear he's repeatedly resisted arrest, assaulted officers, spat at them, kicked them and fought them.

The tasering then becomes just one incident in long continuum in which Mr Spratt has demonstrated his capacity for criminal behaviour and aggression.

Police Commissioner Karl O'Callaghan says while he was not defending the police tasering of Mr Spratt, releasing the information about his criminal history provides important "context".

"These are violent confrontations with the police. They tell a history of why he's in police custody in the first place. It's actually impossible to provide the public with an objective view of how police have handled Mr Pratt without telling them why he was in police custody in the first place," he told a media conference in October.

The same explanation was in Mr O'Callaghan's letter of apology to Mr Spratt:

"While in no way excusing what was done to you, this provided some explanation for why the police officers involved acted as they did and why they were concerned about the threat you posed."


Incomplete puzzle

The third version of the truth is incomplete, like a puzzle with pieces missing but perhaps more disturbing.

This emerged when Mr Quigly released the statement of material facts submitted to the Magistrates Court by WA police to support a charge that Mr Spratt was "obstructing public officers" while he was being tasered 13 times.

In this version, the police are liars who have fabricated a description of Mr Spratt's violent behaviour to justify the charge and their actions in repeatedly tasering him.

The statement of facts says he was "initially calm and co-operative" as police walked him into the watch house. It says after his handcuffs were removed, Mr Spratt refused to accompany police for a strip search.

It then says he "began to resist by holding onto the seat and bracing his arms. He again became violent and aggressive towards police who were attempting to restrain him, by kicking and flailing his arms.

"The Taser was deployed to prevent any injury to the police or the accused, however, it initially had little effect with the accused continuing to violently resist."

But, in a video of the incident released by the CCC, Mr Spratt is shown refusing to move from his seat, and then reeling from repeated taserings, screaming in pain and at one stage, almost begging the officers stop.

In its report, the CCC concluded that Mr Spratt did not appear to be the aggressor.

"At the time of the initial deployment, there was no information to show police were at risk of assault, or in danger. When the man began struggling, WAPOL internal investigators found that deployments were perhaps justified, however, the man could have been acting in self defence believing he was being assaulted."


Internal inquiry

WA police are conducting a new internal inquiry.

When it was announced by the Commissioner on the 18th of October, he said it would examine each police interaction with Mr Spratt, except the one where he was tasered 13 times.

That, Mr O'Callaghan said, had already been satisfactorily examined by internal affairs.

He explained that although there was no complaint raised about other incidents where police had used force on Mr Spratt, the new inquiry would be an additional check.

"We are now reviewing those to make sure because there's such a high level of public interest in this matter, to make sure they were conducted properly."

The purpose of that inquiry, the Commissioner said, is to ensure public confidence in the police.

Police have already reviewed the use of force reports submitted by the officers in those incidents. They've already cleared those incidents as being without complaint.

So, is the internal inquiry just another opportunity to provide more information about Mr Spratt's previous encounters where he was violent and police were justified in using force against him?

Or is the inquiry an opportunity to have a fresh look at these incidents and subject them to a thorough, exhaustive review?

In light of the conflict between statement of material facts and the video, the police must now satisfy themselves and the public that the other police descriptions of Mr Spratt's behaviour can be trusted.


Timeline

The timeline released by the Police Commissioner cites a number of incidents of Mr Spratt's violent behaviour.

Even though the media has been told none was captured on video, each description provides the opportunity for police to produce objective evidence to verify the police version of events.

On the 30th of August, the timeline says Mr Spratt was apprehended on Graham Farmer freeway by police, "...but struggled violently dragging police in front of heavy traffic."

The internal inquiry may be able to establish if Main Roads traffic cameras captured this incident and whether any such video evidence supports the police statements.

On the 30th of January 2009, the timeline states that Mr Spratt was arrested in Bayswater and "....became violent, kicking one officer in the chest and spitting in the other officer's face and biting his hand."

On the same day at the Perth Watch House, he "....later spat blood and saliva into the officers' face entering eyes and mouth."

One would expect these injuries to be recorded through police workplace safety procedures.

In the case of the officer who was bitten, and those who were spat on with blood and saliva, they presumably underwent blood tests to ensure they'd contracted no blood borne diseases.

The presence of these records would provide objective support to the police account.

Following the release of the statement of material facts, a spokesman for the Commissioner has told the ABC any discrepancy between the statement and the video of the 13 taserings will now also be examined by the police internal inquiry.

If the internal inquiry is not transparently exhaustive in verifying the police version of events, and resolving the conflict between the statement of facts and the video, it is hard to see how will instil public confidence.


Confidence

But just what has this incident done to our collective confidence in the police?

I suspect it varies widely from person to person.

Many people will look at the video in the light of Kevin Spratt's criminal record.

Whether intentional or not, the context provided by the police has cast Mr Spratt as a violent man with a violent history, a threat police were justifiably concerned about.

Many of those same people will find it hard to imagine the circumstances where they could find themselves the target of what has been euphemistically described by police and politicians as "excessive taser use".

As a middle-aged father of three from the suburbs who is a non-drinker and whose definition of a wild night out is seeing a movie with my wife, I consider it unlikely I'll find myself slugging it out with anyone, let alone police officers, in Northbridge or anywhere else.

But what if I was coming home from the movies, and happened upon what appeared to be a police officer assaulting a private citizen, as other officers stood by and watched?

What if I stopped and confronted those police officers about what was happening and was told by them to move on but I refused and they physically tried to push me away?

And what if I resisted? Not by striking out but by simply standing my ground, and frustrated and angered by my refusal to move, a police officer tasered me to the ground, and then tasered me again and again.

What would the other officers do? Would they stand there and watch like the seven officers in the Perth Watch House?

And when we got back to the police station, would the charge read that I'd behaved in a threatening manner, and that taser-wielding officer feared for his safety, and that I had to be restrained while resisting arrest?

Would that version of events be supported by the other officers, irrespective of whether it was true or not?

And in the absence of CCTV, whose word would be believed? Mine or that of the police?

Or, would just one of those officers step forward, and stop his or her colleague because it was clear the tasering officer was breaking the law?

Australia: Tasered man charged with obstruction

November 11, 2010
Updated 5 hours 30 minutes ago

A man who was tasered 13 times at the East Perth Watch House was charged with obstructing officers during the same incident.

Kevin Spratt was tasered repeatedly by police in August 2008.

The incident was captured on closed circuit video camera and subsequently shown to the Corruption and Crime Commission.

The statement of facts relating to the charge says that Mr Spratt was cooperative when he first arrived at the Watch House, but once his handcuffs were removed that he resisted attempts by officers to move him.

The statement says he became violent and aggressive by kicking and flailing his arms at officers who came near him.

WA Police Commissioner Karl O'Callaghan earlier denied any knowledge of the obstruction charge.

Last month Mr O'Callaghan wrote Mr Spratt an apology for the taser incident.

AUSTRALIA: Kevin Spratt demands release of second Taser footage

October 25, 2010
David Prestipino, PerthNow

TASER victim Kevin Spratt has written to Police Commissioner Karl O'Callaghan and Attorney General Christian Porter demanding access to vision of a second Taser attack and a copy of his criminal record by 2pm tomorrow.

Mr Spratt was Tasered up to 13 times by police officers in the East Perth Watch House in September 2008.

A week later he was Tasered a further 11 times at the watch house by officers from the Department of Corrective Services while being removed from his holding cell, an incident he says left him with serious injuries including a punctured lung.

Mr Porter told State Parliament Mr Spratt could have access to vision of the second attack so he could determine whether to press charges against those involved.

But Mr Spratt today claimed Mr Porter was deliberately finding ways to stall the vision being released.

"It must show shocking violence against me because, after the Corrective Services Officers took me out of the cell, I had a busted shoulder, a punctured lung and had to be admitted through the emergency department of Royal Perth Hospital for surgery," he said.

Mr Spratt has also asked Mr O'Callaghan for a copy of his criminal record after it was leaked to the media.

The leak is currently being investigated by the Corruption and Crime Commission, with Mr Spratt saying it was misleading and inaccurate.

"The flow chart handed out by the commissioner and deputy commissioners of police and their motivation behind producing the flow chart, I am assured, is currently under investigation by the CCC," Mr Spratt said.

"That is, that the actions of the commissioner of police and deputy commissioner of police are now under direct investigation by the CCC.

"The flow chart itself is seriously misleading and contains serious inaccuracies, which the CCC is obviously very concerned about and inquiring into at this time.

"I am of the opinion that there has been an obvious attempt to publicly destroy me in advance of any criminal trial of the police.

"I have also therefore asked the CCC to closely examine the police commissioner and his deputy as to the actual motivation behind what the Premier has called an 'unprecedented' attack upon a person who has come forward to make a complaint about police misconduct.

"Accordingly I requested a copy of my record of convictions ... so that I could directly address the inaccuracies."

Australia: Premier puzzled by release of criminal history

October 18, 2010
ABC News

The Premier Colin Barnett says it is unusual that police chose to release the criminal history of the man at the centre of a taser scandal.

Yesterday, the Police Commissioner Karl O'Callaghan released a timeline of events detailing the original arrest of Kevin Spratt and subsequent incidents where they allege he was violent.

In one of three incidents, Mr Spratt was tasered 13 times at the East Perth Watch House in 2008. On another occasion he was tasered 11 times by officers from the Department of Corrective Services.

Mr Barnett says he was surprised to hear that police had taken the step. "Ah it was unusual. I guess you've got to ask the Police Commissioner why he's done that," he said. "I don't think it detracts or draws us away from the issue that the treatment of that person, Mr Spratt in that situation was unacceptable."

Australia: Second Taser video won't be made public

Just last week, police in NSW (another part of Australia) announced that they were going to ban "non-video" equipped tasers. See National Police set to ban use of non-video Tasers

So what effect will today's decision by the Western Australian Government have on the NSW's certain future reluctance to release video footage that it deems "disturbing?"

The situation in Australia is dismal.

October 13, 2010
ABC News

The Western Australian Government has refused to release a second video of a man being tasered multiple times in custody in 2008.

Kevin Spratt was tasered 13 times in the East Perth watch-house in August 2008.

After being arrested again a week later, Mr Spratt was tasered 11 times by Department of Corrective Services officers while they were attempting to remove him from a prison cell.

Parliament has been told that police called for help on that occasion because Mr Spratt was aggressively spitting blood in their face and was believed to have hepatitis C.

Video footage of the first incident was released as part of a Corruption and Crime Commission (CCC) report last week.

Attorney-General Christian Porter told Parliament he has released video of the second incident to the Aboriginal Legal Service, but will not make it public.

"At this point in time, and I have been in two minds about it, I've determined at this point in time not to make the footage public," he said. "I can say that watching the footage was uncomfortable for me. It is a qualitatively different type to the police footage."

John Quigley wants footage of second Taser attack released

October 9, 2010
Yasmine Phillips, Perth Now

PRISON authorities are facing further pressure from the Opposition to release a video showing an Aboriginal man being Tasered 11 times - for the second time in a week.
Shadow attorney-general John Quigley has called on the Barnett Government to immediately release the footage, describing it as an "international disgrace''.

The man, Kevin Spratt, was also shot 13 times with a Taser at the East Perth Watch House, with that footage being released by the Corruption and Crime Commission last week.

Both incidents occurred in August 2008.

After the second incident, Mr Quigley said Mr Spratt was "severely injured'' and rushed from the watchhouse to the Royal Perth Hospital emergency department.

"We now know that there is a second video of a second Taser barrage inflicted upon the prisoner at the Perth lock-up approximately seven days after the first,'' Mr Quigley said.

"We do know that the government authorities have seen this video and they are keeping it secret because they do not want Australia and the world to know how black prisoners are treated in custody in WA. That can be the only explanation.

"Mr Spratt ended up in hospital after the second incident with a tube coming out of his chest from a punctured lung.

"He was manacled to a hospital bed and sustained a shoulder injury as well. He was severely injured during the second Taser barrage.

"This is a cover up. If they were serious, they would have started an inquiry two and a half years ago - not last Monday, five days ago.

"Mr Spratt is demanding access to that video immediately. This is a national disgrace. How we have treated black prisoners in WA is an international disgrace.''

The footage of the second incident is the property of the Department of Corrective Services.

A spokeswoman for the department said the matter had been referred to the professional standards division at the request of Corrective Services Minister Christian Porter.

"Because the matter is now under review, we can't comment any further,'' she said.

Australia: Police told to get tough on Taser misuse

Samantha Donovan, ABC News

Western Australia's Attorney-General wants a review of police disciplinary procedures after two officers escaped prosecution despite tasering a man 13 times in a Perth watch-house.

The call comes as New South Wales Police investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of a man who died after being tasered by officers during a domestic dispute in Sydney overnight.

The Perth case centres around an Aboriginal man who was tasered 13 times after refusing a strip-search in the East Perth lockup in 2008.

CCTV footage of the incident shows the man lying on the ground surrounded by officers and screaming as the Tasers are discharged.

The officers involved were fined following an internal investigation, but still work in the police force.

Footage of the incident was released yesterday as part of a report by the state's Corruption and Crime Commission (CCC).

The report found West Australian police were increasingly using Taser guns to get suspects to comply with orders, but the weapons were originally introduced to prevent injury and cut the use of guns. It also found that there was an increasing and disproportionate use of Tasers on Indigenous people. But the report concluded the Taser was an effective weapon and is most often used reasonably by officers.

Acting Commissioner of Western Australia Police, Chris Dawson, said the 2008 incident was unacceptable. "That particular incident was wrong. It was unacceptable and it is an example that is not typical of police use of Taser, particularly against detainees in the watch-house," he said. "It is an example from which we have learnt. We are dealing with violent persons regularly. In this particular instance, this person had an extensive criminal record and clearly, in my view, the officers overreacted."

WA Attorney-General Christian Porter said the officers' actions were "completely indefensible". "I would consider that any rational member of the Western Australian public who sees the extent of the excessive force would consider that the eventual penalties of $1,200 and a $750 fine respectively were insufficient," he said.

And Mr Porter wants police disciplinary procedures to be reviewed.

"There has to be some recognition that excessive use of force with a Taser is of a completely qualitatively different nature to just excessive use of force with your hands, if you like," he said.

"And I think we've reached the stage now where Tasers are such important instruments for the police force that disciplinary proceedings for excessive use of force with a Taser need to be treated in a special category."

Acting Commissioner Dawson said the detainee elected not to press criminal charges against the officers involved, but preferred to have the force discipline them.

Mr Porter said he was surprised the Aboriginal Legal Service did not urge its client to have the officers prosecuted.

"I would have thought that that footage alone was something in the nature of compelling evidence," he said.

"And why it was there was not a prosecution proceeded with, I simply don't have the answer to. And I'd like to know because, frankly, I find it surprising."

The chairman of WA's Deaths in Custody Watch Committee, Marc Newhouse, said the CCC report confirmed what he had been hearing anecdotally, particularly from Aboriginal people.

"It (the 2008 incident) made me feel sick. It's beyond the understanding of any reasonable person why they couldn't have resorted to other measures, yet they felt the need to use Tasers," he said.

"Unless there are fundamental changes in the use of Tasers, it's inevitable that there'll be more deaths in custody."

Man Tasered 13 times shows stun-guns fast becoming police weapon of choice: CCC

October 4, 2010
WA News

Nine police who surrounded an unarmed man at the East Perth watch house used a Taser on him 13 times even though he wasn't threatening them, the WA corruption watchdog has found.

The Corruption and Crime Commission investigation was part of a wider examination of WA Police's use of Tasers since their introduction in 2007, the majority of which were found to be reasonable.

The watchdog looked into the watch house incident after the Deputy Police Commissioner Chris Dawson brought it to their attention. It found the 39-year-old man could have been suffering from a mental illness or substance abuse when he was Tasered in August 2008.

Police said they tried to arrest the man on a Bayswater street after complaints of a trespasser sniffing petrol from cars, but he fled. They later arrested him after he ran into a stationary car on Guildford Road. He allegedly collapsed and became violent, kicking two officers when he woke.

He was taken to the watch house, where police attempted to strip search him. Police said he had previously been convicted of a number of offences including assaulting police officers, resisting arrest and common assault.

"The man had been compliant, removing his belt and earring when requested by police officers. However, the man refused to comply with a strip search and held onto the armrest of the bench. One police officer kicked out at the man in an attempt to 'startle' him into letting go of the bench," the report said.

"Another officer drew his Taser weapon and said 'let go or be Tasered'. The man did not let go and a Taser weapon was deployed on him. The man fell to the ground and was restrained by other police officers."

While he was struggling on the ground a police officer said "do you want to go again?" before discharging the Taser again.

CCC director of corruption prevention Roger Watson said the incident was subject to an internal police investigation and the two officers who fired the stun-gun faced disciplinary charges and were fined $1200 and $750 respectively for using undue and excessive force. Two senior officers were found to have provided inadequate supervision.

Mr Dawson said the inmate, who was later jailed on assault charges, did not elect to press charges against the two officers after consultations with the Aboriginal Legal Service and advice from the Director of Public Prosecutions. He conceded the officers were fortunate not to be sacked, though one had been promoted to a sergeant's position since the incident.

"This is an example which is not a good example to use in isolation, it is an example from which we have learnt, but it should not represent the way in which police deal with people all the time," Mr Dawson said.

"We're dealing with violent persons regularly, in this particular instance, this person had an extensive criminal record, and clearly in my view the officers overreacted. They didn't do it in accordance with the policy and the training. For that we very much regret what happened."

Mr Dawson said since the incident, stun guns had been raised against some of the 25,000 inmates brought through the watch house, but not fired by prison officers. He said Corrective Services officers had used Tasers in the watch house but they had their own policies on Tasers.

WA Premier Colin Barnett said he was disturbed by what he saw in the footage.

''It was excessive use of a Taser that could not be justified,'' Mr Barnett said. ''I think anyone seeing that footage would find it totally unacceptable.''

Mr Barnett admitted the incident was a major breach of procedure by the officers involved, and their actions could not be "swept under the carpet".

WA Attorney-General Christian Porter said the incident was completely indefensible and a breach of police guidelines that stipulate Tasers should not be used to get people to comply with orders.

He said the officers' behaviour could "properly described as outrageous" and that the fines against them were insufficient.

Mr Porter said police guidelines setting out when Tasers could be used needed to be reviewed.

"The government accepts that those guidelines need to be reviewed, we accept the CCC's recommendation in that respect and they will be reviewed," Mr Porter said.

"As a second point of priority this government will be looking into the police force regulations and ways in which we can ensure that the use of Tasers is put to a higher standard in terms of disciplinary proceedings, than just any old run-of-the-mill excessive use of force."

A second case highlighted in the CCC report concerned a man who was Tasered while running from police officers, causing him to fall and break a tooth. He was Tasered twice again while on the ground and seemingly not posing a risk to the male and female officer trying to apprehend him.

Taser use growing in WA Police force

Tasers are meant to be used in violent situations, to stop officers having to resort to guns or use lethal force. The weapons deliver a 50,000-volt electric shock to the target, disrupting their muscles. They can also be used in stun-mode, where the shock causes pain but not incapacitation.

But the CCC also found the high-voltage weapon had become the favoured option for police over capsicum spray, batons and handcuffs, with officers reaching for their Tasers in 65 per cent of cases where force was used.

The CCC said Tasers were increasingly used to impose compliance by alleged offenders rather than as an alternative to firearms to reduce injury, as originally intended.

Tasers were used in 49 per cent of incidents where force was necessary in 2007. That figure increased to 74 per cent in 2008 and settled at 65 per cent in 2009. The use of guns had doubled in the same time-frame, rising from 6 per cent to 12 per cent.

The investigation found the weapons were being used disproportionately against Aboriginal people. The CCC was also concerned about the frequency of Taser use against people with mental illness and drug users.

An analysis of the weapons revealed police usually used them between 9pm and 3am from Friday through to Sunday.

"There were common situations in which a Taser weapon was deployed, including domestic violence incidents, disturbances, fights and brawls, traffic stops, vehicle pursuits, and reports of weapons and/or assaults," the report said.

Injuries to police had not decreased since the introduction of the weapons, while a study of incidents over a three-month period in 2009 showed those involved in altercations were a Taser was used were 54 per cent less likely to be injured.

The CCC gave 10 recommendations surrounding Taser use, asking for the policy to be changed so that officers could only use them in situations where a safe resolution could not be reached in any other way.

It recommended the weapons should not be used when there was a risk of the person falling and sustaining a serious injury, if they were near water or at risk of drowning, against pregnant women, on those with pre-existing medical conditions, or near flammable liquid or gas.

Mr Watson said the recommendations would bring Taser use in WA into line with other parts of Australia and the world.

"A serious over-reliance on Tasers within the West Australian Police Service"

October 4, 2010
ABC News

West Australian Premier Colin Barnett has described vision of an unarmed man being tasered 13 times as damaging for the reputation of the state's police force.

The footage was released today as part of the Corruption and Crime Commission's (CCC) report on the use of Tasers by WA Police.

The report found a growing trend among police to use the weapon predominantly for compliance or on those resisting arrest.

In this instance, the man was surrounded by a group of police officers when he was tasered after refusing a strip search at the East Perth lockup in 2008.

Two officers were charged over the incident and police admit it was unacceptable.

Mr Barnett says the 2008 incident is disturbing and is a major breach of procedure.

"I think it's something that cannot be swept under the carpet or excused," he said.

"This is not a minor disciplinary action within the police service, this is a major breach of procedure."

WA Attorney-General Christian Porter has described the incident as outrageous.

"There is no intention on the part of the Government to defend the indefensible," he said.

The CCC has found there is a serious over-reliance on Tasers within the West Australian Police Service.

WA Police introduced Tasers in 2007 as an alternative to the use of handguns in dangerous situations.

The report noted the use of capsicum spray and handcuffs had dropped significantly since then and that Tasers had become the weapon of choice for officers.

The CCC found that while Taser usage on the whole was reasonable, there were concerns about the disproportionate use of Tasers against Indigenous people.

It has made 10 recommendations to police, including restricting the use of Tasers to dangerous situations in an attempt to minimise the misuse of the weapons.

Mr Porter says the Government will look at toughening the guidelines for Tasers to ensure the weapons are only used in dangerous and life-threatening situations.