A New South Wales police officer touched the exposed nipple of a 15-year-old Aboriginal boy who was sedated and restrained on an ambulance trolley while laughing with other officers and making a turkey noise, the state’s law enforcement watchdog has found.
The Law Enforcement Conduct Commission (LECC) recommended in a report released on Tuesday that NSW police consider demoting the officer, who it found had engaged in serious misconduct during the February 2021 incident.
But the Aboriginal Legal Service, which made the complaint to the LECC that prompted its investigation, called for the officer to be immediately dismissed and charged with assault.
The identity of the boy, the officers, and the location where the incident occurred were all removed from the LECC report.
The boy, referred to in the report as KIM1, had been arrested for breaching bail, flooded his police cell, and then threatened self-harm on the night of the incident.
An ambulance was called to transport him from the police cells to hospital for assessment.
The LECC found that when he was being restrained on an ambulance trolley he was subject to “disgusting” conduct by an officer referred to as KIM4, who touched him on the nipple and stomach and laughed at him while making a “gobble gobble” noise.
“He could hear Officer KIM4 making an offensive and demeaning silly turkey gobbler noise,” the LECC found.
“He could feel the officers touching him including Officer KIM4’s touch to his stomach and nipple. He could hear the officers laughing in response to Officer KIM4’s conduct.
“This incident involved disgraceful conduct by Officer KIM4 and all those officers who laughed with and at him. It was conduct that paid no regard to the feelings of the child who was in their custody. No one seemed to remember that Civilian KIM1 was just that, a child.”
The commission found that the boy lived in difficult circumstances, and was regularly in trouble with police. He had behaved badly on the night, and spat continuously, including at officers, who had found themselves in a difficult situation but had no justification for behaving as they did.
“He is unlikely to forget the unsympathetic way in which he was treated and his relationship with the police is probably incapable of rehabilitation.
“This type of conduct is not only likely to affect the attitude of the particular young person towards the police but carries the risk of damaging the relationship of the police with the local Aboriginal community damaging the hard work and effort of senior police to improve that relationship.
“Whilst, to some extent, this sort of heedless jocularity arises out of the stressful circumstances of policing at the coalface, combined with on-the-job inexperience, there is an obligation on officers performing this face-to-face work to behave sensitively and responsibly, particularly when dealing with children.”
The LECC summoned five officers and a paramedic to examinations as part of its investigation in February. It had previously reviewed CCTV footage of the incident.
Officer KIM4 had said in a police statement that he did not believe he had touched the boy, but agreed he had after reviewing CCTV footage that was clearer than the vision he had previously been shown. He also watched slow-motion footage of the incident.
His recollection had not been that he touched the boy but that he had said something to “lighten the mood”, which had caused him and other officers to laugh.
When another officer was asked in their examination why they could be seen laughing in the footage, they said “Officer KIM4’s an idiot and … he’s taken the chance to be a clown. I’m not laughing at his actions per se; I’m laughing…at him.”
The boy had been charged with assaulting police as a result of the incident, but as those charges had been dismissed in Parramatta children’s court last June, the LECC did not investigate those matters. It noted, however, that it was “not clear” why the boy was charged.
The LECC said legal representatives for the officers involved in the incident were provided with a draft version of the report and invited to make submissions, but chose not to do so. It recommended the commissioner of police consider demoting KIM4, but not fining or dismissing him. It recommended counselling and further training for the other officers involved.
The Aboriginal Legal Service said the boy wanted the officer to be charged.
“This behaviour is cruel and dehumanising, and the response from these other officers demonstrates an even bigger problem in the culture of NSW police,” Karly Warner, the chief executive of the Aboriginal Legal Service NSW, said.
“This man did not protect and serve. He is not fit to be a police officer nor to be in any position of power over others, let alone children.
“Together with our client, we expect the officer to be terminated from the police force immediately, and for criminal charges to follow.”
