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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Adeshola Ore and Christopher Knaus

‘Staggering’: watchdog condemns police after Indigenous teenager on bus wrongfully arrested – then searched

An AFP logo cap
An AFP logo cap. ACT policing sits under the AFP as the community policing arm. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

The commonwealth and ACT ombudsman has criticised the Australian federal police for failing to clearly define “racial profiling” after police in Canberra pulled guns on an Indigenous teenager they mistook for a suspect in an aggravated burglary.

The scathing investigation, released on Tuesday, made eight recommendations to the Australian federal police (AFP) and ACT policing after investigating the November 2025 incident. ACT policing sits under the AFP as the community policing arm.

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