Canberra court: Police 'exceedingly heavy-handed' in Taser use on disabled woman

Seven police officers surrounded an Aboriginal woman at a bus stop in Canberra in January, and one of them activated a Taser against her back.

Special Magistrate Sean Richter, a former South Australian police officer, described the force used in the arrest as "exceedingly heavy-handed." The incident occurred at a bus stop after police received a report that the woman, identified only as Emma, was carrying a knife. Officers searched a nearby backpack and found only two pairs of scissors, one of which was broken.

Body-worn camera footage played in the ACT Magistrates Court in September showed Emma raising her hands immediately upon the officers' arrival. She pointed a Taser toward her own chest to demonstrate she was unarmed. Richter noted that she pleaded with the officers not to use the stun gun. Despite her compliance, she was pulled to the ground when she pushed back against an officer attempting to handcuff her. While two officers held her down, another pressed the Taser against her back and activated it in "drive stun" mode.

Richter emphasized that the officers knew Emma's background before the arrest. He stated that the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal had previously described her as having a mental impairment and a neurocognitive disorder. Emma had suffered a traumatic brain injury in a motor vehicle accident at age 12 and was under a psychiatric treatment order. "I sometimes wonder when we lost the ability to speak to people," Richter said. "She's a woman that was putting up no resistance. She's sitting on the bench with her arms in the air."

The magistrate found it "blatantly apparent" to anyone dealing with Emma that she required specific care. He expressed surprise that police reacted as they did in the current legal climate. "It's blatantly apparent to anyone that deals with this woman that she has a significant cognitive disorder and should be treated as such," he said. "I find it amazing that in this day and age the police reacted in the way that they did."

Police initially charged Emma with multiple offences. Prosecutors later withdrew all charges except possessing a knife without reasonable excuse, which related to the scissors found in her bag. She pleaded guilty and was convicted. She also appeared before Richter on unrelated matters. A transcript of the September hearing was released in October.

In a statement, ACT Policing said it noted Richter's comments but declined to comment further because a civil claim is underway. Emma's lawyer, Michael Lalor, filed the claim in July. It accuses one officer of misfeasance in public office and alleges that misleading statements in police evidence led to more serious charges being laid. The claim states that Emma spent 28 days in custody before bail was granted after her lawyers viewed the body-worn footage.

The statement of claim argues that police wrongly asserted Emma ignored commands and attempted to strike an officer in the face multiple times. It alleges police misrepresented a witness who reported seeing a woman with a knife. The witness told police he was in a moving vehicle with locked doors and "wasn't particularly scared." Lalor is seeking exemplary damages for assault and battery and alleging breaches of the Human Rights Act. Police have not yet filed a defence.

The case follows a review in June last year where the ombudsman found unprofessional behavior in about a third of reviewed cases. That investigation recommended police better equip officers to understand mental illness, a recommendation police did not accept. In August, the commonwealth and ACT ombudsman criticized the force for failing to clearly define racial profiling after officers drew guns on an Indigenous teenager they mistook for a suspect.