Police inappropriately searched Aboriginal teen after mistaken gunpoint arrest
The ACT Ombudsman finds police inappropriately, and seemingly unlawfully, searched a 17-year-old Aboriginal boy after mistakenly arresting him at gunpoint on a bus in Canberra's south last year.
Three police officers arrested an Aboriginal teenager at gunpoint in Canberra last November, only to discover he was not the individual they were searching for. A recent report from the Commonwealth and ACT Ombudsman has found that the 17-year-old was subjected to an inappropriate, seemingly unlawful, and potentially lethal search following his arrest.
The ombudsman made eight recommendations, five of which were fully accepted by the AFP and ACT Policing, with three accepted in principle. The incident occurred when the 17-year-old was pulled from a bus at gunpoint, believing he was a man with a knife who had attempted to carjack a vehicle. Once off the bus, he was pushed to the ground and arrested before officers realized their mistake.
The ombudsman found that the search was unlawful and unnecessary, as Jay was not the individual they were looking for. The incident lasted just under four minutes but has caused serious repercussions for Jay and his family and strained the relationship between ACT Policing and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
The ombudsman did not find evidence to support the view that race led to increased or more extreme uses of force.
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