New South Wales police have rejected calls from the state’s police watchdog for updated training and protocols for officers on the use of force, especially when handcuffing children, after a scathing report handed down last year.
In its Operation Mantus report, the NSW law enforcement conduct commission (Lecc) said the way police were trained should be changed and ongoing education provided to officers.
Among its 19 recommendations, the commission said there was the need for “ongoing assessment as to whether it is appropriate to leave the person handcuffed after the arrest”.
The police rejected the recommendation, along with another three, saying that when any police power is used the “involved officer must justify the use of that power”.
“It is the position of the NSWPF that the police handbook and use of force manual provide clear and sufficient guidance about the use of police powers, and the considerations a NSWPF officer is required to make before and during the use of a police power,” police said.
The police force also rejected the recommendation to review its policies and procedures governing the need for police to “obtain prompt medical attention for people who have sustained injuries following the use of force by police officers”.
In its response, the force said all injuries were already “assessed as one of the first steps when they enter custody”.
“The NSWPF asserts that sufficient guidance is already provided regarding this requirement,” police said.
The commission began Operation Mantus after a 14-year-old boy was arrested in September 2022 when plainclothes officers targeted a community in Northern NSW to identify and, if necessary, arrest young offenders.
The teenager was injured during his arrest and taken to hospital. He had claimed he was “bashed” by police, but the commission found his injuries occurred as a result of him falling while being pursued, and then being forced to the ground during his arrest.
The officers were not wearing body-worn cameras when they arrested the boy and the Lecc also said “a question remains” about whether the arrest was lawful.
The boy spoke with the Aboriginal Legal Service from the police station, was advised about his right to silence, and told his lawyer he wished to exercise this right, the report said.
His lawyer told the NSW police custody manager of these instructions verbally and via email. But the teenager was still interviewed by two officers later that morning, the report said.
In its report, the Lecc made 19 recommendations after finding police had a “systemic problem” of interviewing young people in custody in a way that compromised their right to silence.
The police response comes as the state parliament considers the Minns government’s contentious new laws that would make it harder for teenage offenders to get bail. The government expects its legislation to pass later this week.
Police use of force in NSW has attracted considerable scrutiny over the past year following a string of high-profile cases. The Lecc has released several other reports criticising the force’s treatment of Aboriginal people.
