WA Police chief pushes for body cameras in wake of Fremantle taser incident
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WA Police Commissioner Chris Dawson will ask the State Government for millions of dollars in extra funding for body-worn video cameras in a bid to provide better accountability and protection of officers and members of the public.
Commissioner Dawson spoke about the issue while being questioned by a parliamentary committee about a Corruption and Crime Commission (CCC) report into the tasering of a man who was pulled over for a random breath test in March last year.
The report concluded the man was unlawfully tasered in and the officer acted in a way which was not only "unreasonable and oppressive", but in the CCC's opinion also amounted to serious misconduct.
The officer has been stood aside.
Appearing before the Joint Standing Committee on the CCC, Commissioner Dawson revealed he had just received — but had not yet read — a 46-page legal advice letter from the State Solicitor's Office on the case.
The legal advice, which has not been made public, examined whether there were any unlawful or criminal matters that needed to be dealt with.
Commissioner Dawson agreed with the committee that the investigation by the police traffic branch and then the Police Conduct Investigation Unit into the matter, which concluded that the tasering officer had done nothing wrong, was not good enough.
He went on to question whether authorities got a full understanding of incidents like the Fremantle case when they were sometimes only partially captured by citizen's mobile phones.
"[It's] like watching halfway through a bad movie," he said.
Commissioner Dawson argued that in order to capture the entire "truth", including what was not seen on phone footage, police needed body-worn video cameras.
"I'm a very strong advocate for wanting to introduce that," he told the committee.
Cameras costly but necessary: Dawson
Police are finalising a business case to put to Police Commissioner Michelle Roberts for the cameras in the wake of a recent trial, to enhance "accountability and protection of all parties concerned".
Commissioner Dawson acknowledged the cost of training officers and storing the data would be high, and police would require another $5–10 million from the Government.
"[But] it will not only provide clarity around matters," he said outside the hearing.
"It will provide either exoneration for officers for allegations that have been made, or it will provide evidence that the officers haven't done things right.
"Most importantly, it captures all of the events, [and] whenever they go to court, it will provide an opportunity, not just for those that are accused of crime but for victims as well."
The police union has also backed the move.
Topics: police, crime, states-and-territories, state-parliament, corruption, perth-6000, fremantle-6160, wa
