The Authority oversaw a Police investigation into a complaint about the lawfulness of Police entering a family home to arrest the complainant’s son. There was also a complaint about how much force was used against the family during the arrest.
Police determined officers lawfully entered the complainant’s home and were justified in arresting his son. Police acknowledged the complainant’s version of events was different from that of the attending officers.
Police concluded the force officers say they used to complete the arrest and prevent other family members from obstructing them was reasonable based on their version of events. No further lines of inquiry are available to resolve these conflicting accounts.
Police agreed with the family that an occupant was unintentionally exposed to OC (pepper) spray and apologised for this. Police identified learning opportunities which were addressed with the attending officers.
Police say a further allegation that the complainant’s son was assaulted while in custody was disproved by a review of CCTV footage conducted at the time. The Authority was unable to review the footage as this was lost due to routine deletion.
The Authority agrees with the findings of the investigation and considers the actions taken were appropriate.
IPCA: 22-14411