The head of ACT Police has apologised to a 17-year-old Aboriginal boy who had a weapon pointed at him and was forcibly removed from a bus during a search for an armed robbery suspect, while maintaining that the officers involved acted appropriately.
The boy's family gathered outside the ACT Legislative Assembly on Thursday morning, calling for accountability over what they described as "racial profiling". They said the teen had been travelling on a public bus to visit relatives when police stopped the vehicle, boarded with weapons drawn, and removed him without asking his name or giving any explanation.
Police said they were searching for a person allegedly responsible for a shop robbery in Woden, who was reportedly armed with a knife, amid further reports of carjackings in the area.
The family rejected suggestions the incident was a mistake, insisting it "was not a misunderstanding" but a "gross violation of a child's human rights". They said their nephew "did not match the description" and was unarmed, simply "minding his own business".
"Your officers pointed a gun at him," they said.
"Your officers dragged him off a bus. Your officers slammed him onto the ground. Your officers pinned him down with their knees. And even after realising they had the wrong boy, they still searched him; a terrified child who kept saying, 'I didn't do anything'."
View this post on Instagram
ACT Policing Chief Police Officer, Scott Lee, told reporters officers apologised to the boy after realising they had arrested the wrong person.
"I also want to make an apology to the young person who was involved in this incident," he said.
"For the misidentification and the trauma it obviously has caused this young person; the impact on the young person, his family and the broader community."
However, Deputy Commissioner Lee said he stood by the officers' actions, noting they were responding to three attempted carjackings in which a woman received lacerations and another person was thrown from a vehicle.
"I am aware of calls for ACT policing members involved to be stood down," he said.
"I want to be clear that I have reviewed the body-worn camera of this matter from the bus, and also based on that body-worn camera review, and the briefings that I have received, I support the actions of our members in responding to a dynamic, violent incident, where their primary concern was the safety of the community [and] ensuring there was no further harm to the community."
He said the matter would nonetheless be independently investigated "given the community's concerns", with findings to determine whether the police response was appropriate.
Complaints will be handled by the AFP's Professional Standards Command alongside the ACT Ombudsman.
Deputy Commissioner Lee said police had received information a person "matching the physical and clothing description of the alleged offender" — later arrested and charged — was on the bus. After the bus stopped, the teen was removed, arrested, and "searched after he was arrested".
"That will obviously be part of the independent investigation, as to whether there were grounds for that arrest," he said.
"One of our police officers had a knee on his lower back, which is part of our training."
Within two minutes, he said officers "realised that there was a misidentification on the basis of a CCTV photograph that had been provided" and the child was "unarrested".
The family say the boy, who is dealing with the loss of his father and separated from his mother, has since become withdrawn, refuses to leave home, and startles easily.
"He lives in fear of police... and that fear was created by your officers," they said.
"He depends on the small circle of family he has left: his grandmother, aunties, uncles, siblings, and cousins who hold him up every day. He is a child who needed care, protection, and understanding, not guns, force, and terror.
"This trauma will not disappear. It has changed him. It has changed us."
The family is calling for a full investigation, public release of body-worn camera footage, funding for trauma counselling, and for the officers involved to be stood down during the inquiry.
Deputy Commissioner Lee did not rule out allowing the family to view the footage, and denied the force is institutionally racist.
"I don't believe we have institutional racism," he said. "We have been on the record that we are committed to improving the arrangements, training, processes and systems."
ACT Police Minister, Marisa Paterson, said she had offered to meet the family and issued an apology on behalf of the government.
"I want to acknowledge the distress experienced by the young person who was incorrectly identified as an offender during a recent police operation," she said.
"I express my sincere apologies to the young person and his family on behalf of the ACT government.
"I want to provide assurance to the community that I have full confidence in ACT policing. Continuing to work to build trust and relationships with parts of our community that feel vulnerable in their interactions with police is a priority for myself as minister and for this government."
