Cop disciplined in-house
A POLICE officer who hit a teenager with a car during an arrest on Palm Island breached Queensland Police Service policy, an internal investigation found.
The unidentified officer, who was driving the car at the time of the collision, was dealt with internally “through managerial action” a spokeswoman told the Bulletin.
Police were attempting to arrest 18-year-old Jawan Kerr on August 29, last year when a marked police car hit the teenager, who has a crippled leg and walks with a limp.
A Queensland Police Service spokeswoman said Kerr was running along Stanley St as an officer a “few metres behind” pursued him on foot.
“A marked police vehicle, containing three officers, approached from the other direction and as the man ran towards a driveway, the driver of the police vehicle pulled in attempting to restrict his path,” she said. “A low speed collision occurred with the man struck in the midriff area causing him to fall to the ground.”
Kerr was treated at the scene for “minor” injuries before paramedics took him to the Palm Island medical facility where he was deemed fit to be released into police custody.
He spent two nights in custody at Townsville Watchhouse before he was released on bail facing charges including seriously assaulting police, burglary, assault, and possessing drug utensils.
His matter remains before the court and the 18-year-old faces additional charges.
A QPS statement said the almost 11-month internal Ethical Standards Command investigation was overseen by the Crime and Corruption Commission. QPS said the officer was not stood down during the investigation or as disciplinary action but said they undertook professional development aimed at “decision making and operational driving”.
Three other police officers, Detective Senior Sergeant Benjamin Weare, Constable Morgan Lyons and Acting Senior Constable Erica Thompson, faced court after a separate Ethical Standards Command investigation found dashcam footage of the incident was illegally leaked and shared. Weare was fined $1000 and a conviction was recorded after he pleaded guilty to improperly disclosing information. Both Lyons and Thompson were fined but not convicted after pleading guilty to a single charge each of improperly disclosing information.
In court it was revealed that Constable Lyons was one of the officers involved in the arrest and covertly recorded the internal video on her mobile phone and shared it with Sergeant Weare using airdrop.
The court heard that once Sergeant Weare acquired the footage, he allowed Constable Thompson to record it and she further shared the 14-second recording with another officer on Snapchat.
Officers were not permitted to access the video which was only provided to the Ethical Standards Command branch, the Forensic Crash Unit and officer-in-charge of the Palm Island Police Station Dave Rutherford. Rutherford was allowed to play the clip to a small group of officers, which is when police allege Lyons filmed it.