Police may change restraint tactics after deaths in custody Posted Wed Jan 2, 2008 Northern Territory police say they will use other methods for restraining people if investigations into two recent deaths in custody find that changes are needed. A Palmerston man died yesterday while being loaded into a caged truck and another man died last week after struggling with police at Royal Darwin Hospital. Police say man who died after he was restrained was drunk. Police say they went to the 52-year-old man's home in Driver after getting a report of a disturbance. Assistant Commissioner Mark McAdie says the man struggled with officers and then stopped breathing when he was being loaded into the back of a caged truck. He has expressed his condolences to the man's family and says the matter is being investigated. __________________________________________________________ See also - 8 deaths in police custody in just 25 days
Rebekah Cavanagh (NT News) __________________________________________________________
"Part of the purpose of a coronial investigation is to determine whether or not the actions taken by all the parties concerned were appropriate and whether there needs to be a change," he said. "If the investigation leads us to the conclusion there needs to be change in our methodology, we will do that." Mr McAdie says reports are being prepared for the coroner and the officers involved will remain on duty. "The members involved in both cases are no doubt suffering themselves from the consequences of both of these incidents," he said. "We have no reason to believe that our members did anything but behave in the most professional and appropriate manner in the circumstances, not withstanding the tragic outcome." He says the deaths are being investigated but there is no indication officers acted inappropriately. "Any single death looks bad enough, but having this coincidence of a number of deaths in a fairly short span of time does look bad," he said. "At this point in time, there's no reason to believe it's no more than a coincidence, remembering that each of these incidents arises from the actions of the other people that essentially forces us to take action." _____________________________________________________ 8 deaths in police custody in just 25 days REBEKAH CAVANAGH 03Jan08  SCENE: The house in Driver where a man died while in police custody on Tuesday
POLICE last night admitted things "look bad" for the Territory police force after another person died in custody. It was the eighth death in police custody in less than a month. But NT Assistant Commissioner of Crime and Support Service Mark McAdie defended the actions of the officers involved and said the deaths were an "unfortunate coincidence". "Any single death looks bad enough, but having this coincidence of a number of deaths in a fairly short span of time does look bad," he said. Mr McAdie said the officers involved had not been stood down. "Each of the incidents are completely separate and involve different members from around the Territory," he said. "We have no reason to believe that our members did anything except behave in the most professional and appropriate manner ... notwithstanding the tragic outcome. "Remembering, each of these incidents arises from the actions of other people that essentially cause us to take action." The latest death in custody was on Tuesday afternoon when police tried to restrain a 52-year-old man at a Palmerston residence after reports he was causing a disturbance at the Driver home. Police said during the struggle to take the man into protective custody for drunkenness about 4.50pm he "apparently stopped breathing". The officers tried to resuscitate the man at the scene until St John Ambulance paramedics arrived and took him to Royal Darwin Hospital, where he was pronounced dead soon afterwards. On Friday, 57-year-old Territory filmmaker and journalist Robert William Plasto Lehner, known as Bob Plasto, died at RDH after he was taken into protective custody a week earlier when he had a seizure at a popular Darwin pub. And on December 7, six people - four men and two women - were killed in a single-vehicle crash during a police chase in Central Australia. The six people were all from the Hermannsburg community, southwest of Alice Springs. All these deaths are being treated as deaths in custody as required under the Northern Territory Coroner's Act, due to the police involvement. Mr McAdie said the Major Crime Unit was investigating the most recent death and a post mortem examination would be conducted today. He said police would prepare a report for the coroner and would be open to change its restraining procedure if it is deemed necessary. "If the investigation leads to the conclusion that there needs to be a change in our methodology we will do that," he said. ______________________________________________________
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