Addressing Excessive Use of Police Force in Victoria

INTRODUCTION
Excessive use of force by police officers has been one of the major challenge facing police
services in various jurisdictions. The excessive use of police force is common during suppression
of demonstrations, apprehension of offenders and treatment of arrested persons in police cells.
Victoria as a state is the leading Australian territory with high cases of excessive use of police
force. Some police officers have committed worst atrocities to arrested persons such as rape and
other forms of assault causing bodily harm, (William A Westley, 1964).
The government therefore needs to act with speed by reforming the police services to ensure the
use of force is well regulated through effective laws and policies. Laws introducing an
independent and impartial oversight body or commission should be introduced to effectively
handle the police brutality complaints. This research paper analyses a report on police brutality
incident in rural Victoria. The paper analyses the various actions that were taken by the relevant
stakeholders to address the situation and whether they captured everything that was supposed to
be addressed.
This research further proceeds on a proper advice to the responsible minister. The paper the
advices the minister on how he can best respond to the report. The response includes the policies
that the minister and the various stakeholders can initiate to remedy the situation. The paper
informs the minister about a brief background to the situation in the report. It then proceeds to
various options that the minister can adopt. Finally the paper proposes various recommendations
in terms of policy requirements that can help correct the situation raised in the report as
discussed below.
BACKGROUND
The Independent Broad-based Anti-Corruption Commission (IBAC) released a report on
misconduct committed by police officers in rural Victoria in Ballarat Police station. IBAC was
given CCTV footage from Ballarat police station showing a police officer brutally assaulting a
woman held in custody. IBAC (2016) also examined other cases confirming use of excessive
force by police on three women who were brutally mishandled at a public foyer within the same
station. The interesting bit of the two cases was that in both the incidents were captured on a
CCTV camera. This fact there proves that excessive use of force is the order of the day in the

station since the officers are not deterred from acting in unprofessional manner by the presence
of CCTV cameras meaning they are used to the misconduct.
It was due to the above police brutality incidents that IBAC decided to commence the
investigations by the name ‘Operation Ross.’ IBAC got involves in the matter because the
incident fell with its mandate for action. IBAC is tasked with investigating corruption cases and
police misconduct and making the necessary findings and recommendations. The investigations
mounted by IBAC extended to cover allegations on excessive use force to other people by
Ballarat police station officers. The commission also examined the Victorian police data which
revealed high complaint profile made against police officers at Ballarat police station. The
commission noted an area of concern particularly on the incidences of over-representation of
Ballarat Sergeants in complaint queries.
IBAC noted the response given by senior police management at the divisional level. The
commission was also concerned of the response given particularly by the professional Standards
Command (PSC). The report exposed the excessive use of force of Ballarat police station
officers which is against the law. The investigations dubbed operation Ross made findings that
there was total disregard of the law and mistreatment of women held in custody. IBAC founded
out that there was numerous loopholes and deficiencies in most of Victorian Police policies and
practical guidelines. Some of the deficient policies included policies concerning dealing with
officers facing multiple police complaints and strip search policy. IBAC made several
recommendations to the Victorian police force which included introduction of a charge for
common assault or other equivalent relevant charges and improvement of the policies guiding
Victorian police among other recommendations.
The violation of human rights such as respect and dignity has been common through the
alarming rate of footages showing Victorian police officers handlings suspects without dignity
and brutality. The violation of the Victorian Charter on Human rights by police officers is
therefore an area of public concern than need to be addressed by stakeholders urgently. The
Victorian police officers have violated some of the provisions of the Victorian Charter of Human
Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006 and policies governing the use of force. Some of those
policies are ineffective hence need upgrading in form of making improvement on them so that

they can efficiently deter the use of force, (Victorian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity
Commission Report 2008).
Tamar Hopkins (2009) has recommended several practical solutions that Victoria can adopt to
prevent Victoria police from excessive use of force. According to Hickman Mathew et all,
(2006) some of the strategies recommended are publishing both internal and external reports of
police brutality and issuing out satisfactory responses to members of the public. Tamar proposes
for an internal departmental intervention and proper disciplinary actions to officers facing
numerous complaints. Victoria has the highest number of reported police brutality cases due to
absence of any intervention measures into complaints made against police officers, (Flemington
& Kensington Community Legal Centre, 1992). Victoria can therefore adopt a system of having
an Independent police oversight authority which works well in Northern Ireland. (Prenzler &
Ronken, 2001) A body investigating police brutality cases is supposed to be impartial and
independent and fully dedicated to only handling police misconduct cases.( Prenzler, Tim 2009 )
Other states in Australia at least have internal intervention measures hence have not recorded
high police brutality cases as seen in Victoria.
OPTIONS TO THE CONCERNED MINISTER
Having looked at the report by IBAC concerning Operation Ross, Victoria has a long way to go
in ensuring that there is no excessive use of force by police. The situation has indeed worsened in
Victoria according to the IBAC report hence there is need for urgent but long term measures to
curb the situation. The measures would range from review of laws and amendment of police
policies to regulate the situation. The first option to the minister is to consider the role that IBAC
plays in handing the investigations and whether it is adequate. The IBAC has other mandates to
cover including corruption hence cannot effectively handle police brutality cases. It has been
argued that IBAC only covers 2% of the police brutality cases and leaves 98% of the cases to be
handled by the police force itself. The same police force being accused cannot handle the cases
effectively for better results. This paper therefore suggests to the concerned minister an option of
introducing a federal Independent Police Oversight Authority that will investigate and prosecute
the complaints without fear of favour. (Williams Kristian, 2006)