Special investigation exposes shocking alleged police brutality | 60 Minutes Australia

it's a given police officers are tough and that they're prepared to use their strengths when needed that's their job right but what happens when officers are too tough what happens when they cross the thin blue line in this joint investigation by 60 minutes and the age newspaper reporter Nick McKenzie reveals extraordinary cases where Australians claim they've encountered police at their very worst these victims have suffered life-changing physical injuries as a result but even more worrying they're being confronted by a flawed complaint system and a police culture we're covering up seems more important than the truth I woke up pretty much every morning with a constant reminder nikka Demopoulos used to have a fully functioning right arm it's like waking up nightmare then just realizing oh this is actually real then one night five months ago he had a run-in with intruders but not just any intruders the men who busted into his flat were Victorian police officers there was a struggle and Nick's shoulder was torn clean from its socket his bones shattered changing his life forever his crime well there wasn't one the police stormed the wrong house and arrested the wrong man I could feel that my arms flipped around Iran was not where it was yeah and I just can't help by thinking that how this happened to properly do their job police are given special powers including the right to use force but [Music] when police go too far just like anyone else they need to be held to account the handcuffed me and dropped me onto the ground someone broke my neck a joint investigation by 60 minutes and at the age has revealed shocking incidents where police have crossed a dangerous line the most serious cases we found are here in Victoria and to make matters worse the police watchdog here lacks the powers and resources to properly confront bad behavior it's a problem even police bosses want fixed if Detroit police loses the trust and confidence of the Victorian community we're in a really bad place in our state but our politicians are refusing to act on and accept your contention Nick Demopoulos is certainly not the sort of person you'd expect to have a violent confrontation with police the thought never crossed his mind either as he went to sleep at the flats above his friends bookshop on the night of May 11 outside a manhunt was underway and police searching for an armed offender mistakenly believed their suspect had entered the store the police came in here through the garage they jimmied up the garage door they came through here one group went straight ahead to our front door while the others came out of stairs Crusader Hillis and Roland Thompson are Nick's flatmates and the owners of the hairs and highly in his bookshop the first thing I can remember is torches in my face and a lot of noise fearing a home invasion and with no idea it was police who barged inside both Crusader and Roland froze in fear how are you feeling when you saw please been in and heard their voices I thought that that they were coming to fascists NIC's reaction was to run what were you scared of intruders I mean that's clearly what to me they were when I was running down steps it was literally for my life as Nick tried to escape he was grabbed from behind by officers and still struggling forced into the gutter and restrained do you ever remember seeing a police officer a moment on their face when they realized geez we've got the wrong guy no no even when they decided to bring Nick in from outside they lifted him from his arms from the back so they were dragging on what were broken arms and picking him up Nick's now had two major surgeries to attempt to restore some movement to his right arm first time but the bad news is the damage could be permanent have you ever seen the x-ray of your injury why can't you look at that I just it's too horrific well that picture there pretty much tells you the extent of his injury an orthopedic surgeon dr. Sushil pant says Nick's injury is one of the worst shoulder fractures he's ever seen that's the shoulder blade here that's the socket you can see the balls down in the armpit almost here and this thought this fracture is in a lot of pieces yeah strange as it might sound though Nick is one of the lucky ones lucky because within hours of the attack his case hit the headlines he was mistaken for a criminal's the full use of his arm after he was seriously injured by police a shocking case of mistaken he's embarrassed police into saying sorry Apollo's stuffed this one up and more importantly it God's Victoria's anti-corruption watchdog i back investigating the case I don't have faith in the police to investigate themselves I think there's an inherent bias with anyone investigating themselves and the police are no exception to that Nick's lawyer Jeremy King was relieved when I back took over Nick's investigation because he's never trusted the police complaint system the system is broken and needs to be fixed I mentioned some police would say hang on we're doing a tough job and here you are an ambulance chasing lawyer trying to make a buck I think it's all about checks and balances to be able most police have a significant amount power and they use that power on a daily basis and if they use that power in a way that is excessive or unreasonable they need to be held account there are a few incidents more shocking than the case of Melbourne disability pensioner John godzilla's this ugly incident happened in September 2017 John hadn't done anything wrong instead police were asked to do a welfare check because his psychologist wanted to make sure he was okay but when police arrived CCTV footage shows him being capsicum sprayed dragged from his home beaten and then hosed off on his front lawn even today it's still cleared the alleged assault on John has taken its toll when you watch that film back of yourself I can't I can't it's pretty humiliating was very humiliating the fear of dying and her choking the worst what makes John's story so terrible is not a single police officer reported what happened that day one of the cops actually filmed John's humiliation on his phone but no one would have known about it if John wasn't also filming his security cameras captured every dreadful moment well John have stood a chance in terms of making an effective complaint if not for his CCTV cameras a bloke like John doesn't have a hope in hell in that situation and I think the only reason why he was successful having someone look at it was because there was said over three of the officers have now been charged over the alleged assault and are awaiting trial this kind of behavior has to stop here Nick yeah no one deserves to be treated like that no no human being whether he is a convicted criminal you put the cuffs on and that's it that's it that stops there coming up I'd like to know why the man who played his music too loud I spent 40 days in ICU and ended up a quadriplegic and now I'm here learning how to contain my own mucus just doing their job I would have expected to end up in the cells that officers had puffing you know one second to consider what the erections are or did police go too far what do you think was going on when that officer called you I can just cover up that's next on 60 minutes I spent 40 days in ICU basically learning to breathe again and now I'm here learning how to contain my own mucus this is just [ __ ] man it's November 2017 and 48 year old Chris kara Douglas has woken up in hospital a quadriplegic bifur but it wasn't a car accident or a sporting injury that put him here it was police his crime his stereo was turned up too loud they handcuffed me and dropped me onto the ground and some way between there and dragging me towards the TV phone or whatever it was someone broke my neck that someone has alleged to be one of three Victoria Police officers who knocked on Chris's door after a neighbor made a noise complaint Chris admits he'd been drinking and when officers arrived he had first turned down his stereo but as they returned to their car he turned the volume back up I would have expected to end up in the cells I was being really quite belligerent he bullied Jordan because you'd turn the stereo up when the place had gone back to the car yep yep I just remember being dragged out of my flat and being dragged along the lawn and then put an ad walk and having my neck snapped how did you know your neck had been broken uh it just went limp it's a weird feeling and everything just got disconnected and there was a there was a loud click and that's it and and from them and from then on I haven't felt anything Chris now needs 24/7 support from full-time carers and his family including his sister Alex as far as my sister's concerned she's been handed back a brother with a broken neck and being said you know to look after these have the place said sorry to your family it's nearly two years Alex claims local police attempted a cover-up immediately after the incident she says a senior colleague of one of the officers who arrested Chris called her claiming police had done nothing wrong and then he proceeded to tell me that the three officers that were attending all gave a statement and they didn't have time to corroborate about their statements matched so I thought that was pretty good what do you think was going on when that officer called you I think he's trying to cover up that this is you know this has happened and it's not our fault look elsewhere how is it that police can attend to Victorians home over a sound complain of stereo up too loud and that person end up a quadriplegic well they got like weird med school being investigated so I I won't go into the specifics I would say though to the community that it's it's it's never in fitori place in tendril that somebody should get harmed or hurt as a result of an interaction with police let light become a quadriplegic absolutely as the Victoria police said sorry to the family well I haven't Nick no I've never met the family but my investigators will work with them do you think is important Victoria police enologist well I think I am here today to be fair he's actually investigated assistant commissioner Russell Barrett is a vectored cop who's in charge of the Victoria Police Complaints unit when you investigate a complaint ultimately you're investigating from the he says he runs his officers to own their mistakes even if it means calling out her mate do you see an instinctive tendency of police sometimes to cover up for their mates I'm not naive to say it doesn't occur and it's something that I investigate from time to time what goes through that person's head when they decide not to speak up about the misconduct of a colleague well that's hard for me to just to say Nick I would say you know policing is a is a is a difficult job it's a complex job and that officers had probably you know one second to consider what their actions are Victoria's anti-corruption watchdog eyevac has now taken over Chris's investigation lawyer jeremy king says the initial mishandling of the complaint with police trying to keep it in-house shows exactly why external oversight is so critical this is the photo of the blood on the fridge but it's rare for i back to get involved it simply doesn't have the resources needed but it's also horrifying how much of your blood was on the floor in another disturbing case Athan crews was forced to take legal action after police dismissed his complaint that they'd bashed him well we made several complaints and nothing ever happened we had to wait for years for someone's happens Athan was 19 when police unlawfully arrested him during an anti-terror raid in 2015 he'd committed no crime himself officers targeted him because he was high school friends with members of a Melbourne extremist cell I got on the floor put my hands up they're tired they tied my hands behind my back and that's when they're beating started didn't start till after I got cuffed and when I felt like we were forever two months ago a Victorian Supreme Court judge ruled police not only assaulted Ethan but then colluded to cover it up this police email we've obtained proves it after Ethan complained about his treatment the officers who raided him were told to prepare draft statements to be compared and validated to ensure consistency in their stories before the statements were finalized and sent to internal affairs the Supreme Court judge made some pretty savage findings about the police she found under they had effectively manufactured evidence that they had exchanged all of their statements with each other and in response to all of that she found them to not be truthful and referred them to either the judge awarded Ethan four hundred thousand dollars in damages and also sent the case to I back to investigate what police were unable or unwilling to do themselves it is appropriate at times for Rybak to to manage an investigation and before it police not to is it an eye back with more resources and better powers good news for the Victoria Police well well I think there are some things that it might aid IBEX ability to investigate there's no doubt their jobs an incredibly important one for the Victorian community and for Victoria police stronger eye back means a stronger Victoria police well I think a better community to be fair the cases of Nick John Chris and Ethan all underline a simple fact police can't always investigate complaints made against themselves in Victoria the best place to go is the anti-corruption watchdog I back but it desperately needs more powers and more resources but that need is being ignored by Victoria's premier daniel andrews is refusing plays from senior police and even one of his own ministers to empower by back and while he does nothing he hurts Victorians and the vast majority of good police premier Nick McKenzie from sixty minutes the police have told us that I back needs to have its powers and resources fixed will you listen to the police I'm not aware of what conversations you've had with the Victorian place right the government's position is very clear i back is a strong body it has the powers and resources it needs no I don't accept your contention that I back is limited in the work that it does Chris Kara Douglas pays little attention to politics he's too busy surviving what's your experience of Victoria's police oversight system well this is it I mean we haven't had any experience and there's been no scrutiny that we can see yet it's been a really long time no one has checked in to see how Chris is where it's at he's running with police has utterly devastated his life but if nothing else his story might lead to better outcomes for others and help stop a culture where this sort of behavior is acceptable or covered up if you could speak to those officers who were there on the night or would you tell them I'd like to know why I'd like to know what could possibly justify this I'm not exactly telling the police how to do their job but this ain't this isn't the way hello I'm Liz Hayes thanks for watching to keep up with the latest from 60 minutes Australia make sure you subscribe to our channel you can also download the 9 now app for full episodes and other exclusives 60 minutes content

Channel: 60 Minutes Australia

Views: 726,126

Keywords: 60 Minutes, 60 Minutes Australia, Liz Hayes, Charles Wooley, Tara Brown, Liam Bartlett, Allison Langdon, Tom Steinfort, Ellen Fanning, Karl Stefanovic, Ray Martin, Jana Wendt, Jeff McMullen, Jennifer Byrne, Mike Munro, Richard Carleton, Tracey Curro, Peter Harvey, George Negus, Ian Leslie, Gerald Stone, Sarah Abo, police, victorian police, australiam police, corruption, police brutality, violence, Nick McKenzie, the age, investigation, crime, cover up

Id: e24UHjYwUuI

Length: 19min 25sec (1165 seconds)

Published: Mon Oct 28 2019