Wellington police officer's knee on youth's head during arrest 'entirely unnecessary', watchdog finds

Thursday, 17 June 2021

A police officers actions were unjustified when he put his knee on a man’s head, the IPCA has ruled. (File photo).

Police’s independent watchdog has ruled an officer placing his knee on a youth’s head during an arrest was unjustified and “entirely unnecessary”.

The Independent Police Conduct Authority also found the officer involved didn’t complete the appropriate tactical options report, which provides a description of the force used and the reasons for using it.

A report, released on Thursday, stated the incident took place in January last year, after officers spotted a car attempting to evade an alcohol checkpoint on Fergusson Dr in Upper Hutt.

The car had pulled into a driveway and the driver, a youth named Mr Z in the report, and three passengers got out.

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Wellington District Commander Superintendent Corrie Parnell said officers come to work every day to keep the community safe and, in any situation, the use of force is an absolute last resort. (File photo).

The officers ascertained the car had been stolen and Mr Z had a disqualified licence.

An officer, named officer B in the report, arrested Mr Z, who then didn’t comply with instructions and broke free once handcuffed.

Another officer, named as officer A, stepped in and guided Mr Z towards the police car, but Mr Z began to physically pull away and was taken to the ground by officer A.

In a complaint made a day after the incident, Mr Z alleged officer A punched him in the face twice and threw him to the ground.

The IPCA also determined the officer should’ve completed a tactical options report following the incident. (File photo).

However, video footage of the incident, filmed by a witness, showed this didn’t happen.

When Mr Z was taken to the ground, in what the IPCA described as a “reasonably controlled manner,” he landed on his back.

Officer A then turned him on his side and while in this position, he knelt on the Mr Z’s back with his right knee and his left knee was place on the side of Mr Z’s head.

Video footage showed the knee remained in place for about 30 seconds, during which time the youth told the officer he was having trouble breathing and said “you better let go, or you’re going to f--king kill me”.

Officer A responded with “I’m not going to kill you”.

When asked about the incident, officer A told the IPCA he thought the man could breathe, because he was talking.

However, the IPCA report stated the policy on positional asphyxia state there is a common misconception that if a person can talk then they are able to breathe, which is not the case.

Positional asphyxia can occur when the position of a person’s body stops them from breathing enough oxygen.

The IPCA determined that although Mr Z had been moved onto his side once on the ground, there were still several risk factors that could have increased his risk of positional asphyxia.

Mr Z is of a large build and the placement of officer A’s left knee on the side of Mr Z’s head had the potential to increase these risks.

However, based on the footage, the IPCA agreed that there was minimal force applied to Mr Z’s head, but it didn’t agree that the placement of officer A’s knee on the side of Mr Z’s head was necessary and this is likely to have caused distress for Mr Z.

“Officer A did not appear to fully recognise the risk that this posed. Officer A was initially dismissive of Mr Z’s claims he could not breathe and although officers say they checked Mr Z for signs of breathing, there was no attempt at communicating this to Mr Z,” the report said.

“The footage shows the youth made no genuine attempt to get up from the ground. Therefore, the placement of the officer’s knee on his head was entirely unnecessary” says IPCA chair, Judge Colin Doherty, said.

In a statement on Friday, police said it accepted the IPCA findings.

Wellington District Commander Superintendent Corrie Parnell said officers come to work every day to keep the community safe and, in any situation, the use of force is an absolute last resort.