Police Commissioner: the officer who threw a kid to the ground had a bad day
A police officer in New South Wales, Australia, held a 16-year-old Indigenous boy’s hands behind his back – he wasn’t resisting – and then kicked his legs out from underneath him. The boy’s head crashed against the concrete below. He had no way to break his fall.
Here’s what the NSW Police Commissioner, Mark Fuller, had to say:
The fact that this officer doesn’t have a chequered history and he has been in [the police force] for three and a half years, if the complaint is sustained against him, you would have to say he has had a bad day.
He had a “bad day”.
The officer walked over to a teenager, restrained him, and deliberately and purposefully made that teenager hit the ground without any way to protect himself.
Wouldn’t have happened to a white kid.
He had a “bad day.”
What did the kid do? During an argument with the cops, he said I’ll crack ya fucking jaw bro”. Right thing to do? No. But here’s the thing: he’s a 16-year-old kid. The cop is an adult. And a cop. He’s supposed to be the grown-up in the room.
The officer escalated the situation. He took a bad situation and made it worse. Check the footage. He had the kid restrained. The kid wasn’t struggling. The officer could’ve pushed the kid to the ground. He could’ve done any number of things to either control or deescalate the situation.
Instead, he made things much worse.
He had a “bad day.”
Would’ve have happened to a white kid.
Four years ago, a drunk white woman pushed a cop into a bush – actually pushed him, not threatened – and was gently led away and arrested by two other officers. The officer who was pushed seemed amused when talking about it later.
Guess he wasn’t having a “bad day”.
Update
Ben Fordham on Twitter:
Police Commissioner Mick Fuller says he is “absolutely” sorry about handling of the Surry Hills arrest: “We could have handled that situation better. (But) I’m sure people don’t want the officer sacked.”
Fuller’s half right. The situation definitely could’ve been handled better.
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