Police shooting of Aubrey Donahue
The refusal of specialist Queensland Police SERT Team officers to wear standard issue body worn cameras which all other Queensland Police are obliged to wear must be immediately addressed and ended by Queensland Police Commissioner Katarina Carroll.
This call was made today by QCCL Vice-President (Terry O’Gorman) who said that criticism by Aboriginal community leaders including in today’s Sunday Mail by Mareeba based Pastor Vincent Mathieson that police should have used pepper spray or Tasers to address the deceased man 27 year old Aubrey Donahue’s allegedly aggressive behaviour with a knife could be easily answered by police if the attending SERT Team had been wearing body cameras.
“It is a farce and an absurdity that Australian SAS officers were required to wear bodycams in Afghanistan when involved in long drawn out firefights with the Taliban but Queensland Police SERT officers are not required to wear them when attending a drawn out domestic siege in North Queensland”, Mr O’Gorman said.
Mr O’Gorman said that confirmation by Queensland Police that the SERT Team was not wearing body cameras and therefore there was no footage of the shooting is apparently due to SERT officers resisting wearing the cameras[1].
Mr O’Gorman said that the SERT Team is regularly called throughout Queensland to attend to sieges and other volatile and potentially dangerous policing situations.
“To deprive the public and the Coroner of the best possible evidence namely the audio and video of SERT body worn cameras is unbelievable”, Mr O’Gorman said.
Mr O’Gorman called on the Police Commissioner to immediately direct SERT officers to be obliged to wear body worn cameras.
“Queenslanders should not have to wait for 12 months or 2 years for the Coroner to make such a recommendation when the Inquest into the death of Aubrey Donahue is eventually conducted”, Mr O’Gorman said.
Mr O’Gorman also called for enforceable laws with consequences if they are broken to be introduced to deal with Police Union President Ian Leavers’ highly inappropriate comments that Aubrey Donahue had “an extensive history of highly violent domestic violence incidents”[2].
Mr O’Gorman said that Mr Leavers was criticised by the Queensland Coroner during the 2013 Inquest into the fatal police shooting of Jason Protheroe in Brisbane in April 2012 for referring to Protheroe as ‘a seasoned criminal’.
Mr O’Gorman said that the Coroner was critical of Mr Leavers’ comments ‘criminalising the deceased’ while the police investigation into his fatal shooting was under way.
And yet here is Mr Leavers using the same tactic again in respect of the Mareeba Police shooting where he says “I can confirm the offender had an extensive history of highly violent domestic violence incidents”.
Mr O’Gorman said that Mr Leavers has constantly pushed back against the 2013 Coroner’s criticism of his prejudicial and prejudgmental comments within hours of the 2012 Protheroe shooting.
Mr O’Gorman said that Mr Leavers while being the Union President remains a sworn Police Officer.
“It is time for the Coroner’s finding in the 2013 Inquest to be given more teeth with enforceable consequences against Mr Leavers and other Police Union officials, namely that Police Union Officials should not make presumptive comments about aspects of the incidents before the facts are established when it is obvious an investigation is under way,”[3] Mr O’Gorman said.
[1] See Hostage Police ‘Not wearing Bodycams’ The Australian (Michael McKenna) Wednesday 29/03/2023
[2] See Courier Mail 27/03/2023 at 4pm “Union Boss Ian Leavers rejects claim shooting victim was unarmed”
[3] See Coroner’s finding in Protheroe Inquest page 44.