Rail police terrorise passengers

On the evening of May 2, three passengers on a train from Perth bound 
for the suburb of Armadale, were arrested by railway police. One, an 
Aboriginal man, was bailed up by the police without any apparent cause. 
Another, also Aboriginal was grabbed for saying the first man had not done 
anything. The third passenger, concerned with the behaviour of the police, 
asked them for their numbers, which were not visible.

"I said to them, 'let him go. You've got him restrained, you're are being 
excessive'", said Kevin Watkins, the third passenger.

By that time one of the police officers had slammed the first passenger 
into the wall. "He then got him down on the floor and jammed his head up 
into the corner", said Mr Watkins.

In a statement following the incident, Mr Watkins described how the "big 
burly" police officer got on top of the passenger and twisted his arm up 
his back.

At Burswood station they left the train. Mr Watkins was told he was under 
arrest for obstructing police. As the police were searching his bag, Mr 
Watkins heard a scuffle, and one of the men yelled out "He's been thrown 
off the platform."

A man was lying on the track. Blood was coming from a wound on his head and 
was also on one of the policemen's shirts, said Mr Watkins, who then helped 
the police lift the injured man onto the platform.

Mr Watkins was ordered to leave the station, and told he would be dealt 
with by summons. The fate of the other two men is unknown.

This incident is unfortunately not an isolated case.

Less than a week before it took place the Western Australian Ombudsman 
handed down a damning report on the management, supervision and control of 
"Operation Safe Trains" (OST).

OST was a joint project, between the railways and state Police Service. It 
ran from August 11 to mid-November 2000. Its aim was to reduce anti-social 
and criminal behaviour on trains, with state police officers acting as 
mentors to special railway constables.

OST was established in the Northbridge area in response to pressure from 
businesses.

The Ombudsman noted that the railway police constables received little 
formal training, and the police officers who were supposed to be mentoring 
them were "mostly relatively inexperienced and by their own admission, not 
qualified to teach others." Some had just graduated from the Police 
Academy.

Over the three months, OST staff numbers varied between eight and ten.

The Ombudsman looked into six complaints. They all tell a similar story of 
unprovoked aggression by railway police, in some instances while state 
police stood by and watched. The following are a few extracts from the 
Ombudsman's report:

"A mother and her daughter were travelling home on the train when the 
daughter found a purse on a seat. The women discussed handing the purse in 
to the authorities — a conversation witnessed by a man who was sitting 
with his wife across the aisle from the two women.

"The women were challenged by officers from OST and a dispute resulted. A 
larger group of officers attended the scene and both women were arrested.

"The man across the aisle was also arrested later on the railway station 
following his criticism of the manner in which the officers had dealt with 
the women..."

(A sergeant of police was present during the incident.)

"The videotape of the incident demonstrated that the two women had not 
committed any offence prior to being arrested. The internal investigation 
revealed that the videotape was not included on the brief of evidence 
prepared for court."

Another incident when a man was arrested on a train involved a struggle. 
"He was removed from the train onto Warwick Railway Station and sprayed 
with OC spray.

"There is also evidence that he was assaulted by an officer who dropped his 
knees onto the man's back while the man was lying face down on the ground.

"While this was happening, an independent witness complained about what he 
considered to be use of excessive force against the man.

"The witness was pushed up a descending escalator, thrown to the ground, 
handcuffed and arrested. This aspect of the incident was captured on 
videotape." According to police records charges were laid, but not 
proceeded with.

"A friend of the witness complained about his friend's arrest and he too 
was arrested. The incident was videotaped but it was not clear if he fell 
to the ground or was pushed. He was charged with obstruction and 
convicted."

An internal investigation is underway into the latest incident.