Perth man’s collarbone broken in altercation with transit guards

Western Australia’s Corruption and Crime Commission is concerned with Perth transit guards using “excessive and unlawful force” to deal with incidents, after it probed an altercation where a man’s collarbone was fractured while he was restrained at Mandurah line train station.

The findings from the commission’s report reviewing the Public Transport Authority’s use of force were tabled in parliament on Tuesday.

The commission reviewed an incident at Aubin Grove Train Station from February 2023, and released CCTV footage which shows three officers standing around a man with a bike, blocking him from boarding a train.

The man, referred to as ‘Mr S’ in the report, told the commission he had scanned on with his SmartRider, when the officers told him they would “go upstairs to check”.

Frustrated, as the last train of the night was about to leave, the man said he didn’t have time.

He claimed the officers then grabbed him and “threw him to the ground”, and was told he would be summonsed for threatening and anti-social behaviour.

The next day, the man attended Rockingham Kwinana Hospital Emergency Department where it was revealed he had a fractured collarbone.

One officer – which the commission report referred to as ‘Officer B’ – claimed in a report following the incident that Mr S was a “prolific fare evader” and had committed “many other offences on PTA property”.

During the interaction, Mr S became agitated and made a verbal threat toward another officer, ‘Officer A’.

Officer B said he heard the man say: “I’ll smash your f---ing head in, c---.”

Fearing Mr S may carry out his threat, Officer B placed him in a harness hold and took him to the ground.

An initial investigation by the Public Transport Authority concluded the incident was lawful and reasonable.

But the commission’s report disagreed, stating the force used was excessive, unnecessary, and unlawful, and that the authority failed to conduct a comprehensive and transparent investigation.

The commission also raised concerns about the authority’s broader use of force to manage incidents.

The authority claimed a total of 170 “use of force” incidents were reported last year – six of which were referred to the Integrity and Investigations Branch.

These matters were likely to meet the threshold for mandatory reporting to either the commission or the Public Sector Commission, but none of the six incidents were reported further.

The commission has recommended the authority review, update and implement policies and procedure to ensure proper oversight going forward.

This includes maintaining transparent oversight over incidents where officers have used their powers; monitoring, identifying, and investigating any breaches of policy; and ensuring use of force and any review aligned the justification for the force used with legislative powers and authority policy.

Some recommendations have already been put in place, and the commission will review the authority’s response in 12 months.

A PTA spokesperson said the vast majority of interactions between frontline staff and the public were positive.

“There are however a small number of negative interactions,” the spokesperson said.

“The PTA undertakes significant training and education with frontline staff, including transit officers, to help them manage challenging situations that arise on the public transport network.

“In response to the CCC report, the PTA will continue to implement improvements to its training and procedures where required, to ensure it continues providing a high quality service to the community.”

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