These devastated families have waited too long for answers

Last July, Luke Briggs, 35, died from injuries he received while being arrested by police outside a convenience store in Hoppers Crossing. In November 2023, Steven Woodhouse died outside a property in Reservoir. He had been shot by police with rubber bullets. Officers in both incidents were wearing cameras, which captured the events.

The deaths are being investigated by the homicide squad, alongside Professional Standards Command. This is standard practice, but it is to Bob Briggs, the father of Luke, a closeness of process that should not be part of such an investigation. The Age reported Briggs this week saying: “We are now only a few weeks away from the first anniversary of losing our beautiful boy Luke. From the beginning, we were very concerned that this was a case of Victoria Police investigating their own.”

Steven Woodhouse (left) and Luke Briggs died after being arrested by police.

The footage from a male sergeant and a male constable involved has not been released. The officers were interviewed by homicide squad detectives on July 19 and suspended three days later. A brief of evidence is with the Office of Public Prosecutions. A decision on that brief has not been made.

While, of course, each investigation must be extensive, comprehensive and forensic, it must be seen to be pursued with the utmost speed and transparency. This is not only for the families concerned but the wider public. The adage justice delayed is justice denied flows through the words of Catherine Galley, sister of Luke: “While the rest of the world has moved on, our family is stuck in July 2024. Our world has stopped and whilst the delays continue, our trauma is not dealt with, our grief is not dealt with, and we are unable to let go.”

The family of Steven Woodhouse has been waiting more than 18 months. They do not know why he was arrested, or why he was shot with rubber bullets by members of the police critical incident response team. It is cold comfort to both families that a police spokeswoman could only “acknowledge the impact these incidents have on all parties involved and endeavour to prioritise them”.

This flies in the face of the experience relayed by Shaye Woodhouse, Steven’s older sister, who said communication from the police had been “inconsistent, vague or completely absent at times”. Here is the nub: “the lack of transparency has only increased our distress. It feels like there’s a deliberate effort to stall the investigation, possibly to cover up mistakes or avoid accountability. It’s hard not to feel like there’s an ulterior motive.”

Quite possibly that last sentiment need not have been said or felt if there had been an independent body specifically established to investigate police matters, rather than police investigating police. This is not a slur on the force, but the setting up of such a body, in effect, would be a buttress against perceptions of misconduct or prejudice in investigations. The police would have protection from accusations of bias and the public would have trust in the system.

In October 2022, Victoria’s Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission published a report in which it recommended the critical incident response team be overhauled and said it had “misconduct risks and issues” and a “hypermasculine culture”. There are two avenues for which complaints over police conduct can be made, either directly to the police or to IBAC. In 2024, IBAC received 2249 complaints about police misconduct, which accounted for more than 60 per cent of all complaints; this is a 15 per cent rise from the previous year.

Police accountability to families in a timely manner should not become another statistic. Behind every statistic is a person. Behind the deaths of Luke Briggs and Steven Woodhouse there are families. They have waited too long.

The families’ grief is strained from the torment of not knowing exactly what happened when police and their family member interacted. Their wait for answers, and resolution, has turned into a demand. They believe, by now, they should have answers – or at least a pathway to knowing. As do we.

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