Ballarat police brutality to lead to reforms after IBAC hearing

Video showing a half-naked woman being brutalised in a holding cell is ­expected to force major reforms in Victoria.

Graphic video showing a half-naked 51-year-old off-duty policewoman being brutalised in a holding cell is ­expected to force major changes to the way Victoria police treat drunken inmates.

An inquiry by the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Com­mission into the Ballarat Police Service Area has uncovered a high number of complaints against officers and will examine whether there is a systemic problem in the force.

The commission has heard evidence about an incident in January last year when a woman was arrested for drunkenness and taken to the station, hit with capsicum spray and kicked and stomped on. The woman, a member of the police Professional Standards Command unit on leave for personal issues, was held in custody for 16 hours.

Leading Senior Constable ­Nicole Munro yesterday said there were various options available for police dealing with the ­intoxicated and it was not standard procedure to keep them in custody for four hours and then release them.

She said she attended the arrest of the woman, known as Person A, with other officers on the night shift and the woman was violent and aggressive. She said Person A was biting and spitting while she was being handcuffed and it took four people to subdue her. The hearing heard Constable Munro was called to another incident ­before returning to Ballarat police station after ­capsicum spray had been used on Person A. The situation at the station was chaotic.

Counsel assisting the commission, Gary Hevey, put it to ­Constable Munro that she entered the cell and kicked Person A in the ribs. Constable Munro said she ­remembered touching Person A and that she didn’t want to put herself at risk because she didn’t have gloves. “I didn’t kick her hard,” she said. “I’m trying to calm her down … I did not kick her in a malicious way.”

Mr Hevey then asked her about a fellow officer stomping on Person A’s ankle.

“Commissioner, I’m highly moral and ethical, if I see something wrong I would deal with it,” Constable Munro said.

Senior Constable Simon McCarty, who was acting as watch-house keeper, took ­Person A into the showers and, he told the commission, falsely ­assumed the water was cold. The hearing heard hot water can ­exacerbate the effects of capsicum spray. Person A was taken to ­hospital and then ­returned to the station in her wet clothes.

Constable McCarty told the commission he believed control at the station was lacking that night.

He also said the standard practice was to hold an intoxicated person for four hours and issue an infringement notice.

Person A has been charged with offences from that night. As yet no charges have been laid against the Ballarat officers.

The hearing continues.