Many indigenous being tasered: ALS

5 Oct 2010, 6:55 pm   -   Source: AAP
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The case of an Aboriginal man being stunned 13 times with a Taser is one of many incidents which have alarmed the Aboriginal Legal Service.

The multiple stunning of an Aboriginal man with a Taser by West Australian police and the stunning of an 18-year-old pregnant woman are far from being isolated incidents, the WA Aboriginal Legal Service (ALS) says.

The West Australian corruption watchdog, in a report tabled in state parliament on Monday, found Taser stun guns were increasingly being used to make offenders comply with their orders.

The WA Corruption and Crime Commission (CCC) released video footage of a 2008 incident at the East Perth Watch House where Tasers were used 13 times against an unarmed, non-threatening man surrounded by nine police officers.

Acting Commissioner Chris Dawson on Monday admitted the man was stunned with a Taser again a week later by corrective services officers.

ALS chief executive officer Dennis Eggington said he was shocked by the footage but grateful that the rest of country was now aware of how some police were abusing their power.

Mr Eggington said that despite the horrific incident, sadly it was not an isolated event.

"We know in Warburton a man was Tasered between the eyes and consequently caught fire and he's now suffering terrible burns to the majority of his body and he will never recover," he told AAP.

"We know of a case of a young lady, who was very late along in her pregnancy, was Tasered multiple times.

"I'm aware in the Pilbara a gentleman who had a metal plate in his head was Tasered and, of course, there's the stream of complaints that we get on a regular basis."

The CCC report found Tasers were being used disproportionately against Aboriginal people and that the police's use of Tasers on Aboriginal people had doubled in the past two years.

Mr Eggington said the CCC's findings vindicated the view the ALS had held for a long time that "our people are being targeted".

"There's a history of the way that the police have treated Aboriginal people in this country and, more particularly, in this state," he said.

"We have seen the increase in Aboriginal imprisonment which means there must be an increase in the interaction between our people and the criminal justice system."

He said the increase in Taser use, especially against indigenous people, co-incided with tougher powers for police and more stringent public order policies.

"There's this concerted effort to look for the mentally ill in society, Aboriginal people, anyone who doesn't look right and treat them differently and try to put them out of sight," Mr Eggington said.

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