Five days after a 27-year-old man was fatally shot by police in Mareeba, east of Cairns, Queensland Police have confirmed the specialist police officers who fired the shots were not wearing body cameras.
Key points:
- The incident on Saturday is now the subject of an ethical standards probe
- Acting Deputy Commissioner Mark Wheeler says the officers who fired the fatal shots were not wearing body cameras
- A program to issue specialist tactical police with body and vehicle-mounted cameras is in its “latter stages”
Warning: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this article contains images and names of people who have died.
Acting Deputy Commissioner Mark Wheeler said this was a routine practice but would now be reviewed.
Police were called to a home in Mareeba on Saturday where 27-year-old Aubrey Donahue was allegedly threatening self-harm, and not allowing a woman to leave.
Police said after a four-hour siege, Mr Donahue advanced on specialist officers with a knife, who then shot him.
First aid was administered but he died at the scene.
On Monday, large protests were held in the town against police actions, with members of Mr Donahue’s family demanding answers.
The incident is now the subject of an investigation by the Ethical Standards Command on behalf of the state coroner, along with the Crime and Corruption Commission.
Body-worn cameras
In a press conference in Brisbane this morning, Acting Deputy Commissioner Mark Wheeler responded to questions about why the officers who fired the shots were not wearing body cameras.
“Specialist officers for practicality reasons generally don’t [wear the cameras],” he said.
Mr Wheeler said other officers at the scene were wearing body-worn cameras (BWCs) and the vision had been secured.
“No doubt all of that will form part of the coronial inquest,” he said.
“When we have a serious incident those matters do get reviewed and we’re now reviewing the arrangements for specialist police in terms of body-worn cameras.”
In a statement, a QPS spokesman said prior to mid-2022 body-worn cameras had been deemed unsuitable for use by specialist tactical police known as the Special Emergency Response Teams (SERT).
“This was primarily due to the size of the device, audible noises, and visible light, and their positioning on complex tactical operator equipment or when required to be covert,” they said.
The spokesman said with upgraded technology, trials using cameras had begun and SERT were “now in the latter stages of implementation of both body-worn and vehicle-mounted camera systems”.
Mr Wheeler said he could not confirm how many officers entered the house during the incident.
“I can say there were a number [of officers] both in the house and forming cordons outside the house,” he said.
In 2019, Minister for Police Mark Ryan announced all uniformed first-responder officers would be issued body-worn cameras.
According to Queensland Police publications on the use of BWCs, the cameras “give QPS officers an independent and objective way to capture incidents and interactions between police and members of the community.”
“Wherever possible, officers should make sure the device is recording before and during the use of a police power under legislation, or when applying a use of force.”
In the Queensland Police Service’s 2023 Digital Electronic Recording of Interviews and Evidence (DERIE) manual, officers allocated a BWC are ordered to “turn the BWC on (buffering mode) at the commencement of their shift; and (ii) commence a recording as soon as practicable after an officer reasonably believes they may: (a) exercise a police power under legislation; or (b) apply a use of force.”