A police officer has apologised after putting a young Indigenous boy into the back of a police van to teach him a lesson in a remote Northern Territory community, but will not face disciplinary action.
The officer apologised to the boy, his family, and community and said it was the wrong thing to do, but the police force defended his actions.
Named by the ABC as remote sergeant Marcus Lees, the officer was called to the school on 24 March after an argument between the eight-year-old boy and another student escalated.
The incident was the subject of a speech by the police officer at a community meeting in Ngukurr, a remote Indigenous township in south Arnhem Land on the Roper river. Lees told the gathered community members he had grabbed the child by the arm. “And I took him to the back of the police van to show him what it’d be like if he kept mucking up and I put him in there.”
Lees said as soon as he put the child in the back of the van he walked away and then came back with a second person, and they let him “straight out”.
“Was it the wrong thing to do? Yes, OK. Yes,” Lees said. “To the family of that child, and all his extended family, I sincerely apologise. That was the wrong thing to do to that child.
“The people in this community, you know that I care about the kids in this community, you know that I care about everyone here.”
Community members told the ABC they wanted the incident investigated. “Our kids don’t need to be terrified of police officers,” said Yugul Mangi Aboriginal Corporation’s chief executive, William Blackley. “That little fellow, I dare say he’s not going to have much trust in police for the rest of his life.”
Despite Lees’s apology, the NT police force said his actions were lawful, fair and in the interest of people’s safety. A police spokesman told Guardian Australia no disciplinary action had been required.
He said the officer escorted the eight-year-old out of the classroom and took him to the back of the police vehicle for “a quiet word”, and then put him inside “to calm the child down”.
“After a short while the teacher escorted him back to class. Police made further inquiries with other students and then left the school,” the spokesman said. “At no time was the boy left alone.”
Blackley dismissed NT Police’s explanation.
“Regardless of what the police have said, the community of Ngukurr still want a full inquiry into what happened. There are other allegations that have to be tested.”
The NT Department of Education is reviewing the matter and will report on the processes undertaken by the school.
“Two investigators were in the Ngukurr community last week and a report will be prepared about the process undertaken by the school relating to this particular incident,” a spokeswoman said.
“The Department of Education takes issues such as this seriously and will continue to work with the school and community to ensure that the correct processes and procedures are in place.”
