SA Police launches Commissioner's Inquiry into Royston Park arrest incident
SA Police has launched a Commissioner's Inquiry after a man became unresponsive while being arrested last week in Adelaide's east.
SA Police Commissioner Grant Stevens told ABC Radio Adelaide the inquiry would be conducted "on top of" an investigation by Major Crime and the internal investigation section detectives currently underway into the incident on Payneham Road at Royston Park in the early hours of May 29.
The 42-year-old Modbury Park man remains in a critical condition in hospital.
Commissioner Stevens said the inquiry would look at SAPOL's "policies, practices, procedures including our training in relation to responding to these types of incidents to make sure there are no opportunities for any other improvements or any failures in those elements".
"It is significant, we don't call many commissioner's inquiries and that is where we have a major incident involving police activity and there's a need to be able to demonstrate that the actions of the police officers involved were appropriate in the circumstances and if not what were the factors that we need to address to make sure similar things don't occur again," he said.
"Wherever there is a death in custody, it's virtually automatic that there's a Commissioner's Inquiry.
"Given the significant injury this man has suffered as a result of his interaction with police, it is my assessment that we should be doing that level of inquiry."
"People need to have confidence in us that we do out job as professionally and effectively as we can — that's the reason we're calling it [the inquiry]."
Commissioner Stevens said he has viewed part of the body worn camera vision and the initial assessment was the officers involved "were acting in accordance with their training".
He said eight officers responded to the incident and their body worn cameras were recording.
He added all involved officers remain on active duty.
When asked if the officers would be stood down during the inquiry, Commissioner Stevens said, "If there's anything throughout the process that indicates that that should occur, we change their duties, we don't stand them down so that we can manage that inquiry effectively".
He said a Chief Superintendent had been allocated as the inquiry's senior investigating officer.
In a statement last week, police allege the man "was assaulting a female" when they intervened.
"While being restrained the man violently resisted police," SA Police alleged.
"After being restrained he became unresponsive and police administered first aid until SAAS (SA Ambulance Service) arrived."
The man's partner spoke with other media outlets about the incident.
ABC has attempted to reach out to her.
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