The Project panel aren’t often lost for words, but a disturbing new video has left the usually outspoken personalities — and their studio audience — struggling to comment.
Co-hosts Carrie Bickmore, Hamish Macdonald, Peter Helliar and Steve Price watched in horror as they replayed CCTV footage first released in an investigation by The Age’s Nick McKenzie.
The hard-to-watch footage shows a mentally ill disability pensioner, only known as ‘John’, pinned down by several police officers, hit with a baton, sprayed with capsicum spray and filmed by an officer in his Melbourne front yard. He is also sprayed with water from a high-pressure garden hose.
“F***ing idiot, do you like that? Do you like that? Smells good, doesn’t it?” an officer is heard saying in the footage from 2017.
John’s psychologist was worried about his mental health, and had called police to check-in on the pensioner at his home when the incident unfolded.
The panel were noticeably subdued as they struggled to understand the events that could’ve led up to such shocking behaviour.
“I’ve been all day listening to this. Our police do extraordinary job,” Steve said. “They go into dangerous situations where they put their own lives add risk on a daily basis. The side commentary there and the fact they almost seemed like they wanted to humiliate this guy and hurt him, there’s a lot of questions that need to be answered.”
Carrie said it feels as if “something’s missing” as she attempted to put the pieces together.
Peter, too, weighed in on the footage, saying: “Well, the hose… there are six policemen, I assume they’re armed and he’s handcuffed. He’s presenting no danger at all, he’s not going to get away. What was that for?”
“[The video shows] a whole series of choices that are so obviously wrong and a human with long-term mental health issues at the centre of it,” Macdonald added.
Appearing on the panel, John’s lawyer Jeremy King explained how the officers had breached protocol.
“In terms of the after care for [capsicum] spray, the way it’s supposed to work is it should be administered with a bottle or a bucket… there was a watering can nearby by they chose not to use that and instead use a high-pressure garden hose. That’s certainly not in accordance with protocol, and it’s certainly not protocol to bring out your mobile phone and to film it for your own amusement.”
He also provided an update on the pensioner.
“John, considering the circumstances, is doing very well. He’s a brave man. He’s been through a lot… he’s soldiering on,” he said.
In a press conference on Tuesday, Assistant Commissioner Luke Cornelius said he was “concerned” by the security footage.
“When [the footage] was first shown to me last week, I was very concerned by what the vision depicted,” he said. “The conduct displayed demanded examination and explanation. The members involved clearly needed to be called to account for their conduct.”
The incident is now being investigated by the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (IBAC), but the officers in question haven’t yet been stood down from policing duties.
“Look, it’s not our practice to immediately stand members down upon receipt of a complaint,” Cornelius said. “Each of them know that their conduct is the subject of significant scrutiny, including the publication of the CCTV footage that we’ve all seen.”
Cornelius added that the public should rest assured “mates are not investigating mates.”
