Page 14 - IAV Digital Magazine #618

iAV - Antelope Valley Digital Magazine
Man Wrongly Arrested For A Second Time Over A Misspelling of His Name
By Emma Kirk, News.com.au
A man was wrongly arrested twice and spent a night in jail over a stolen boat after an emergency dispatcher mis- spelled his name.
The Western Australian Corruption and Crime Commission blasted the actions of WA Police in a report about two incidents involving a man named Marc Smith (a pseudonym), but whose name was entered as Mark Smith into the police system.
A person called to report a man was stealing a boat, about the same time
the alleged offender phoned emergency services to report he felt threatened by the boat owner and requested police assistance in January 2023.
The phone dispatch- er misspelled the alleged offender’s name as Mark, attaching it to an out- standing breach of bail and arrest war- rant for another per- son.
When police arrived, they took statements from the pair but did not check the alleged offender’s name or address, and found he was in possession of a public transport SmartRider card that belonged to some- one else.
He was arrested on suspicion of stealing a boat, possessing a stolen SmartRider, and having an out- standing warrant, and taken back to a police station.
The man saw his name written down incorrectly and tried to tell officers, but they did not check, and he was not asked to confirm any other details.
His fingerprints were taken, but did not match the outstand- ing arrest warrant, and officers never confirmed the prints.
Because of the out- standing warrant, police refused bail, and he spent the night in lockup.
The following day in court, a magistrate picked up the error and noted the man had been wrongfully detained, dismissing the charges, but three months later, he was arrested again at the same police station.
The man was seek- ing help when an offi- cer entered the incor- rect spelling of his
name into the police system.
The officer saw a photo of the man attached to the other Mark’s outstanding warrant, he was arrested a second time and detained in lockup.
The man told officers this was the second time he had been wrongfully detained over the incorrect spelling of his name and was released after police made fur- ther inquiries.
Police conducted a criminal investigation into the first incident and found there was insufficient evidence to lay charges for deprivation of liberty, but the corruption watchdog questioned the decision.
The WA CCC found police investigations were inadequate, resulting in a vulner- able man wrongfully spending a night in police custody.
“The gravity of this should have been considered appropri- ately from the start,” the report stated.
“This matter could
have been avoided if the officers had undertaken basic checks on the infor- mation (the man) provided.
“The failure to follow basic procedure is concerning.”
A WA Police spokesman said the force always strived to do its best for the community, however, they accepted they did not always get it right.
“In this instance, fol- lowing the internal investigations, three officers received sus- tained managerial outcomes,” a spokesman said.
“Our agency and our officers are dealing with roughly 1.5 mil- lion calls for help every year. But we accept that even one mistake is one too many.
“WA Police are always looking at ways our systems, policies and proce- dures can be improved to better protect our communi- ty and better support our officers.”
iAV - Antelope Valley Digital Magazine