AAP General News (Australia)
12-05-2001
Qld: Police use of capsicum spray under fire
By Paul Osborne and Vera Devai
BRISBANE, Dec 5 AAP - Civil libertarians today demanded police use of capsicum spray
be reviewed following the death of a man subdued by officers in Brisbane.
The use of capsicum spray by police had become commonplace and ignored serious health
risks, the Australian Council for Civil Liberties (ACCL) said.
A 33-year-old man, whose name has not been released, died yesterday from a suspected
heart attack in a Brisbane hospital after capsicum spray was used on him during an incident
at a suburban home.
Police were called to a Chermside residence on Brisbane's north after they received
a report a man was trying to hurt himself.
They found the man armed with several knives and suffering serious self-inflicted injuries,
police said.
It is believed the man refused orders to drop the knives.
Police said they used the capsicum spray after the man moved towards them in a threatening
manner.
ACCL president Terry O'Gorman said there needed to be a rethink of the use of capsicum
spray, which he said had serious health risks.
"Our predictions have come true that capsicum spray use by police would become all
too commonplace," he said.
Capsicum spray was introduced into Australia after recommendations by a Victorian coroner
following several police shooting deaths.
But Mr O'Gorman said substantial research in the United States showed the effects of
capsicum spray led to cardiac arrest.
A study published in the North Carolina Medical Journal last year found that since
1993 more than 70 people had died during arrest efforts using capsicum spray.
A review of 30 of the deaths found that asphyxia due to "hog-tying" of the arrestee,
drug intoxication, pre-existing heart and lung disease, obesity and other conditions caused
or contributed to almost all deaths.
However, the report noted the potential role of capsicum spray was often not considered
in police assessments of arrestee deaths.
"Police seem to ignore these facts," Mr O'Gorman said.
Meanwhile, Queensland Police Minister Tony McGrady stood by the police officers' actions
in yesterday's incident.
Mr McGrady said capsicum spray was a legitimate tool used by police in situations where
they had a violent person and needed to subdue the person to preserve their safety.
"Police are trained to use it only in situations where a person is behaving in a violent
or threatening manner," he said.
Mr McGrady said he would seek more information regarding overseas studies on capsicum
spray, which was introduced to Queensland in 1999.
"I will discuss it with the police commissioner," Mr McGrady said.
The Brisbane incident, treated as a death in custody, is being investigated by the
Queensland Police Service's ethical standards unit, the state coroner and the Criminal
Justice Commission.
AAP pjo/ved/sc/hu/br
KEYWORD: CAPSICUM NIGHTLEAD
2001 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.
