The Authority oversaw Police’s investigation into how an 11-year-old child was misidentified by officers as an adult mental health patient. The child was detained by officers for a mental health assessment and transported to a local hospital, and was later inadvertently medicated by hospital staff.
Police’s initial investigation was complete by the time the Authority became actively involved. After reviewing the report as part of our oversight function, we agreed with Police that they would carry out additional enquiries about what information had been communicated between officers and other services when making decisions about the child.
Police’s initial and supplementary investigations found that the detention of the child was reasonable in the circumstances. While the process undertaken by the officers to identify the child was ultimately flawed, the officers’ attempts were made in good faith.
The Authority is satisfied with the Police investigation and agrees with the conclusions reached. We find that the actions of the officers do not reach the threshold of misconduct or neglect of duty and have encouraged Police to actively engage with the local hospital to review their identification processes.
IPCA: 25-27148