Police begin critical investigation of death in custody this morning

Police are treating the death of a man in the inner Sydney suburb of Waterloo as a death in custody.

Transcript

00:00The death of a 45-year-old man this morning in the inner southern suburb of Waterloo in

00:08Sydney that sparked a critical incident investigation is now being treated as a death in custody.

00:15What we now understand that at about 2.14am this morning, four officers for the New South

00:22Wales Police Force, who have been described as being quite junior, were called for urgent

00:27assistance by New South Wales paramedics as they were attending to a concern for welfare

00:33check at an apartment complex in Waterloo.

00:36What we now understand is that the 45-year-old man, who was known to police, became violent

00:43in an ambulance while New South Wales paramedics were attempting to sedate him.

00:49We understand he was moved from the ambulance and placed into cuffs by New South Wales police

00:55officers before he went into cardiac arrest.

00:58He was then taken to Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney, where he was later declared deceased.

01:03Now, we had earlier reported that this death was potentially while he was being sedated or

01:11an attempt to sedate the man.

01:13But we've got some more clarity from New South Wales police a little while ago.

01:17Let's take a listen to what they had to say.

01:18The information I have at this time is that he became aggressively resistant to the ambulance

01:25officers and the police and had to be restrained.

01:27At this point in time, I'm unaware if he was actually sedated or not prior to going into

01:33cardiac arrest.

01:34But that'll all form part of the critical incident investigation.

01:37Now, that critical incident investigation now means that New South Wales homicide squad detectives

01:45have been called in to investigate the circumstances that led to this man's death.

01:50We also understand that there is body-worn camera footage from the four officers who were involved.

01:56We also understand that the Professional Standards Command, which is effectively the watchdog

02:01for the New South Wales police force, will also be forming part of the investigation.

02:05And a report will be prepared for the coroner.