Broome incident: WA Police call for calm after three Aboriginal kids restrained with cable ties in Cable Beach

Police will consider whether to send additional resources to the trouble plagued town of Broome this week after a man allegedly restrained three children with cable ties on Tuesday afternoon. A confronting video of the incident which has quickly gone viral and has created a huge debate about youth crime in the town has resulted in a 45-year-old Broome man being charged with three counts of aggravated assault after he allegedly restrained the children - who he claims were trespassing on a Cable Beach property. It is believed the incident was sparked after four children jumped the fence to a property on Conkerberry Road before they were found swimming in a pool by the man. Police allege the force the man used to restrain three of the children “was not proportionate in the circumstances” after they were called to a “trespassing incident” at the property around 2.15pm. When distressed family members rushed to the scene, they allegedly discovered a six-year-old girl and a seven-year-old boy bound with cable ties. Police later identified a third child who had also allegedly been detained - an eight-year-old boy - who had fled the scene prior to police getting there. Top brass police on Wednesday have called for calm in the town which has been plagued by youth crime for the past several months. At a press conference on Wednesday WA Police Acting Assistant Commissioner Rod Wilde said additional police resources were already in the town - as part of operation regional shield - but he said those resources would be re-assessed today in the wake of the incident. “We will look at that today, whether we need to (send more resources),” Mr Wilde said. “There’s a lot of police in Broome as it is ... if we need to, we can send additional people at short notice. “If we need to, we will send some people today. “But at this point, it was calm last night and we are very thankful for that.” Mr Wilde - who described Tuesday’s incident as “unusual” and “confronting” - played down suggestions Broome was at a crisis point. “I think things have been improving, we all know Broome is a beautiful town (but) there has been issues, there has been some issues across the Kimberley with juvenile crime,” he said. “But through operation regional shield we’ve been putting those additional people into those areas and it has reduced that juvenile crime type offending. “It’s not an overnight fix, there’s lots of issues there that we need to address.” Mr Wilde said due to the age of the children involved in Tuesday’s incident, they would not be facing charges - even though it was alleged some damage had been caused to the rear of the property where they were allegedly trespassing. He said police were engaging with the parent’s of the children and he said the children were not injured as a result of being restrained. Mr Wilde said he was calling for community calm in the wake of the incident. “We’ve spoken to the family ... of the children, they are very keen for the court process to proceed,” he said. “Please let the court process proceed and remain calm.”