No plan to release 95-year-old's tasering video'

[Lee]

Manila Times          By Agence France-Presse         May 21, 2023

Sure seems like elder abuse to me. Was there really no other way to handle this? How about if everyone just left the room for a hour? IDK

Quote

 

SYDNEY, Australia: bodycam footage of an officer tasering a 95-year-old great-grandmother with dementia inside her nursing home, a state police chief said on Saturday.

The woman, Clare Nowland, is in critical condition in the hospital, three days after being shot with an electronic stun gun in a confrontation that shocked Australians and made international headlines.

Officers arrived at Yallambee Lodge in southern New South Wales state on Wednesday after being alerted by nursing home staff that a woman was "armed with a knife," police said.

Police say they urged Nowland to drop the serrated steak knife before she moved toward them "at a slow pace" with the aid of a walking frame, prompting one officer to fire his taser at her.

Asked about political calls for police body-worn video of the tasering to be released, New South Wales police commissioner Karen Webb said: "I am not sure why they want to see it."

The state police chief told a news conference that she had only heard the audio from the recording.

"I don't see it necessary that I actually view it," Webb said. Citing "legislative requirements" surrounding surveillance devices, she added that they "don't intend to release it unless there is a process at the end of this that would allow it to be released."

An investigation into the firing of the taser "will take time," she said, promising that the probe would follow the "proper process."

The outlook for Nowland, who has 24 grandchildren and 31 great-grandchildren, is uncertain, Webb said, after spending time with her family at the hospital on Friday.

"The next few days will be critical and, you know, it's likely to be very difficult for the family, and my condolences and thoughts are with the family at the moment," the police chief said, adding that the family wanted answers.

Police would "deal with the facts and not speculate" to avoid prejudicing their investigation, she said.

Webb noted that it was "quite rare" for police to be called to a nursing home, adding they may need to be "better equipped" to deal with dementia patients.

David Shoebridge, a state senator, demanded that police release the body-worn video images."My reaction, like millions of Australians who have heard this news, is shock and disbelief. How can it be reasonable use of force for police to be tasering a 95-year-old woman with dementia in a walking frame in a nursing home?"

Shoebridge said he was joining other New South Wales colleagues to make a "very clear demand" for the state police and government to get the family's consent to release the bodycam video.

"The public have a right to know what the police did and this cannot be hidden in a police-investigating-police private inquiry," he said.

 

https://www.manilatimes.net/2023/05/21/world/no-plan-to-release-95-year-olds-tasering-video/1892390

[OnMyWay]

Wow!  I am a big supporter of police, but when they do something totally stupid, they need to be accountable.  Tasers are great for dealing with many situations, but it should never have been out of the holster for a 95 year old woman.

They say nothing about the police officer here but I found another article that says he is a senior constable with 13 years experience.  What was he thinking?  Even an old fart like me could dance around her all day, while she brandished a steak knife.  And two young guys could easily grab her arm.

[Lee]

If the nursing home has a number of patients suffering from dementia-----and most do I would imagine----then why would a serrated steak knife be on the premises in the first place.

[Dave Hounddriver]

Quote

 

The state police chief told a news conference that she had only heard the audio from the recording.

"I don't see it necessary that I actually view it," Webb said.

 

Its possible they are keeping it internal as the old woman was looking for "suicide by cop" which the audio would reveal.  But that still does not explain Lee's point:

8 hours ago, Lee said:

why would a serrated steak knife be on the premises in the first place.

 

[Lee]

Update: 95 year old woman has now died after being tased by the police.

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A 95-year-old Australian woman died after police shocked her with a stun gun, prompting public outcry and calls for an investigation into what went wrong.

New South Wales police charged the officer responsible for Clare Nowland’s death with recklessly causing grievous bodily harm, assault occasioning actual bodily harm and common assault, the BBC reported.

The officer, a 33-year-old senior constable whom the Daily Telegraph Australia identified as Kristian White, will remain suspended from duty while the investigation continues and will face trial in early July. Reports remain unclear whether he was suspended with or without pay.

 

Read more: https://www.foxnews.com/world/grandmother-95-clare-nowland-dies-police-kristian-white-stun-gun-taser-community-outraged