Michael McGowan reporting in The Sydney Morning Herald.
Scrutiny over police use of Tasers intensified following the death of Nowland, an aged care resident with dementia. Nowland was Tasered by senior constable Kristian White while moving “slowly” with the support of a walking frame while holding a knife, police have said.
In the case of Nowland, police have said both officers had their body-cameras turned on and that the incident was captured “in its totality”. But Samantha Lee, a lawyer at the Redfern Legal Centre, said other recent cases in which the cameras were left off meant it was “disturbing” that their use would be left to officer discretion.
Lee obtained the police manual through an ongoing inquiry by the NSW police watchdog into the use of force by officers involved in the arrest of a 14-year-old Aboriginal boy in the state’s north in September last year.
She said that case, as well as the recent shooting of 41-year-old Steve Pampalian in Willoughby by police, should spark a review of how body-worn cameras are used.
“I think what we have seen through experience is that in practice the judgement of officers tends to fit more with what is beneficial to police, rather than the person subject to police power,” Lee said.
