Jordan Baker and Michael McGowan reporting in The Sydney Morning Herald.
NSW Police is battling to regain control over the fallout from last week’s Tasering of 95-year-old grandmother Clare Nowland at a Cooma nursing home and the assault conviction on Monday of an officer who injured a teenage Indigenous boy by sweeping his legs from under him during an arrest.
Nowland died in Cooma Hospital surrounded by her family on Wednesday night one week after the Tasering incident.
The police watchdog will also hold public hearings on Thursday into whether officers used excessive force in another case involving a 14-year-old Aboriginal boy who was left with a head injury after an interaction with officers in regional NSW.
The Redfern Legal Centre will attend Thursday’s LECC hearing into the incident involving the 14-year-old Aboriginal teenager. Senior solicitor Samantha Lee said the unlawful use of police force was of enormous public concern.
“NSW Police must face greater scrutiny and oversight on this issue,” she said.
Due to the enormity of police powers, monitoring, transparency and accountability is crucial, not just for the benefit of the community but also the benefit of police.
