Page 3742 - Week 12 - Wednesday, 29 October 2014
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Like any employer, the AFP has legislated obligations to provide police with the best possible training, skills and tools with which to do their jobs effectively and safely. Tasers are but one of a range of tools available to police to employ in a dynamic continuum of force model that has at its core the fundamental notions of good communication, negotiation and the resort to a minimum amount of force … necessary in a given circumstance.
A continuum of force model contrasts with the old-fashioned linear model involving the escalated hierarchy in this seriousness of use-of-force-options.
He goes on to say:
Real world experience demonstrates that police will, from time to time, continue to be confronted by violent people and, therefore, they do require appropriate force options to deal with those circumstances.
Indeed, the underpinning purpose of the AFP Commissioner’s orders on use of force is to ensure that AFP officers operate to de-escalate potential conflict situations.
He goes on:
Each and every time a police officer in the ACT resorts to force they must file a report.
That is reviewed by the Ombudsman. He also says:
I would also make the observation that abuse of use of force is abuse of use of force. It is not related to a particular technological device.
That is an important point to make. We are issuing front-line police officers with firearms but saying they cannot have a taser.
The argument is made very well by Mr Corbell. But then he said, in contradiction of his argument essentially, “We’ll give front-line police officers one of those tools, the lethal tool, which is a firearm, but we are not going to give them the full suite of tools which are argued for, tasers.” It is an entirely contradictory argument that has been mounted by this minister. I will quote now from 2011 from Mr Corbell:
The evidence provided to me indicates that in 2010-11 ACT Policing recorded an increase in incidents involving use of force by police officers, underlining an upward trend over the last few years. A majority of these incidents involved alcohol, drugs, mental illness or a combination of these factors. Increasingly, police are also observing a propensity for aggressive behaviour towards police …
He goes on:
Consequently, there is real potential for these incidents to escalate to a point where there is significant risk to the safety of the public and the police officers involved. Some recent examples of serious incidents occurred in February this year when two people were shot by police in two separate and unrelated situations. One of them was fatally injured.
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