Australia: Cop who tasered 95-year-old woman with dementia suspended from duty, says report
File photo of Clare Nowland.
The police officer who tasered Clare Nowland, a 95-year-old woman with dementia in Australia's New South Wales (NSW), has been suspended from duty with pay, the NSW police said. According to a report by SBS News on Tuesday (May 23), the officer, who has not been identified, joined the force 12 years ago and was removed from duty last Friday. NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb said that she neither viewed the footage of the incident nor spoke to the suspended officer. Speaking to Seven's Sunrise program, Commissioner Webb said she would speak to the office at some point.
"My concern at the moment is with the Nowland family. This is a terrible time for them," she added. Webb also ordered a review of police training, particularly focused on how to deal with people with dementia.
"The role of a police officer seems to be growing wider and wider and we are expected to know everything about everything - and we are not experts on everything," the NSW police commissioner further said.
What is the incident about?
Last week, Clare Nowland was tasered by the police as she approached them using a walker and carrying a steak knife in a nursing home. According to a report by the news agency Associated Press, two officers went to Yallambee Lodge in Cooma after staff reported that Nowland took a serrated steak knife from the kitchen. The Yallambee Lodge specialises in residents with higher care needs including dementia.
The 95-year-old sustained head injuries she fell back after being hit by the taser.
Earlier, Police Assistant Commissioner Peter Cotter said that the officers with Nowland for several minutes and used the stun gun when she approached the doorway where the officers were standing.
“At the time she was tasered, she was approaching police. But it is fair to say at a slow pace. She had a walking frame. But she had a knife. I can’t take it any further as to what was going through anyone’s mind, Cotter added.
Nowland remains in critical condition
As earlier reported, Clare Nowland is receiving end-of-life care in Cooma district hospital and continues to remain in critical condition. On Sunday, Nowland was surrounded by family and well-wishers who prayed for her well-being.
Meanwhile, the NSW Greens and an independent MP called on the government to establish a parliamentary inquiry into NSW Police. The SBS News report said that Greens MP Sue Higginson would demand a fully independent probe and bring the issue to the floor of the NSW parliament later on Tuesday.
The motion would also call for the bodycam footage of Nowland's tasering to be publicly released.
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