The police officer who tasered 95-year-old Claire Nowland at an aged care facility in Cooma, Australia, last week has been suspended from duty with pay, New South Wales (NSW) Police said.
Nowland, who has dementia, is in end-of-life care at Cooma Hospital and Health Service after the incident caused her to fall and sustain life-threatening head injuries.
Police say that Nowland was armed with a steak knife at the time of the incident. The NSW homicide squad is investigating the incident.
Photo: AP
Police confirmed the suspension of the officer yesterday morning, but could not say how long the senior constable, who had 12 years of experience, would be suspended.
It comes as calls grow for a broader independent investigation of the incident, as well as police treatment of people with dementia.
The investigation is to be overseen by the NSW Law Enforcement Conduct Commission (LECC), but Greens state legislator and spokesperson for justice Sue Higginson said she was concerned about the commission’s ability to oversee the case given a report tabled by it on Wednesday last week that said some of its powers had proved “illusory.”
The commission admitted in the report that it had not been able to exercise its power to live monitor the interviews of police officers involved in incidents given it required the offending officers’ consent, who have declined during every case.
Higginson yesterday was to introduce a notice of motion to the NSW Legislative Council calling for the public release of the police bodycam footage of the incident.
However, NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb on Monday said that Nowland’s family did not want it released.
The Greens are also to call for an independent investigation into the incident, and a parliamentary inquiry into police powers and police responses when dealing with vulnerable people.
“We’ve got a woman who is in end-of-life care because of the actions of police,” Higginson said. “We’re going to be pushing as hard as we can.”
NSW Minister for Police and Counter Terrorism Police minister Yasmin Catley was yesterday asked in parliament how she would ensure the investigation is “robust and transparent,” to which she responded it was being run by “some of the best detectives we have in this state.”
“Politicizing this matter is not going to be of any assistance,” she added. “We must remember the family here and remember that there is an investigation under way.”
On Monday, NSW Premier Chris Minns said it was right for the LECC to oversee the investigation into the incident, which he described as “very troubling.”
“It’s really important to have confidence in the investigation taking place,” he said.
Six officers handcuffed a second nursing home resident, Rachel Grahame, in 2020, after she took a staff member’s lanyard.
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