DunRoaminTheUK

http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/s...12-953,00.html

Very sad (yet again) and yes, I know the full facts haven't emerged yet but still sad that it had to end like this. Enough said I think?

scottishcelts

So sad, the guy obviously needed help - not murdered. But then again, he did attempt to attack with a knife

moneypenny20

Maybe it was exactly what he wanted. Definitely ironic though. I could never be a copper, way too stressful.

bridie

How bizarre.....

Do they not have tasers in NSW?

Centurion

Yes, but tasers are ineffective at short range and in close confined spaces nearly impossible to deploy. As the article says, tasers are but one option open to the police to defend themselves.

No cop wants to shoot anyone, but really when faced with a knife wielding person with a disregard for their own life, how else could this end other than badly for everyone concerned.

fish.01

The lack of training most police get in dealing with situations like this was raised in a show just recently. That training really needs to be funded as obviously "some" police sometimes get it very wrong.

Boweaver

Yeah, I know I feel comfortable making my judgments based on what I read in the media.

geordiebloke

The police could always do with more training in theses things, no matter how well trained they may already be.
Did the cops get it wrong on this occassion??????? only time will tell.

fish.01

Indeed. It highlighted a serious shortage of training in this area. Showed a supposedly innovative training program dealing with mental health patients but the numbers getting the training were low. Also went into detail about some of the deaths of people with a mental illness shot by police in questionable circumstances. Some very sad stories.

Baz

I saw the show to which you refer, and it was some of the worst reporting I have seen, right up there with the Courier Mail in term of impartiality. They dragged grieving family members of the deceased out in front of the camera, and then asked them loaded and leading questions which were blatantly intended to make the police look as bad as possible.

Don’t get me wrong, the police don’t get it right all the time, and certainly mistakes were made, but if they had taken the time to actually investigate the other side of the story, the public might at least have seen the issues in question from a different perspective. There were a lot of issues raised by the programme which painted the police in the bad light, which if they had asked any operational police officer, they would have been able to give a perfectly reasonable suggestion as to why what was done was done, but of course the show had its agenda which was wanting to make the police look bad, so they never bothered looking at the police perspective on things.

fish.01

I a lot of people watching these shows have their "agenda" attenna up as obviously you did. Being uninvolved I could look at it fairly impartially so was on the lookout for agenda from either side. I didn't find it as one sided as you did. I thought the issues about programs and funding were interesting and at least was talking solution not problem. I wonder whether an operational police officer is permitted to provide answers to shows like these BTW? Maybe you would know that?

geordiebloke

Balanced reporting is absolutely crucial in these matters, as the issue shouldn't be about hanging officers out to dry, but rather learning from those
mistakes when they are made.
No police officer wants to shoot anyone, never mind someone with mental health issues, however, sadly these incidents will happen from time to time and unless you have been in a similar life threatening situation, you really don't know how you would react.
When I say "you" I dont mean you personally fish, just in general

JackTheLad

I can't remember the exact phrase, but isn't there a known term called something like 'blue suicide' where people intentionally commit suicide by provoking the police to shoot them?

Its usually an insurance thing, if they kill themselves the insurance won't pay out, but if they get shot by police they do.

Scubaemma

Suicide by cop. It's a scary part of the job, knowing that some people want that outcome, they [I]want[I] you to shoot them. (Not saying that was what happened in this case)

fish.01

I think this program highlighted the organisational mistakes that might be improved upon hours before the poor police officer pulled the trigger.