Australia: A POLICE GOON ROUNDUP

Three recent articles below, via Australian Politics

Tasers unsafe in the hands of Australian police goons

They are a valuable alternative to gunfire but police use them indiscriminately -- meaning that a valuable tool may have to be taken away from them in order to protect the public from a rogue police force. Can you imagine a cop firing one 28 times into a man lying on the ground? No wonder the guy died of a heart attack! Such an abuse is of course well outside all guidelines for use of the weapon. The cop concerned should be in jail for manslaughter

The controversial Taser stun guns may be scrapped in Queensland after a review warned that the weapons could kill and could not be modified to prevent a repeat of the death of a man this year when he was shot 28 times with the 50,000-volt device.

The joint Crime and Misconduct Commission-police review, launched after the June heart-attack death of north Queensland man Antonio Galeano, has ordered an overhaul of police training and operational policy, requiring the stun guns to be used only when there is a "risk of serious injury".

The review, to be released today and obtained exclusively by The Australian, marks the first time an Australian authority has recognised the possibility the stun guns can injure or kill, especially when fired repeatedly at a person. "The possibility of Taser use causing or contributing to death is possible and cannot be ruled out," the review warns.

The Arizona-based manufacturers have repeatedly denied the weapons can kill.

The report is expected to influence the nationwide rollout of Tasers, amid mounting evidence the weapons are being used by police as an everyday compliance tool and not as a non-lethal substitute for a standard gun in high-risk situations.

Sources have told The Australian a coronial investigation has concluded that amphetamine addict Galeano, 39, was deliberately shot 28 times, each time for a duration of up to five seconds, after he confronted police with a steel bar at his unit in Brandon, south of Townsville. It was initially claimed the stun gun might have malfunctioned or that there was a glitch with the built-in computer system recording the number and duration of shots from the weapon.

But investigators will allege the policeman repeatedly Tasered Galeano, who dropped the metal bar after the first few shots, while he lay unarmed and writhing on the floor. He died minutes later while still in handcuffs.

Civil liberties lawyers called for a criminal investigation into the death of Galeano in June, when The Australian revealed he had been shot 28 times. Until then, police had claimed he had been shot only two or three times.

It will be announced today that the freeze on the rollout of Tasers to 3000 general duties officers -- ordered after the death of Galeano -- will be maintained while police move to implement the recommendations of the review.

Meanwhile, the 1200 Tasers with the Queensland police force will remain in operation. But the use of Tasers is under threat, with the CMC recommending they be modified so a single shot lasts no longer than five seconds, and that a limit be put on the numbers of times the weapon can be fired. Police have been told by the manufacturer that "at this stage, this is not feasible with the Taser X26" -- the $15,000-a-piece weapon being used in Queensland and around Australia.

The review recommends that Queensland Police fit an automatic video device on the weapons, which records every time the Taser is pulled from its holster. Queensland police last year refused to buy the weapons with the optional "Tasercam" because of the cost.

Civil liberties lawyer Scott McDougall, director of the Caxton Legal Centre, said police should be forced to table in parliament every deployment of the stun guns in Queensland. He said an independent medical study should be conducted on the weapons, and a freeze on their use should be implemented until the findings were released. "We have clients who were Tasered who were not offering any resistance to police," he said. "Fears that Tasers would be used as a compliance tool may have come to fruition around Australia."

Original report here



'Urinating' Queensland cop shocks onlookers

There really are some charmers in the Qld. police

A QUEENSLAND police officer is being investigated after allegedly being caught urinating on a poker machine inside a Sunshine Coast nightclub last night. The officer has been stood down pending the outcome of an investigation. This follows another police officer being stood down after allegedly clocking 223km/h during an authorised pursuit.

In the latest incident, a group of off-duty police officers were celebrating the departure of several colleagues from the force at the Blue Bar at Alexandra Headland, when it is understood an officer was caught urinating on a poker machine inside the premises. CCTV footage from the club has been seized and it is understood the alleged incident was captured on a mobile phone.

Senior officers from the region are investigating the allegations, with oversight from the Ethical Standards Command. The Crime and Misconduct Commission has also been informed about the investigation. Staff at the Blue Bar refused to comment about the incident.

Original report here



Vindictive NSW police

What a charming lot they are!

Bikie solicitor Lesly Randle may sue police after being thrown in a cell for more than an hour, manhandled and denied access to a telephone - all for not having her driver's licence.


Original report here

In an uncomfortable role reversal for Ms Randle, who represents Comanchero motorcycle gang members charged over the airport brawl earlier this year, she yesterday faced court as a defendant. Police charged Ms Randle with using a mobile phone when not permitted, driving while not carrying a licence and resisting or hindering police in execution of their duty. But with a two-day hearing due to begin yesterday, police dropped the resisting arrest and licence charge in return for a guilty plea to the mobile phone offence.

Ms Randle yesterday told The Daily Telegraph the events that day had left her "upset, disturbed and absolutely humiliated". She admitted speaking on her mobile phone as she parked outside Waverley Local Court but claimed Senior Constable Adam Staples - who had been having a cigarette nearby - then threatened to "smash" her window if she did not open it and produce her licence. She was ultimately "grabbed" by the arms and dragged in front of the courthouse, in a manner which witnesses described as her being propelled along the footpath.

She was locked in a jail cell with police refusing access to a phone. "I informed the police I was due in court next door for a bail application and due to appear in the Supreme Court at 2pm so it was important that the relevant people be contacted," she said yesterday. However, Ms Randle said a female officer at Waverley simply laughed and told another officer: "Go tell (Ms Randle's client) his lawyer's locked up and he won't be getting bail today."

When Ms Randle was finally let out, on the express orders of the local court magistrate who was informed of the situation by Ms Randle's barrister partner John Korn, she claimed she was pushed twice by officers as she was released.

Ms Randle, who represents most of the Comanchero accused over the fatal brawl at Sydney Airport earlier this year, subpoenaed CCTV footage which she claimed supported her assertions against the police. Magistrate John Favretto fined her $238 plus $76 court costs.

Outside the court, Ms Randle said she was considering a civil suit against police. "It's quite disgraceful that a police officer in the absence of any lawful basis can take somebody's liberty and refuse them access to a telephone at a time when there were only one or two other people in custody," she said.

SOURCE
Original report here



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