Police in Australia Slammed for Tasering 95-year-Old Woman

A 95-year-old grandmother who was tasered by Australian police at a retirement home is in critical condition, authorities said on Friday, as the homicide squad joins a high-profile probe into the incident.

Police were summoned to the Yallambee aged care facility in Cooma, around 300 kilometres (186 miles) southwest of Sydney, on Wednesday when staff saw resident Clare Nowland brandishing a steak knife outside her room, according to New South Wales police acting commissioner Peter Cotter.

According to Reuters, after speaking with Nowland for several minutes, one officer used a taser to put her to the ground after she refused to drop the knife.

“At the time she was tasered, she was approaching police, but it is fair to say at a slow pace,” Cotter said at a press conference. “She had a walking frame, but she was armed with a knife.”

She is in critical condition in the hospital, drifting in and out of consciousness, and the incident has sparked widespread outrage.

“The use of a taser when a kind word was all she needed… she was confused, as dementia patients are, and she needed kind words and assistance and help.” “She didn’t need the force of the law,” Andrew Thaler, a community advocate, told Reuters.

The officer who used the taser was placed on leave while a “level 1 critical incident investigation” was conducted, a category reserved by police for unusual circumstances in which injuries result in death or impending death. The homicide squad is called in.

“If a threshold is crossed where it goes from being a departmental issue to a criminal issue, we are certainly mature and transparent enough as an organisation to do what needs to be done,” Cotter said.

Nowland, who has dementia, had been wandering the institution for several hours before taking the knife from the kitchen.

Body cameras captured the interaction, but he stated that it was not in the public interest to share the film due to the ongoing inquiry.

Tasers are classified as guns in various Australian states and territories. This means they are subject to tight laws and can only be legally owned and operated by people who have the appropriate licences or permissions. Specific legislation can differ, so it’s critical to examine the laws in your state or region.

Tasers, for example, are considered forbidden weapons in New South Wales (NSW), and possession without a legal justification is a crime. However, under certain cases, law enforcement authorities and security professionals may be authorised to use tasers.

Tasers are categorised as a regulated weapon in Victoria, and to legally carry and use them, individuals must have a valid weapons licence or a particular taser permit. Tasers are not normally permitted to be used by the general population.

Other states and territories, such as Queensland and Western Australia, have their own taser laws. Tasers may be used by law enforcement authorities in specific instances, but civilian ownership and use are restricted.

It is important to note that rules and regulations might change over time, therefore it is critical to receive the most up-to-date information about tasers in Australia from relevant law enforcement authorities or legal sources in your state or territory.