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Australian police are investigating why an experienced officer used a Taser on a 95-year-old woman who approached them “quickly” while holding a steak knife.
The woman, Clare Nowland, who is 5-foot-2 and 95 pounds, uses a walker and has dementia. He was left in critical condition after a senior police officer used the weapon early Wednesday morning at the treatment facility where he was staying, causing him to fall and hit his head, according to police.
“By the time he was Tasered, he was approaching the police – but suffice it to say, very quickly,” Peter Cotter, assistant commissioner of the New South Wales Police, said at a press conference on Friday. “He’s got a walking frame, but he’s got a knife.”
The news conference was held after people in the community, rights activists and advocates for people with disabilities expressed outrage, questioning whether the officer used force.
Paramedics and police had been called to the Yallambee Lodge aged care facility in the small town of Cooma, in New South Wales, on Wednesday morning to reports of a resident with a knife, Mr Cotter said.
He found Ms. Nowland had a knife in his hand, he said, “and it’s only fair that he was armed with that knife. The knife in question was a steak knife, a serrated edge knife,” which he had obtained from the kitchen a few hours earlier.
Although the police tried to negotiate with Ms. Nowland “for a few minutes,” he said, “for whatever reason, Clare didn’t drop the knife.”
As he approached the door of the room where two officers were standing, one used a Taser on him, he said.
The episode, which Mr Cotter described as “confronting,” was captured on body camera footage. He said New South Wales police had opened an investigation but declined to say whether the officer could face charges. The officer, who has 12 years of experience, has been suspended from active duty, he added.
The investigation will be classified as “Level One,” the highest level, and will involve the homicide squad, due to the injuries Ms. Nowland may have caused his death, he said.
A previous police statement said only that an elderly woman was “injured during an interaction with police” at the aged care facility.
New South Wales police procedures say that “Conducted Electric Weapons,” as they are known, should not be used on elderly or disabled people “unless there are exceptional circumstances.”
Mrs. Nowland is known in her community as a longtime volunteer at a local charity, local news media reported. He was previously covered by the local news media when he went skydiving for his 80th birthday.
It wasn’t until the late 80s that her health began to decline, said Andrew Thaler, a community advocate who has spoken with Ms. Nowland’s family.
His family is now grieving and preparing for his death, he said.
“They all have mixed emotions; they think they will graduate tomorrow,” he said.
He rejected the notion that the police’s actions were justified. “He’s 95 years old, all of 43 pounds and 5 feet 2, and he can’t walk without a walking aid,” he said. “To say that he would make a threat to the police is absurd.”
He said he would like to see an independent investigation into the actions of the police and why Yallambee Lodge had called him in the first place.
New South Wales Council for Civil Liberties explained the police response as “outrageous overreach,” and the president of Disabled Australians told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that aged care facilities should better manage encounters involving people with dementia and avoid the use of force.
Jeff Morgan, chief operating officer of Snowy Monaro Regional Council, which runs Yallambee Lodge, told The Daily Telegraph that his staff had followed procedures during the episode.
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