5 November 2008

Police Wrap - 5 November

| johnboy
Join the conversation
7

1. Police are congratulating themselves and the community on keeping Melbourne Cup festivities reasonable.

    ACT Policing successfully ensured the safety and security of patrons during yesterday’s celebrations for the Melbourne Cup at the Canberra Racecourse.

    More than 13,000 people attended the event with only five being taken into custody, four for intoxication and one for refusing to leave the venue and resisting arrest.

    A further 28 people were ejected from the venue by private security and police due to anti-social and/or drunken behaviour. This was a significant drop from last year when 80 people were ejected from the event.

    Police undertook a highly-visible presence both at the event and around the venue, and patrolled Civic and other licensed venues in the evening where patrons from the racecourse continued their celebrations.

    ACT Policing also conducted random and targeted breath testing all over Canberra, over the Melbourne Cup celebrations.

    Acting Deputy Chief Police Officer Michael Chew said there was a marked improvement in behaviour at this year’s event.

    “The majority of people ensured their conduct was safe and in control.”

    “Police did not tolerate public drunkenness and anti-social behaviour which detracts from other people enjoying the event. Those involved in such conduct were ejected from the venue.”

    “A capacity crowd enjoyed the day and the safety and security of all was upheld,” said A/DCPO Chew.

Join the conversation

7
All Comments
  • All Comments
  • Website Comments
LatestOldest
oppressed_taxpayer2:50 am 12 Nov 08

Given that no-one commenting on this particular thread to date claims to have actually witnessed the incident, why the f@*K do you all ARSSUME that the tasered individual deserved the treatment they got? Just remember that the AFP is not, by nature, precluded from employing over-zealous dickheads.

They are more effective than pepper spray, for which the use involves causing significant pain to the recipient, so they become compliant. But the pain lasts for hours after use.
Sure, the intention in taser use is not to cause pain, but to end the confrontation by functionally overriding the body’s nervous and motor function.
This brings with it a residual risk of disruption to heart and neurological function.
However for most people, receiving a jolt from a taser has been claimed to cause an amount of pain that has been described by both Amnesty and the UN as near if not at “torture levels”.
But at least the pain stops when the electricity shuts off, and there is minimal proof of contact afterwards, which is nice for if someone was to be ‘less than ethical’.
They are not non-lethal.

They’re not a crowd control device, except as an implied threat to any non-compliant individual.
Their use is meant to be a “public\personal safety is an impending and otherwise unavoidable risk, so I will instantly incapacitate him\her using _less-lethal_ means than a bullet” device, but in on-the-ground use they seem to be a first-choice instead of last alternative to resolving a situation.

So how does the public go about hearing more about why and how it was used, and if the recipient develops heart rhythm problems, who does he take his issue up with?

“‘Given the circumstances, it probably stopped the incident from escalating further than it did,” Sergeant Cooke said.”

As much as I dislike violent drunken nob-ends, tasers are not supposed to be used as compliance devices. I always find it really worrying that the tendency is to crack out the taser whenever posed with a challenge.

Your point?
In general, other people’s comments may or may not be related to yours, but in this case probably not considering this is a thread on the _police_ releases, and you’re trying to sing the praises of CSS…

Why should I care what CSS get up to?

That was a police call not the private security firm involved

I thought That CSS Security did a fantastic job

Daily Digest

Want the best Canberra news delivered daily? Every day we package the most popular Riotact stories and send them straight to your inbox. Sign-up now for trusted local news that will never be behind a paywall.

By submitting your email address you are agreeing to Region Group's terms and conditions and privacy policy.