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| NEWS > 31 July 2009 |
Other related articles:
Greece: Agency to probe police
Citizens’ Protection Minister Michalis Chrysochoidis yesterday heralded the creation of an agency to investigate alleged cases of abusive or violent treatment of citizens by police after sacking two officers for allegedly mistreating a 35-year-old immigrant in front of her child in central Athens.
“Those two gentlemen are to leave the police force immediately and will never return,” Chrysochoidis said, referring to the two officers alleged to have handcuffed an Armenian woman in front of her 2-year-old child before bringing them both to the police precinct in Kypseli. According to sou... Read more
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 Article sourced from
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The Australian
31 July 2009
This article appeared in the above title/site.
To view it in its entirity click this link.
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OPI, Victoria
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Police slammed on 'going in ha
VICTORIA'S corruption watchdog has condemned the state's police for failing to change their "go in hard" culture on the use of force, warning that urgent reform is required to ensure officers are better equipped to handle violent confrontations.
The Office of Police Integrity report, tabled in state parliament yesterday, found officers were inadequately trained to deal with volatile situations, especially those involving people with mental health issues or drug and alcohol problems.
Force command needed to retrain officers to negotiate and communicate better during conflict, rather than go in hard with firearms and capsicum spray.
The damning report, foreshadowed by The Australian earlier this month, said the organisational culture of the force needed to change and that command management had done nothing on the issue for too long.
The report was commissioned late last year, shortly before 15-year-old Tyler Cassidy was shot dead by police at a Melbourne skate park. It followed recommendations by the OPI in 2005 when it reviewed a series of fatal police shootings.
"Victoria Police must refocus attention on establishing a culture embedded in principles of safety first, risk assessment, risk management and avoiding or minimising the use of force," OPI director Michael Strong writes in the report. "Given the number of recommendations on similar themes made by this office, their own internal reviews and others, police know what needs to be done. To avoid or minimise the risk of injuries or deaths, Victoria Police command must take urgent action in response to the findings."
Mr Strong said there had not been enough action to address the issues identified in previous reports, which had highlighted problems in police training and the focus on "going in hard" rather than to "back off".
"Police must be given alternatives to a hands-on approach that is heavily reliant on tactical equipment such as capsicum spray or firearms," he said. "Training must refocus ... on equipping police with the necessary skills to accurately assess situations and identify individuals who may have a mental health problem or are under the influence of alcohol and drugs."
The lack of change in officer training showed "indecision, lack of accountability, poor management and attitudes that accept the use of force and associated injuries as 'part of the job'.
"The absence of significant progress in more than six years by the Victoria Police education department in implementing the recommendations made by many reviews is inexcusable."
Mr Strong said yesterday the introduction of Tasers would be irresponsible until the problems with training were addressed.
Victoria Police Deputy Commissioner Kieran Walshe told The Australian last night the force accepted the thrust of the report. "Our focus has not been as strong as it should have been on dealing with training issues around the use of force and de-escalating conflict," he said.
Mr Walshe said officers would be retrained in better use of verbal communication to de-escalate volatile situations and give officers a better understanding of how to deal with people with mental health problems.
He rejected suggestions Tasers would aid police. "We are not going to expand our use of Tasers beyond our special squads because ... it is better to teach our members communication skills rather than giving them another piece of equipment."
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