The police officer involved in a critical incident where a 95-year-old woman was tasered remains on the job, despite having his duties under review.
Great-grandmother Clare Nowland is in a critical condition at Cooma Base Hospital after the incident at the Yallambee Lodge, where she fell and hit her head after being tasered by police.
The senior constable with 12 years of experience was with his partner when they were called to the aged care home in Cooma, after reports of a patient with a knife.
NSW Deputy Commissioner Peter Cotter said the elderly woman was carrying a serrated steak knife.
"Negotiations commenced with Clare to essentially drop the knife, for whatever reason, she did not do that," he said.
Deputy Commissioner Cotter confirmed the great-grandmother used a walking frame to approach the two responding officers "slowly", as the state's homicide squad begin an investigation into the incident.
"At the time she was tasered, she was approaching police. It is fair to say at a slow pace. She had a walking frame. But she had a knife."
An independent review by the homicide squad will be followed by a review by the professional standards command of the NSW police force, and will include oversight by the law enforcement conduct commissions of NSW, Deputy Commission Cotter said.
"Any member of the public, any member of the emergency services, any member of the police force is not above the law. Our actions, whatever we do, and wherever we do it are always under review," he said.
Disability advocates call out lack of judgement
Ms Nowland is well known in the local community, and celebrated her 80th birthday by skydiving over Canberra.
President of People with Disability Australia Nicole Lee said it was a "shocking" incident.
"She’s either one hell of an agile, fit, fast and intimidating 95-year-old woman, or there’s a very poor lack of judgement on those police officers and there really needs to be some accountability on their side," Ms Lee said.
"This woman, an older woman of 95, she needed somebody to de-escalate the situation with her and to talk to her, and to handle her with compassion and time and not tasers."
She said the use of force by police against people with disabilities was all too common.
"Clearly, there's not enough training for police around de-escalation tactics for people with psychosis or Alzheimer's or dementia, for people living with psychosocial disability, autism, or schizophrenia, or anything like that," Ms Lee said.
Ms Lee said the aged-care sector should also do more to manage incidents involving people with dementia without using force.
"The fact that they've gone to police shows that there's a failure of protocols somewhere along the way, or a lack of resources or understanding on their behalf on the service's behalf on how to handle this situation."
NSW Police commissioner Karen Webb said the investigation will be subject to an independent review.
"My thoughts are with the family at this difficult time," she said.
"I understand and share the community concerns and assure you that we are treating this matter with the utmost seriousness."
NSW Seniors Rights Service spokesperson Margaret Crothers said it was hard to comment on the case without more detail, but added the situation did not demonstrate normal practice in aged care.
"It must raise concerns, no one wants their grandmother or their mother tasered.
“Everyone is concerned about the use of restraint and certainly the use of force from either police or staff and it’s just something that everyone is mindful of in aged care."
There would had to have been an assessment as to the danger to the older woman herself and for the other residents and the staff, she said.
The great-grandmother had previously volunteered at a charity store in Cooma, before suffering from dementia in recent years.
Her family are by her bedside in hospital and have declined to comment on the incident.
Yallambee Lodge in Cooma, which is run by the Snowy Monaro Regional Council, opened in 1995.
According to its website, Yallambee Lodge offers "palliative care" and can cater to residents with "higher needs".
