The police officer who Tasered 95-year-old Claire Nowland at an aged care facility in Cooma last week has been suspended from duty with pay as pressure mounts for the bodycam footage of the incident to be publicly released.
Nowland, who has dementia, is in end-of-life care at Cooma district hospital after the incident caused her to fall and sustain life-threatening head injuries.
Police say Nowland was armed with a steak knife at the time of the incident. The NSW homicide squad is investigating the incident.
Police confirmed the suspension of the officer on Tuesday morning but could not say how long the senior constable, who had 12 years of experience, will be suspended.
Polce have ruled out releasing the bodycam footage publicly, with police commissioner, Karen Webb, saying on Monday that Nowland’s family did not want it released.
But on Tuesday Greens MP and spokesperson for justice, Sue Higginson introduced a notice of motion to the NSW parliament calling on the police bodycam footage which captured the Tasering of Nowland to be released publicly.
The Greens will also call for an independent investigation into the incident and a parliamentary inquiry into police powers and police responses when dealing with vulnerable people.
“We’ve got a woman who is in end-of-life care because of the actions of police,” Higginson said. “We’re going to be pushing as hard as we can.”
It comes as calls grow for a broader independent investigation of the incident, as well as police treatment of dementia sufferers.
The investigation will be overseen by the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission (LECC). But Higginson, said she was concerned about the LECC’s ability to properly oversee the case given a report tabled by the commission on Wednesday that said some of its powers had proved “illusory”.
The commission admitted in the report that it had not been able to exercise its power to live monitor the interviews of police officers involved in incidents given it required the offending officers’ consent, who have declined during every case.
The police minister, Yasmin Catley, was asked in parliament on Tuesday how she would ensure the investigation is “robust and transparent”, to which she responded it was being run by “some of the best detectives we have in this state”.
“Politicising this matter is not going to be of any assistance,” she added. “We must remember the family here and remember that there is an investigation under way.”
On Monday, the NSW premier, Chris Minns, said it was right for the LECC to oversee the investigation into the incident which he labelled “very troubling”.
“It’s really important to have confidence in the investigation taking place,” he said.
Guardian Australia also revealed on Sunday that six officers handcuffed a second nursing home resident, Rachel Grahame, in 2020, after she took a staff member’s lanyard.
The NSW government was contacted for comment.
