From the Herald Sun:
Justice group CopWatch calls for review of police training
Sarah Wotherspoon
December 12, 2008A COMMUNITY justice organisation has called for a review of police training after officers shot dead a 15-year-old boy last night.
CopWatch – an international organisation that ‘gathers information about injustices that happen at the hands of the police’ – said the shooting should also not be used to advance the argument for equipping police with Tasers.
CopWatch spokeswoman Liz Jones said police were now trained to shoot to kill and called for a review of training procedures.
“We think this is a complete exaggeration and disproportionate for three out of four officers to shoot to kill a 15-year-old boy,” she said.
“We don’t understand where a situation can have arisen where police could not have stopped him.
“Why are they trained to shoot to kill when they could have shot him in the limbs.”
Ms Jones said her sympathies were with the boy’s family and said an independent investigation into the incident was needed.
And Ms Jones said the shooting should not be used to push advance the argument to arm police with Tasers, which she said could be misused.
Tags: CopWatch, police shooting
