'Come on, dogs, I'll take you on'
Ms Mulley said that two police officers approached, prompting Mr Scales-Copeland to yell at them, "come on, you dogs, I'll take you on" before lunging at them.
That escalated quickly.
The officers used capsicum spray and a baton to try to disarm him.
Absolutely commendable, whether this was protocol or their own initiative. I suspect this might have worked had they had sufficient baton training - that is to say I strongly suspect police do not receive nearly enough baton training. This is on the police bureaucracy and the NSW Government, but to be a little harsh, it is open to police officers to seek private training at their own expense, and I imagine such training would be tax-deductible. Nevertheless, it should not be up to some young person to take control of the situation when a wealthy modern state is simply being cheap.
Mr Scales-Copeland allegedly stabbed one senior constable five times in the left thigh. The other officer was stabbed a single time in the right hand, with one finger cut to the bone, Ms Mulley said.
I'm not sure how one gets stabbed 5 times in the thigh.
The officer with the severely injured hand ran into the traffic to escape. The retreating officer could feel the alleged attacker slashing at the back of his police vest.
Strong play. This by the way is what the state expects a civilian to do.
The prosecutor said this officer, who initially had problems unholstering his gun because of his hand injury, fired two shots at Scales-Copeland but missed.
It really worries me when police miss. Pistol shooting is difficult in the best of circumstances, greatly affected by one's psychological state, and is no doubt made much more difficult with a cut to the hand. Nevertheless police receive very little pistol training and practice. See again my comments above about baton training: again, this is a little harsh but I personally know people who, upon receiving a pistol but no training, took it upon themselves to learn to use their tool. I understand police work 4 days on, 4 days off: if they are not busy moonlighting as security guards they have the time to do so.
And then again:
The second officer yelled "drop the knife or we'll have to shoot", but Mr Scales-Copeland allegedly kept advancing so the policeman fired but also missed before his gun jammed.
Again, it worries me when police miss. I stress again that hitting is not easy, but where do those bullets go? Also, note he appears to not have cleared the jam. Clearing a jam when under mere time pressure in a pistol match is difficult enough let alone when someone has just stabbed you and is threatening to do it again. This is a training issue: it needs to be trained regularly. We taxpayers need to stop being so cheap.
Bystanders helped the injured officers eventually arrest Mr Scales-Copeland after he dropped the knife.
I wonder if they'll get prosecuted for their efforts like Trolley Man?
It is gratifying to see policing occurring as I envision it: the people are the police; the police are specialists there to lead and reinforce the people.
This young man is lucky to be alive. I am glad that he is: no parent should have to learn their child had a mental episode and was shot dead by police who just couldn't be bothered trying something else. These guys did try something else and paid a high price - and could have paid the ultimate price - for their efforts. They have my respect and my thanks.
Text source: Sydney Morning Herald
Labels: policing
posted by Patrick Henry at 09:55
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