Damon Locantro has made a name for himself on the Sunshine Coast defending people charged with breaking the law. His practice, Locantro Lawyers, specialises in criminal defence but also offers services to those facing action by a government department. Damon has 15 years experience in criminal law and was formerly a NSW prosecutor and member of the NSW Police Service. I don't hate the police
| Damon Locantro
I’ve said tasers are not necessary. Those of you that criticised me should go back and read my last blog.
My concern is for the police as much as it is for the other person.
The CMC has confirmed that use of tasers has been linked to serious injury and death.
In my opinion, if a police officer uses potentially lethal force on an unco-operative 14 year old it is excessive. That is not a good situation for the police officer.
When I was a police officer dealing with young drunk and drugged people, it was all about presence and negotiation. Underage drinking and street offences are nothing new.
There is no one fix in my opinion but I think the following measures would be better than the introduction of a new weapon:
1. Older people need to have more tolerance when it comes to young people congregating in the streets and having a party;
2. Parents of young people need to take a more active role in the supervision of their children especially in relation to underage drinking;
3. We should abolish the move on power that in my opinion is open to abuse and causes confrontations between young people and the police;
4. When police arrive they should show more tolerance of young people and use their authority to persuade youngsters to behave;
5. Police should have a power to give a person a slip of paper requiring them to go home;
6. If the person does not comply with the go home direction, they should be handed a court attendance notice for a breach of the direction;
7. The court should have the power to place the person on a six or twelve month good behaviour order with conditions such as not to consume liquor or a drug and a curfew or any other reasonable condition; and
8. If physical control is necessary, as a last resort, the police use minimal force and only what is reasonably necessary in order to control a person. When I policed we used, back up, various holds and pressure points to gain effective control.
I believe the direction to go home and court ordered bond would act as a deterrent for young people. I question the point of having a move on power when the person just move to another place.
When peace keepers go into war-torn nations they go in unarmed. Why? Because they are peace keepers. I believe our police need to focus on being peace keepers.
It has been suggested that I am a police hater. That could not be further from the truth. My best mate is a Police Officer and I used to be one.
I always maintain a healthy respect for police. I enjoy their protection as much as any one.
People should not confuse me being a defence lawyer who rigorously and independently defends a person to get the best outcome for them with the belief that I have a personal issue with police.
I support many police initiatives such as being provided with more police, the opening of new stations, police being paid a lot more to attract and retain good staff and other initiatives such as CCTV cameras being erected in problems spots.
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Recent Comments
A lot has changed in society. Different drugs, different attitudes…..
If the coppers ask someone to move on, in trying to diffuse an issue, and they are continually challenged, as we have seen on TV, and if capsicum spray doesn’t work, as we have seen, what then?
Shoot ‘em with bullets?
Each use of capsicum spray & tasers requires explanation & I think the Police realise that inadvertent or unwarranted use will not be accepted.
I feel our Police are doing a good job as the drugs & crims get worse & worse.
Andrew Muldoon
Buddina.
You're right, dealing with violent people under the influence of drugs, particularly meth, is incredibly frightening and their reactions to many things is very unpredictable. You expressed concern for the officers having to use a taser in these circumstances.
Yet... you seem to be suggesting a viable alternative to the introduction of tasers is for officers to give people a NOTE asking them to go home?
Are you kidding me? "Oh, a taser is far too dangerous for someone who is off their head... they might have dangerous implications.... here, give them this note telling them to go home to mummy."
Mate, I don't think you have a personal issue with the police, I just think you're a half-wit.
Bottom line is any of the measures at the disposal of a police officer will only be necessary if you are breaking the law.
In reality the only people who need be concerned about being tasered, capsicum sprayed, shot, put in a sleeper hold, or given a stern note are those who are behaving in an unacceptable manner - perhaps the police should have the power to make them sit in the naughty corner!
If you were a front-line police officer & someone was threatening you, at the moment there is nothing between Capsicum spray & a firearm. Surely the likelihood of surviving a taser has to be higher than a bullet?
If a group of young people is not going to obey the law now, and are going to terrorize and destroy, what makes you think a bit of paper will make a difference.
They ignore that, they go to court, they ignore that, what then - jail?
If I'm being attacked by someone and the police need to intervene, I want them to use a taser or capsicum spray or a baton - I don't want them to be powerless or ineffectual.
The idea of ordering young people to go home is all very noble, but tasers are not being introduced to assist police in giving directives; they are there to assist them should offenders become violent.
If it were all as easy as giving directives to go home and/or attend court, the police wouldn't need weapons at all. But the fact remains that dealing with intoxicated, drug-addled and/or, violent members of the public is not that easy.
Tasers are less lethal than guns; it's that simple. No, they're not ideal, but neither is having a police force with no ability to protect themselves or others so I for do not object to the police carrying tasers.
Do you honestly think?
Tasers have been linked to death, yes they have. However I'd much rather think police now will have an extra option on their belts before they get to their handgun for it is a definite.
Perhaps you can go out at night now with your note book and give all the drunk and violent people a note to take home if you are so worried about them.
tasers/stunguns cant be that bad - they are all over ebay, starting at 20 bucks or so. why not order one and wander down to alex skate park...
"1. Older people need to have more tolerance when it comes to young people congregating in the streets and having a party;"
Would that be the same older people who have drunken kids trampling their gardens or sitting on the bonnet of their car in their studded jeans then bashing up anyone who wants to protect their property whilst waiting for some indeterminable time for the police to attend?
I don't ever remember ever having a party in the street and besides that I believe it's illegal, for just a few reasons.
"2. Parents of young people need to take a more active role in the supervision of their children especially in relation to underage drinking;"
Parents have never been able to adequately prevent youth from experimenting , we all had a smoke behind the cricket shed and arranged a party while little Johnnies parents were away for the weekend.
But the teens of today just don't have any of the boundaries which were once drummed into us.
Whether it's bashing Grannies , road rage attacks or just plain refusing to stand for the pregnant woman on the bus they just don't give a rodents downpipe.
"3. We should abolish the move on power that in my opinion is open to abuse and causes confrontations between young people and the police;"
OPEN YOUR BLEEDIN' EYES!!!!
The confrontations are escalating and there are nowhere near enough coppers to protect anyone anymore.
If the young people had any respect for others then we wouldn't give then a glance.
People are scared very scared!
"4. When police arrive they should show more tolerance of young people and use their authority to persuade youngsters to behave;"
What authority? You just don't get it, they're all laughing at the law , are you suggesting we show tolerance of that?
In their eyes the law enforcement officers have pratically no authority.
"5. Police should have a power to give a person a slip of paper requiring them to go home;"
They can't keep up with what's on their plate now, so who do you think is going to check that they're at home and do the paperwork? Only to have the parents drop them back at the party.
Even better, all officers should be supplie with "BEX", then they could direct them sternly to go home and have a BEX and a good lay down.
"7. The court should have the power to place the person on a six or twelve month good behaviour order with conditions such as not to consume liquor or a drug and a curfew or any other reasonable condition; and"
Yup, works almost as efficently as a restraining order.
Fantastic idea.
"8. If physical control is necessary, as a last resort, the police use minimal force and only what is reasonably necessary in order to control a person. When I policed we used, back up, various holds and pressure points to gain effective control."
Yeah that's a good idea especially when getting in a scuffle and fisticuffs with a druggie who may bleed all over you. Then you're waiting for backup to arrive before his Hells Angels mates pour out of the pub.
The misfits all adhere to Marquis de Queensbury rules and so should we.
"I believe the direction to go home and court ordered bond would act as a deterrent for young people. I question the point of having a move on power when the person just move to another place. "
This concept would work well for drink drivers, ice addicts and the like. They'd appreciate the ride home. But even if the thinly stretched police couldn't provide the transport, the hords of cabbies sitting idle at the ranks at 3 in the morning with little to do would certainly appreciate the extra business.
Now come on fess up Damon, did your fifteen year old son submit this piece on your behalf or are you still living in the eighties?
As he says, his concern is for the police as much as it is for the other person. He urges us to look at his last blog. Well lets do so...
"Police officers must be running out of room on their belts with the introduction of taser guns.
They are being introduced to overcome the inaccuracies of capsicum spray, which has caused the police a few sore eyes."
That's how it began. Put your hands up if you labelled this as A) Mocking; B) Condescending; C) Juvenile or D) All of the above. We all know from every test we ever took that the answer is always D when it says that.
Mr Locantro, can't wait for your next blog.
"I don't hate trees." Hmmm..lets all meditate on that one.
Anyone else feeling that a certain someone is feeling a little paranoid and trying to justify himself?
Surely Ed, you're not paying for these 'opinions'?
- No we are not paying for these opinions. But Damon is entitled to his views, just as every other blogger on the site. You at least have to give him credit for having the courage to say what he thinks. - Editor.
It is absurd to suggest that a Police Officer would produce a taser and use it on an unco-operative 14 year old that was congregating in a street and refused to move on when instructed.
If the unco-operative 14 year old or anyone decided to try to attack the Police Officer then the Police Officer may have the option to use a taser however, that is not the fault of the Police Officer.
You would remember that a Police Officer’s role when confronted with a violent situation is to reduce the threat to themselves and to the offender with a minimal amount of force.
What does a Police Officer do if they are confronted by a person armed with a knife or a sword, who is suffering from a mental illness, possibly affected by drugs and incapable of reason?
What if this person was in a crowded area and was threatening other people or threatening self harm?
What if this person ran at the Police Officer or a bystander armed with a knife or sword?
The Police Officer can reach for their gun which is considered to be lethal force and risk fatally injuring the offender or a bystander.
The Police Officer could try to immobile the offender with their fists however, you will recall the latest Queensland Government initiative which states that “one punch can kill”.
Alternatively, the Police Officer could produce a taser, immobilise the offender and restrain them causing a minimal amount of injury to the offender, themselves and bystanders.
I fail to see how a baton or capsicum spray could have been of any help to the Police Officer in the aforementioned scenario?
You may recall that a mentally ill man, armed with a sword, outside the Flinders Street Train Station in Melbourne's CBD, at peak hour, was shot and killed by the Victorian Police a few years ago after he tried to charge at a Police Officer with a sword.
If the Police Officer that shot this man had a taser, that man may have lived and that Police Officer would not have to live with the fact for the rest of their life that they took the life of another human being while on duty.
Nobody is disputing that tasers are potentially lethal weapons however, they are a better alternative in the often complex and potentially dangerous situations in which a Police Officer may find themselves.
I look forward to your next response.
Mr Locantro
I think you are just having a bit of fun with your 8 point plan. Firstly you want to "abolish the move on power that in my opinion is open to abuse and causes confrontations between young people and the police". Then, you contradict yourself by saying you want the power reinstated by giving "a person a slip of paper requiring them to go home". What if the person throws the paper back in the officers face? Bring on the Tazer...
Darkknight... I vote D
Sincerely
Dexter the robot on Perfect Match
http://www.ntnews.com.au/article/2008/02...
Greg Evans