Police defend Taser
ONE of Cairns' police bosses says officers used their first Taser shot appropriately and saved an elderly woman from immediate danger.
The woman was 5m away from the man when he jumped the fence into her back yard as he was running from police at Woree on Monday.
Acting Chief Supt Brent Carter said a domestic violence investigation had started more than two hours before the Taser was used.
Officers were called to the Woree property shortly after 4pm and again at 6.20pm.
In between, they were called to a Dunbar St, Mooroobool, incident which involved the same group of people after 6pm.
Acting Chief Supt Carter said the man was in an agitated state with clenched fists and rocking side-to-side but when police confronted him he ran into the back of the yard.
He said the man climbed a fence and police told him they had a Taser and asked him to stop.
"At this point in time, police were made aware there was an elderly woman in the yard next door and they took that into consideration, of course, with the violence that is alleged that occurred in the afternoon that this male could be, or likely to either flee, attack police or perhaps go towards the woman," Acting Chief Supt Carter said.
"He was side-on to police and at that point when police took action and he was immobilised for a five-second period and police arrested him."
The man faced a charge of assault and obstructing a police officer in Cairns Magistrates’ Court on Monday.
So far Cairns police have unholstered Tasers in nine confrontations but had never fired one before Monday.
Tasers were rolled out in the Far North in January and 40 per cent of the Cairns District officers have been trained.
Acting Chief Supt Carter said at least seven out of 10 of those trained had voluntarily been shot by a Taser.
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Right response: Acting Chief Supt Brent Carter.
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