Killing of Tyler Cassidy
Tyler Cassidy was a 15 year old boy who was shot and killed by Victoria Police. He is believed to be the youngest person to have been killed by police in Australia.[1][2][3][4]
Shooting
Tyler Jordan Cassidy was shot by police and died on 11 December 2008 at a public park in Northcote, Victoria. He was just over 15 years old. Before the shooting Cassidy had armed himself with two large knives which he had stolen from a nearby shopping centre. In the park, police demanded that Tyler drop the knives, but he did not. After attempting to subdue Tyler with capsicum spray, to no effect, three police officers fired ten shots, and five of those shots struck Cassidy. A fourth officer did not fire. Cassidy died at the scene within minutes.[5]
Investigations
The Coroners Court of Victoria reported that there was much media coverage of the incident, and that the death of a 15 year old boy "at the hands of the Victorian Police both shocked and bewildered the community". The competence and impartiality of the internal police investigation was questioned. The Coroner’s Inquest heard 34 days of evidence from 63 witnesses and the Brief of evidence was 3,710 pages long.[5]
From the Inquest: He [Cassidy] had been capsicum-sprayed twice without effect and advanced on an officer who became trapped at the top of a skate park bowl, the coroner found. Three of the police fired at him after a warning shot and several shots at his legs failed to stop Tyler moving forward with the knives towards Leading Sen-Constable Dods. Tyler had been drinking excessively during the night and was found to have a post mortem blood alcohol level of 0.09g/100ml.
State Coroner Jennifer Coate rejected a submission from Tyler's family that the officers used disproportionate force worthy of criminal charges, or that Tyler had been standing still when he was fatally shot.
The incident was blamed on a lack of training and information gathering performed by Victoria Police. As a result of this incident all police officers who might come into contact with armed individuals during the course of their duties are required to undergo biyearly five day training refresher courses. As Senior-Constable Dods and the other officers present allowed themselves to be separated and Dods allowed himself to be cornered in an otherwise open park, it is hoped that this new training will lead to better risk assessment behaviour and avoid a repeat of such incidents in the future. Superintendent Williams gave evidence during the inquiry that since 2009 there had been 90 more such attempted suicides-by-cop.
The former Superintendent Williams retired in 2008 and joined a special task force to investigate the cause of police shooting incidents. [6] it was found that in the majority of cases police had acted too quickly attempting to engage agitated individuals which only inflamed the situation. The ranking officer refused to take control of the situation, information about suspects was poorly relayed by dispatch and a lack of general discipline and organization lead to the escalation of incidents.
The report states several times that the incident took place in a dimly lit stairway but the part of the skate park in which the incident occurred is directly under four surrounding street light. the responding police would have been familiar with the location as the police station is across the road from the skate park and there is a wide area around the skate bowl through which Dods could have retreated by following the surrounding fence. There is also a steadily graded grass slope opposite to the skate park stairs down which a person could easily walk. There is no indication as to why Tyler was not flanked by police but one could assume that the officers proceeded to assume firing positions to avoid crossfire rather than engage Tyler from behind as he ascended the stairs after Dods. It is possible that Dods command to the other officers to "watch crossfire" was taken as an order to shoot before Dods and Tyler were to be caught in the same line of fire which would have prevented the other officers from firing. "Site of the shooting" (Map). Google Maps. Retrieved 24 November 2013.[7] the circumstances of the shooting were not discussed in the inquiry nor the ease with which Dods could have moved to a less precarious position. The title image for an article from The Age shows two policemen easily ascending the ramp that officer Dobs claimed was impassible; which the coroner used as the sole defense in the shooting and based her decision to not reccomend pursuing legal action against the officers involved. [8]
See also
References
- ^ Howie, Emily (16 March 2011). "Police Urge Suicide Verdict In Tyler Cassidy Shooting". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 12 April 2012.
- ^ Rintoul, Stuart (24 November 2011). "Police cleared over shooting of Melbourne teen Tyler Cassidy". The Australian. Retrieved 12 April 2012.
- ^ Irwin, Julia (16 December 2009). "A year on, Northcote's Tyler Cassidy is mourned". Northcote Leader. Retrieved 12 April 2012.
- ^ Hunt, Elissa (23 November 2011). "Cops in danger before Tyler Cassidy was fatally shot, inquest finds". Herald Sun. Retrieved 29 February 2012.
- ^ a b Coroner’s Court of Victoria (23 November 2011). "Inquest into the death of Tyler Jordan Cassidy" (PDF). Court reference 5542/08. Cite error: The named reference "corin" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ McKenzie, Nick; Baker, Richard (2011), Police shootings scrutinised, retrieved 4 December 2013
- ^ Sydney Morning Herald, Teen shot dead by police, retrieved 4 December 2013
- ^ Silvester, John (2008), Shooting reignites debate on police tactics and use of Taser stun guns, retrieved 4 December 2013
The investigation by police of police has been subject to numerous criticisms. http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/stories/2012/03/01/3443486.htm