Today at work, I experienced something that I don't think will be long before it is common place in Sussex before long. I have had some experience at watching the Sussex police deal with violent/uncompliant people, and have been on the wrong end of a Captor (Pepper) Spray accidently (it wasn't aimed at me) while working in Brighton before.
Today I had first hand experience of the Aussie police way of dealing with violent/uncompliant people. It seemed a little harsh, but that might just be me. I'll spare you all the details, but needless to say, I was shocked (but not as shocked as the person who made the emergency call).
We had a call, and we informed that in person we needed to treat may be potientially violent, and we should wait for the "84's" (They like there codes over here). The 84's are ambo speak for the police. (It is because a lot of people use scanners, and we don't want them to know what we are talking about over the radio). Dutifully we waited for the police, and when they arrived, we went to the house.
Some of the occupants came out, and told us what was going on, and that their son really wouldn't be impressed by the fact that the police were there also. My partner and I said we would pop into the house, and have a quick look/chat with the patient, but we would come straight out again if we weren't happy.
We saw the patient through a door, across a room, and he in no uncertain terms told us that we weren't needed, and to leave. So we did, and invited the police to have a little chat with him. As they entered the room, he picked up some scissors, and brandished them towards the coppers (who were still a long way away from him). All I heard was some shouting, and then one of the policeman Tazered the young fellow.
A Tazer is an immobilizing device carried by the police over here, that shoots out two electric barbs out of a gun. They embed themselves into the skin, trailing a little wire, which about 50,000 volts can be sent down, giving the person an almighty shock.
I hear that some police services in the UK are trialing them. They did the trick, and seemed a lot more effective than the pepper spray, because they are instant making the person drop to the floor quivering. I don't think that I would ever disagree with a policeman over here, after seeing than. Also the police here are routinely armed with 9mm Glock pistols, and Pepper Spray. It is all very convincing to do as you are told to do.
This young guy then accompanied us to hospital, to have a little more treatment carried out, than he thought he probably would need when he woke up this morning.
The rest of the day was a bit of an anti-climax, as you can imagine.
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