Police in
Australia's most populous state will be allowed to shoot suspects in
"terrorist related" incidents even if the attacker does not pose an
imminent threat, under a
proposed law, New South Wales Premier Gladys
Berejiklian said on Thursday.
The change
comes after a series of "lone wolf" Islamist-inspired attacks, the
most serious of which raised questions about the traditional police strategy of
"contain and negotiate" in hostage situations.
Under the
proposal, which is likely to be adopted in the state's parliament given the
support for it, lethal force can be used immediately if an incident is declared
"terrorist related" by the state's most senior police officer,
Berejiklian told reporters in Sydney.
Currently,
police have to wait until a suspect demonstrates an imminent threat to others.
Authorities
said that law curtailed their ability to end a 2014 siege in Sydney's Lindt
Cafe in which three people including the hostage-taker were killed.
Mick Fuller,
commissioner of state police, said the change was needed to correct a
"gray area".
"When
you get in a situation like with Lindt and you have a sniper who is sitting 300
meters away looking through a scope, at the moment, they have to determine in
their own minds whether they have the legal ability to use lethal force,"
Fuller told reporters.
"If it
is uncertain, it is understandable an officer will hesitate."
Police
waited more than 16 hours before storming the Lindt Cafe, and then only after
the attacker had killed a hostage. Police killed the attacker but a second
hostage was also killed by ricocheting fragments of a bullet fired by police.
A coroner
said last month police had failed to respond quickly enough.
Fuller said
last month police would be more a terror-related hostage situation.
The cafe
siege, which began on Dec. 15, 2014, was Australia's most deadly violence
inspired by Islamic State militants.
Reuters*
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