The senior officer, Amy Scott, was conducting routine duties nearby when she was directed to head to Westfield shopping centre following reports a man was using a “massive” knife to stab shoppers.

Within minutes, the officer was inside the centre and began chasing the offender.

“This all happened very, very quickly,” the deputy commissioner of police, Tony Cooke, said.

“The officer was in the near vicinity, attended on her own, was guided to the location of the offender by people who were in the centre and she took the actions that she did, saving a range of people’s lives.”

Albanese thanked the officer, other police, first responders and the “everyday people” who reacted to help victims.

  • Norah - She/They@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    7 months ago

    Even if you don’t believe the police should stop existing, it’s undeniable that they’ve systematically lobbied for more and more powers, which disproportionately affect minorities and the poor. Reducing those powers and shrinking the force has more benefits than not doing so or allowing their power and sizes to continue to balloon.

    This is from my first comment in this thread, I bolded the relevant section for you this time.

    I was under the impression that you didn’t want police at all

    I don’t, but I’m willing to compromise to get there. I also do believe that disbanding the police force overnight would cause more harm than good, it’s not the path we should take. Systems need to be developed to slowly replace their functions with ones that don’t cause the same harm. I don’t know what all of those systems would look like. But more than once I’ve joked with friends that we should get little old grandma’s out there doing breathos, who’ll lovingly shame you into alcohol counselling.