Taking away a police officer’s ability to use their weapon would be an offence under the CLP’s amendment to Labor’s proposed law in parliament today.
Leader of the Opposition Lia Finocchiaro said by setting ‘possession’ as the test and having to prove intent, Labor was making even the most extreme cases almost impossible to successfully prosecute.
“Our legislation expands the law so that if an offender stops a police officer from being able to use their weapon – for instance, by placing their hand over the weapon – then that will be an offence, irrespective of whether the offender intends to stop the cop from being able to access it,” she said.
Mrs Finocchiaro said the Opposition was fixing Labor’s proposed law because it fell well short of the mark for protecting Territory Police.
“Once again, it is the CLP who are having to strengthen the laws to protect police,” she said.
“Labor’s legislation set too high a bar for an offence to be recorded by saying an offender had to have ‘possession’ of the weapon.
“That’s why our amendment removes the need to prove intent and changes the bar from ‘possession’ to ‘control’.
“If an offender is able to prevent an officer from accessing their gun or taser, the offender effectively controls the weapon.”
Mrs Finocchiaro said Labor’s Bill, without the amendment, was nothing more than window dressing on what was a very serious problem.
“Taking control of an officer’s weapon is one of the most serious things an offender can do and we need to give every protection we can to our police,” she said.
“That’s why we consulted with the Northern Territory Police Association and why they support our resulting amendment.”
ENDS