Woman Restrained by TASER Device

A Mackay police officer employed a TASER device on a 23-year-old woman in order to restrain her after she allegedly threatened officers with a 30cm kitchen knife.

According to police, the incident followed two hours of negotiations. A Queensland Police Service spokesperson explained that officers were initially called to a motel after the received a report of stealing.

Officers found two women located within the grounds of the motel; however one of the women was arrested without incident. The second woman involved allegedly became aggressive towards officers as she threatened them with a knife.

While police attempted to negotiate with the woman, she continued her threatening advances by acting in a violent and aggressive manner.

Two police negotiators in addition to a dog squad were among the officers at the scene called into action after the woman began threatening officers with a knife.

Officers were able to secure the site so that no one could enter the premises and potentially be harmed during the situation. Until one o’clock in the morning, negotiations were made; however when the woman threatened police with the knife officers employed a TASER device on her.

For two hours officers had attempted to talk to the woman, but when it became clear that the officers safety was at risk they realized that action had to be taken. Before the self defense device was deployed a verbal warning was issued.

When it comes to the safety of the officers and those involved, it is important for them to determine the best approach to handling a situation without anyone coming to harm as a result. In order for officers to access the situation they need to see who is involved and what weapons are being employed by an offender.

After these measures have been taken, a verbal warning is issued to alert the offender at what officers purpose to do and if no preventive action is taken, then a TASER device may be employed to quickly and effectively subdue the individual.

This was certainly the case in this situation. After officers were called to a scene they were able to effectively understand what was going on and by issuing a verbal warning, then proceeded to prevent the woman involved from either harming herself or officers with the kitchen knife.