Coroner slams police over death

Coroner slams police over death

By Alex Cooper

MELBOURNE — A report into the first of seven deaths at the hands of police between 1988 and 1989 was released by the coroner on June 20. The coroner slammed police actions during a raid on the bungalow of Gerard Sadler, which led to his death.

The coroner pointed out that Sadler, in fear of his life, had acted like any reasonable person: he had stood still with nothing more than a baseball bat in his hand. Despite this, he had been shot twice by police. The second shot killed him.

The coroner said that police had been given "inaccurate informer information" via an "unreliable policeman".

The police commissioner responsed to the finding by saying that police procedures and training had been changed since 1988.

The coroner's finding was welcomed by the Federation of Community Legal Centres. Spokesperson Geoff Barbaro said there was no evidence to support the police commissioner's claim that police tactics had changed.

Meanwhile, two inquiries occasioned by police shootings have begun. The first, a 16-week investigation, will involve a nine-person panel from the Australian Institute of Criminology. A separate inquiry, headed by an FBI officer, will be looking at police firearms training.

Barbaro told Green Left Weekly that the coroner had likened the approach of the Victoria Police to that of the FBI. For that reason, it was inappropriate to have the FBI investigate police shootings.

From GLW issue 149