Police should have been allowed to move on car: Police Association secretary
OFFICERS should have been allowed to move on the car at the centre of the Melbourne CBD carnage before the tragedy happened, the head of the Police Association says.
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THE head of the Police Association says officers should have been allowed to move on the car at the centre of the CBD carnage before the tragedy happened.
Association secretary Ron Iddles said he had been told there were opportunities to intercept or box in the Holden Commodore at the centre of Friday’s chaos.
Requests to do so were rejected by higher-ranked officers, he said.
One of the chances to pounce was in the inner-southern suburbs, Sen-Sgt Iddles said on ABC Radio.
“Those who were on the street doing the job sitting behind him in heavy traffic on Chapel St believing they could have intercepted him safely should have been allowed to do so,” he said.
Sen-Sgt Iddles said Victoria Police was sometimes “risk averse”.
“What I’ve been told is that there was ample opportunity for this person to be intercepted,” he said.
The Herald Sun has been told of a near-miss at Docklands when police rushed towards the Commodore but its driver was able to get away.
It then spent hours in the western suburbs before winding up back in the city where it performed burnouts outside Flinders St railway station.
Questions have been raised about why police did not act there, although the risk of public safety to the scores of people looking on would have been a heavy consideration.
Moments later, the car headed into Bourke St, killing five people.
Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton has previously backed his members, saying he was “rock solid” behind their actions on Friday.
Victims Commissioner Greg Davies, a former Police Association boss, said he did not know enough detail to comment on what had transpired.
But Mr Davies said police were an “easy target” even when the facts were not fully known.
“Everyone in Melbourne is an expert on two things — AFL football and policing,” he said.