TASMANIA’S new Integrity Commission will monitor investigations into Sunday’s Westbury shooting which left one man dead and a police officer injured.
Integrity Commission chief executive Barbara Etter said the commission had a critical role in ensuring public confidence in sensitive matters of high public interest and would seek to monitor the investigation as it unfolded.
“It is important that such a matter be subject to rigorous scrutiny and public accountability,” said Mrs Etter, a former assistant commissioner of the West Australian police force.
“It is always of concern when the actions of a police officer result in the death of a member of the public.”
Two of the key issues expected to be looked at during the coronial investigation into the incident will be Tasmania Police’s single-officer patrol policy and whether police should be issued with Taser guns.
Westbury man Nicholas Whiteley, 21, died from a single gunshot wound on Sunday morning during an altercation with Constable Bob Blake.
The 57-year-old Constable Blake called for assistance over the police radio and used capsicum spray during the incident.
He fired one shot which struck Mr Whiteley in the stomach region and killed him.
