NSW general duty police officers should be carrying around tasers, a Coroner's Court in Dubbo has heard.
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On Monday, November 27, 2023 at the inquest into the death of Brandon Rich while in police custody in 2021, Sergeant David Bentham of the NSWPF Operational Safety and Skills Command, Operational Safety Training and Governance Unit gave his testimony.
Brandon Rich died after losing consciousness during an altercation with New South Wales police at his home in Wellington on December 29, 2021.
Sergeant Bentham told the court that if trained it was mandatory for all officers to carry a taser.
Earlier in the inquest the court heard that both of the officers who first attended Denise Rich's house, were not wearing tasers - for a number of reasons.
One reason was because Senior Constable Lindsey Kohlet believed she didn't have enough room on her belt to fit a taser, she told the court.
"You can also put the taser on the vest, it's personal preference...I find the vest heavy and restrictive of movement," she said.
This wasn't the only reason the senior constable didn't check out a taser.
"It was my impression that the senior officer checked out the taser," she said.
The senior officer on duty with Senior Constable Kohlet was Senior Constable Stephen Bennett, who also didn't check out a taser.
Sergeant Bentham said the issue of not wearing a taser on your belt, was a common issue for female or male officers who had smaller waists.
"I have witnessed that on occasion for those who do have a smaller belt, it is quite restrictive, so to address that we have the load bearing vest which has more surface area to carry things," he said.
The load bearing vest was originally brought in to address issues such as the surface area on the belts and to reduce weight around the hips.
"We generally work one on one with officers experiencing difficulty to work out a way to carry appointments in entirety," he said.
"If made aware, we could've helped them overcome issues."
Sergeant Bentham told the court that the officers would have had justification to use the tasers had they been wearing them, but with the dynamic nature and close proximity of the incident he didn't believe using a taser would have been the best option.