A week after the two young men vanished,and three days after Lamarre-Condon handed himself in at a police station in Sydney on Friday morning,NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb finally fronted the media on Monday to report the progress of the police investigation and to take questions.
A press conference with Deputy Commissioner David Hudson followed mounting criticisms and accusations Webb should have spoken earlier. In defending herself,Webb listed a number of engagements as proof she was focused on her task. “Of course I’m doing my job,but I need to let my detectives do the job that I asked them to do,” she said. Webb on Monday described questions about her leadership as “offensive”.
Webb was not hiding,but she should have spoken earlier,given the rare allegation that a serving officer had allegedly murdered two people with a police-issued gun. That said,Hudson gave an impressive and detailed rundown of the huge police investigation under way that will hopefully offer the families and friends of Baird and Davies some solace in the weeks ahead. Despite Webb’s very regrettable,outdated description of Lamarre-Condon’s alleged actions as a “crime of passion”,the press conference went a long way towards placating public concerns. Detectives are clearly treating this investigation with the utmost seriousness and they deserve our respect and admiration.
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But it is clear that the investigation has already raised issues for police and the community to grapple with over the coming weeks and months.
How on earth was a Glock service pistol allowed to be out of a police station for three days with no alarm bells being raised? Webb’s decision to call in Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Shane Patton to conduct an “independent review” of the NSW Police storage and access of police firearms is a welcome one.
Webb’s responses have again put her unnecessarily at the centre of a crime that has sparked widespread concern and interest. The last time she took flak was when,in a ham-fisted attempt at media manipulation in June,some senior police were caught attempting to keep from the public full details about the use of a Taser in the fatal stunning of a 95-year-old Cooma aged care resident suffering from dementia.
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