‘Crime panic’: CLP’s plan to allow public to buy pepper spray for ‘personal safety’ heavily criticised
UPDATED: The Finocchiaro CLP Government is considering arming the public with pepper spray as of Sep
11 Comments
Submit a Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.
The CM’s initiative to arm Communities with “offensive” pepper spray is a total, serious mistake. Children/Youth encouraged to employ pepper spray offensively or defensively could not be more dangerous. And I say this after twenty plus years of working with youth on the streets. If you want, need protection. Employ non offensive personal alarms that immediately draw attention and assistance. Chief Minister . . . please do not arm children/youth with offensive weapons. I say again. Do not!
What he said. What a wonderful idea, arming all the troublemakers with capsicum spray. Fantastic idea, Lia.
The CM’s initiative to arm Communities with “offensive” pepper spray is a total, serious mistake. Children/Youth encouraged to employ pepper spray offensively or defensively could not be more dangerous. And I say this after twenty plus years of working with youth on the streets. If you want, need protection. Employ non offensive personal alarms that immediately draw attention and assistance. Chief Minister . . . please do not arm children/youth with offensive weapons. I say again. Do not! Michael. I have seen and engaged with violence in many forms. As Director of Youth and Children Services. Brotherhood of St. Laurence. Fitzroy. Melbourne: Violence is contagious. Youth under pressure lack judgement. Death falls short of regret!
Safety warning people.
Be carefull people, in the kitchen!
I had a accident in the kitchen and accidentally mixed 92% alcohol and vegetable oil with cayenne pepper!
In a confused state i added Soap and Pepper which was really bad as they are known irritants.
I sealed the mistaken food mixture in a plastic lid and left overnight!
Using a coffee filter or cheesecloth I strained the mistaken food mixture and only kept the liquid which I stored in small spray bottles!
Until the authorities come and remove the kitchen cooking mistake, I keep the spray bottle in my pocket for easy reach in case the authorities want to confiscate it.
Stay safe in the kitchen, always follow the proper recipe instructions and obey the Government laws as they are all in our best interest.
Agreed.
However, we wonder if Kumanjayi White would still be alive today if he had been able to pepper spray those 2 people (not in any uniform) who assaulted him (possibly in his mind at that time remember) while shopping.
Beware these small incremental steps to places you can’t roll back once enacted and accepted as ‘normal’ by a scared public.
Think: guns laws in the USA.
Also, look out all private security employees in supermarkets, bottle shops, pubs, shopping centres, pharmacies, etc, the only new thing “Coming Soon” is:
inflammation of mucus membranes,
lung inflammation,
nasty coughs,
irritation,
redness of the eyes and
tears.
Then more tears as you fight your employer in the Fair Work Commission for a Work Cover payment while you’re off work for weeks as they try to strip you of your dignity as well as your extended pay claims for workplace rehabilitation.
This “Something new is Coming Soon” “Stay Tuned” is an empty marketing trick learned by all Year 10 Business Studies students. Create a sense of excitement about a new brand or an old brand/new product launch by building desire for new stuff.
We would rename that: Work Cover Soon, Spray Tuned.
Another serious issue with this kind of idea, which really shows to us that personal safety is now being privatised to the individual and is increasingly becoming the norm, is what happens when it stops working?
You’re starting an arms race between the baddies and the goodies.
What happens when you have someone who heads out into the Darwin night with the intent to rape or sexually assault someone? Now they’ll be carrying their own can of pepper spray to incapacitate potential victims.
Those potential victims will then have to carry a bigger can of pepper spray to ward off their attackers. Next, personal tasers. Or lipstick with a small knife inside instead of fiery red.
You can see where this is going we assume.
And to return to the beginning of this comment, will you be charged with assault if you pepper spray 2 off duty police who are assaulting you (because they were just normal looking shoppers, how were you to know they were Police) for – and this might happen one day too – being wrongly accused of supermarket theft?
Hypothetical: if someone wrongly accuses you of a crime then pepper sprays you in a citizen arrest type scenario, is that acceptable? What if they accidentally pepper spray your small child or baby you had with you at the same time?
The CLP did at least consider this when they said the following, can’t say they weren’t warned:
‘The then-CLP opposition criticised the move, raising the prospect of “unintended consequences” and lawsuits being brought against the government over possible misuse by those approved to carry the spray.’
You heard it here first: someone is going to be pepper sprayed in the face for innocently approaching another person and asking what the time is or for directions, when a scared member of the public thinks they’re going to be assaulted or attacked because the general societal level of fear is so high.
Asking people to carry offensive weapons to now protect themselves is only adding to that fear.
The same as the slow CLPrison privatisation policy, now with private contractors having to be employed because you’ve filled the already overcrowded prison full of new people and you know the current system can’t handle it so you’re building new prisons and hiring private guards……all in the same empty sloganeering speak of “keeping Territorians safe” or “giving Territorians more choice”.
….this CLPersonal safety privatisation policy will go the same way.
Now it’s pepper spray, next tiny tasers, then your own set of customisable plastic zip ties and a discount on zany pink night vision goggles for those 12am trips to the servo for cigarettes.
We don’t know how to keep you safe, so you do it.
We’re too busy making sure Alastair Shields From The Public can squeeze in another Board membership and finding a new set of stress toys for Patrick Bellend to play with.
And our Dept of Spin and Misdirection have come up with a nice little soundbite that captures what our messaging needs to look like.
First, use the “more something positive”, “not or less something negative” structure to begin with:
more options, not less control
more safety, less fear
more choice, less restrictions,
more criminals behind bars, less bad people on the streets, more Boards memberships for Alastair and his mates, less positions for other people,
more stability in ICAC, less corruption actually stopped
Second, always throw in a comment about “community safety”, “keeping Territorians safe”, “improve personal safety”, “about giving Territorians more choice when it comes to personal safety”, “give people greater peace of mind without compromising public safety” whenever possible, even if it’s not really connected.
“This is about equipping Territorians with more options, not less control,” Ms Finocchiaro said. “It’s a practical step that balances personal responsibility with community safety, and we’ll be watching the outcomes closely through reporting and evaluation.”
And finally, a word from our sponsors:
Marie-Clare Capsicum Control Juice, when people are asking you the tough questions just spray them in the face. Job done.
Outside the myriad of issues with this, probably need to consider two things.
Firstly, a weapon in the hands of a smaller potential victim frequently ends up as a weapon in the hands of the larger stronger assailant.
Secondly, given this governments rhetoric and actions on many fronts, is this another attempt to switch the agenda away from one of their current (there are many) pressure points / embarrassing revelations????
“If violent crime is to be curbed, it is only the intended victim who can do it. The felon does not fear the police, he fears neither judge nor jury. Therefore, what he must be taught is to fear the victim.”
Lt. Col. Jeff Cooper, U.S.M.C.
I’m with the Marine.
You mob have obviously never had senior female relatives and friends stalked by 3 ratbags with ankle bracelets in the Woolies carpark.
Pepper spray is too kind really.
Jeff. I agree with your first two sentences. Disagree with third. Taught staff to always engage; but never react. Be clear. But never threaten. No staff ever . . . over twenty years of working in an always potentially explosive environment, physically attacked. Except me. But only on my ground and my rules. It can be done! Trained and training of staff. No Police. Concealed weapons always, at risk. On the street there are no rules. Each and all depend upon self awareness. Always have your coffee whereby you can see the entrance door and . . . know where the rear door is via the kitchen?
If such spray is issued one can at a time, to little old ladies, people with mobility aids and debilitating injuries and conditions, and mums who need to transport kids through threatening environments; then this will reduce the fear factor that makes life a nightmare for so many citizens.
I can suggest a few caveats that should apply. Cans should be considered on written application, followed by careful assessment, and then issued with storage and handling instructions; such safeguards tested for applicant comprehension and compliance.
Wider application is, I think, asking for trouble. What would make more sense is a revision of what constitutes reasonable defense when under assault or threat of assault. Currently, an inoffensive and martially-unskilled citizen is not permitted to use reasonable force that reflects his lack of strength, fighting skill, or the paralyzing degree of intimidation often extended by your average street thug.
I have witnessed police prosecuting individuals who were simply protecting innocent civilians with whatever tools were at hand. It is now well known that the innocent defender is more likely to end up in prison than the violent criminal. Clearly, if we are talking pepper spray, something is very wrong with law enforcement. Pepper spray for the vulnerable will partially restore the balance until government takes crime control seriously. So far, the only time I have seen pepper spray used was with police spraying old ladies directly in the eyes, preparatory to launching them face first into the asphalt. Politicians applauded despite this violating the Crimes Act (1914).
Meanwhile, that the AMA would prefer people to be undefended comes as no surprise. The medical mafia has both eyes on profits and has never, to my knowledge, cared about injury to the public.
This update is a perfect example of how this CLP Government has learned absolutely nothing from being in opposition for 8 years about how to govern properly.
Ill-thought out and worse than that, obviously-not-thought-anything-about-it-at-all-this-sounds-great-after-a-bottle-of-Chardonnay-and-a-Gin-and-Tonic policies announced with some sketchy Facebook Year 10 marketing FAIL is the signature of this group of idiots.
If you’d spent all that time and now increasing levels of money trying to save this non-starter, in listening to people more qualified than yourselves (see those Year 10s maybe) about addressing the main causal factors of crime and funnelling all your collective efforts into properly funded Justice Reinvestment policies which will begin to work for the long term in preventing those then you wouldn’t be pepper spraying us because that’s what it feels like to read your announcements.
Here’s some reading resources that will help you and only take up 20 minutes of your time:
https://www.alrc.gov.au/publication/pathways-to-justice-inquiry-into-the-incarceration-rate-of-aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-peoples-alrc-report-133/4-justice-reinvestment/
‘Ms Finocchiaro also said that the improper use of OC spray constitutes a criminal offence under the Weapons Control Act 2001, carrying potential penalties such as fines or imprisonment.’
~OOOOOOOhhhhhh scary stuff, that will stop those pesky crims in their tracks for sure. Thank goodness you’re in charge LiaR, our family feels much safer and more secure now knowing this.
For once we agree with Selena Stays Silent: this is an admission of CLP failure on crime but then criminalising 10 year olds, privatising prisons, having no rehabilitation programs, building Boot Camps and trumpeting empty “tough on crime” slogans was never going to work now, was it.
You lot really don’t have a clue what you’re doing, just making this shit up as you go along and not even doing a good job of that either.
We leave you with this 10 second effort to help you brainless Government imposters:
Open up a new blank web page
Type in the address bar at the top: Duck [dot] ai
Go to the bottom of the screen and type in ‘root causes of crime’ then hit Enter/Return on your keyboard
Work on fixing the things in the list first before you arm the public and offenders with the same dangerous weapons
*helpful hint: it’s pretty much the same list the world over.
Every person, responsble law abiders, think its a welcome inititiate and want it.