A predictable outcome.

On the night of March 18, 2012 a 21 year old Brazilian student did something that resulted in him losing his life.   He took a LSD tablet and this hallucinatory drug took control of his mind, resulting in him running wildly into a late night convenience store, crashing over the counter and running off with a stolen packet of biscuits.

The store owner reported this incident and it was incorrectly notified to police patrolling in the inner city as an " armed robbery ".  This resulted in eleven police officers becoming involved in chasing the mentally deranged student through the streets. In efforts to subdue him, he was Tasered fourteen times and subjected to multiple doses of capsicum spray, hit with a baton and eventually handcuffed.   The actual medical cause of his death is presumed to be attributed to the trauma of these actions.

The Police Integrity Commission ( PIC ) held an enquiry into the incident and produced an unsatisfactory finding.   As a result of further enquiries, it has been announced that the four most junior police involved in this incident will face charges.  Two will be charged with " assault occasioning actual bodily harm " and the other two with  "common assault ".  No charges are laid against any supervising police.

This is heading up into becoming a battle between the power of the police force and  critics who claim that police run roughtshod over the laws that protect the public when it comes to applying the law.   A man died in what should have been a simple arrest and the evidence presented by way of covering TV cameras was so compelling that at least a token form of atonement is necessary.

There is a high degree of predictability in how this is developing.   Eleven police took part in this incident, but just four of the lowest ranked face charges - and those charges are at the very low end of the punishment scale.  The four are still on duty, although their right to carry Taser guns has been withdrawn.

No doubt the Police law wing will swing into action and defend the charged officers and senior police will use their political power to tone all of this down.   They will probably reluctantly agree to an adverse finding, provided the offending officers get a mere slap on the wrist - and the matter is consigned to the history books.

The police have - and use - their considerable political muscle to hold whatever government is in office to ransom.   Any form of disciplining brings the subtle threat of this vital arm of government biting it's master.  The police have their hand on the tiller of one of the government's most important income streams.   The threat of issuing warnings in place of fines sends the Treasury into fits of fear - and there is always the ultimate weapon - the possibility of a police strike.

Expect this prosecution to proceed along predictable lines - with an outcome that surprises no one !