Horrific images highlight dangers of ice epidemic
WARNING – GRAPHIC CONTENT: Shocking pictures have been circulated showing the attacks on police officers called to deal with people affected by the ice epidemic.
One picture shows a bloodied senior constable recovering in hospital after being pushed down stairs during a domestic violence incident, reportedly fuelled by the drug ice.
A 22-year-old woman allegedly jumped on the officer’s back, attacked him and pushed him down a flight of stairs. He is now on restricted duties, while the 22-year-old woman and a 24-year-old man are before the courts over the incident.
The NSW Police Association also released Polair footage from an arrest outside a Central Coast home in April last year, which shows five officers struggling to restrain an ice user, who they feared was going to attack his own mother.
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The police union shared the confronting images to demonstrate the toll the ice epidemic is having on the police force, in a push to secure more officers to combat the soaring numbers of meth addicts.
Police Association head Tony King told the Daily Telegraph the escalating combination of ice and domestic violence was putting increased pressure on police.
“Every police officer knows how all-pervasive ice has become,” Mr King said.
“It dominates our work; it has links to domestic violence, mental health incidents, road fatalities, house and business break-ins, organised crime and it is destroying lives.”
NSW Police union call for more officers to deal with ice epidemic
The association shared the confronting images in its bid to double the number of officers dealing directly with ice manufacture and supply, calling for an extra 72 officers in regional NSW and 42 in Sydney.
It also released a list of crystal-meth regional hot-spots which revealed the number of drug incidents was three times higher in regional areas than in the city.
The NSW Police Association has also launched a push for the state government to employ an extra 2500 officers “to keep our community safe”, as part of its Back the Blue campaign.
