NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb has stood by her decision to approve a media release that omitted the fact that 95-year-old Clare Nowland was Tasered by an officer in a nursing home.
The first statement declaring the critical incident on Wednesday said the 95-year-old "sustained injuries during an interaction with police at an aged care facility in the state's south today".
Nowland, who weighs 43 kilograms, was left in a critical condition when she was hit by the Taser in the early hours of Wednesday.
Speaking with 2GB's Ben Fordham on Monday, Webb confirmed she saw the original statement and police were "not hiding anything" when asked why the Taser was omitted.
"It was important that the family were informed of the situation in a factual manner before we went public on it, and I think that's very necessary, and I'm sure that family appreciates that now," she said.
Webb said she stood by not mentioning the Tasering of Nowland in the initial statement, as it was necessary to make sure the family were aware of the circumstances before more details were publicly released.
"Mrs Nowland has a large family and we didn't want that family to hear on radio or on TV what had happened to their mum, and so we had to be sensitive to that and when we were able to talk about it we did," she said.
The commissioner was unable to confirm if officers had pepper spray on them and said she still does not intend to watch the body camera footage that forms part of the investigation.
"At this point in time, the body-worn video is evidence that will form part of the investigator's report. It may be the case in the future where I have to make a determination based on a brief of evidence without being tainted by having seen a part of the brief without context," Webb said.
As reported in the Herald on Sunday, critical incident investigations can be an intensely slow process, with some outstanding probes dating back as far as 2017. But Webb said she was not concerned about that as some matters are before the courts and she hoped findings surrounding Nowland would be available in the next couple of weeks.
"Those matters are currently either in the criminal courts or before the coroner and it would be completely wrong [to release findings] ... before the criminal or coroners matters have actually been finalised," she said.
"I'm hoping that within the next couple of weeks that the transcripts are available and the expert can form their opinion about the use of the Taser."
Father Mark Croker, of St Patrick's Catholic Church in Cooma, said he was with Nowland about noon on Sunday and was spending every few days while she was on end-of-life care.
"[The family are] treating it as their time for saying goodbyes," he said.
"As I understand it, it's brain bleed that she has . doctors have declared she's not expected to regain consciousness [and] people are being realistic."
Premier Chris Minns later spoke with Fordham, saying he had many people approach him the incident.
"It's obviously from the get-go a very troubling set of circumstances and my heart goes out to the Nowland family," he said.
"It's really important to have confidence in the investigation taking place."
Minns avoided weighing in on Webb's handling of the situation and whether she should watch the body camera footage, as he was not in a position to second guess the commissioner.
"I think it's important to note that she said she's not in a position where she's never going to watch it, it may be that she does need to do it, but with context," he said.
"I do have confidence having spoken to the police minister that there are experienced detectives who are looking at this entire event and making sure the community has confidence that it's been fully investigated."
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