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Clare Nowland remains in hospital after being tasered by police
at the Yallambee aged care home in Cooma, about 300 km (186
miles) southwest of Sydney, on Wednesday.
Police have said Nowland, who suffers from dementia, had
wandered the facility for several hours and taken a steak knife
from the kitchen.
The incident has sparked public uproar in Australia and calls
for a review of police use of tasers on vulnerable people.
Addressing media in Sydney, Webb said police had not decided if
the officer responsible would be charged over the tasering.
"It's too early to speculate, we'll deal with those things as
they become known to us," NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb
said, speaking publicly for the first time since the incident.
Asked if the officer had been stood down from active duty, Webb
said: "he's not in the workplace but I can't articulate the
reasons that he's not in the workplace".
The police commissioner said she had not seen body camera
footage of the encounter and reiterated that police did not
intend to release it to the public.
Police say officers spoke with Nowland for several minutes but
when she failed to drop the knife and approached them, one fired
a taser, knocking her to the ground.
Webb said Nowland, a great grandmother and keen golfer, was
currently in a stable condition in hospital.
"The next few days will be critical and it's likely to be very
difficult for the family," she said.
(Reporting by Sam McKeith; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)
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