A former police hostage negotiator says this morning’s standoff that led to the death of Dezi Freeman “was always going to end badly”.
Dr Vincent Hurley, now a criminologist at Macquarie University, said that while the police’s aim would have been to take Freeman alive and bring him to justice, Freeman’s ideology as a free citizen made this almost impossible.
“He would see (the arrest) as an act of cowardice,” Hurley said.
“He would either want to shoot his way out or stand outside as long as possible. The police would tell him that he was surrounded and that he had no way out, and that they would not go in and harm him – that was standard practice. They would emphasize that many times that they were trying to get him to come out freely.”
Hurley said streaks like the one at Thologolong this morning were rare, and there was always one – like when Malcolm Naden was arrested in March 2012 after seven years on the run – the police learned from him.
Hurley also said Freeman was now probably a witness for the cause of free citizens, and damage may have been done by how his time on the run was received in the media.
“The icing on the cake is that he has outwitted the police, and the government, and given them the middle finger for seven months,” Hurley said. “Liberals and extremists will use him as a benchmark.”
