I agree that a person with an ideology like his would most likely be set on rejecting authority, making de-escalation tough, in my opinion.
With a fresh head I have thought more about this.
So, according to news articles (links provided to each source):
1. Dezi had been claiming disability payments for more than 20 years, according to friends and his neighbours.
(1) (2)
Note: Importantly, there are no media reports alleging he was faking his disability to receive payments.
2. Dezi self-identified on court documents as a
"disability pensioner".
3. One
former associate, who had known him since the 90's, describes him per the following:
But the man described Freeman as “unemployable” because of his issues with authority and his mental health.
Freeman confirmed in documents he filed in the Victorian supreme court last year that he was a “disability pensioner” whose wife and three children survived on a single Centrelink payment.
“He couldn’t hold a job because he had mental health issues … [and] as soon as there was any authority, he didn’t react to it well,” the former friend said. “He wasn’t violent or anything, he just didn’t tolerate it.”
4. Dezi worked sporadically as a photographer and as
a diving / abseiling instructor at The Gorge near Bright.
5. Quite a few news articles say that he was into deer hunting, with
one associate claiming Dezi could "could carry two freshly killed deer on his back"
(1) (2) (3)
6. Dezi's own Youtube channel -
Buffalo Dezi - shows him canoeing through rapids.
7. He is otherwise described by associates in many news articles as being fit / physically active / similar description.
(1) (2) (3)
In my opinion, points 1 through 7 raise questions about the nature of his disability, whether physical or mental, which could have been an invisible disability.
Notably, Dezi was scheduled to see a doctor for his
deteriorating mental state on the very day of the incident.
According to
this Daily Mail article:
The standoff involved 10 officers, lasted about 27 minutes, and for part of that time, they used a crowbar to pry the door, and one officer forced open a window to enter. The article describes the video as a
"fraught confrontation", using descriptions such as
"his voice shook with rage",
"Freeman's emotions became increasingly fraught.",
"His voice rose and cracked",
"But Freeman only spiralled further.".
So in my opinion, it sounds like, despite the officers' patience with him (indicated by the 27 minutes, and the article's comments about the officers,
"he was using his experience to try and defuse the situation.",
"She once again took the warrant to the door, urging Freeman to read it and 'just take a breath.'"), the situation continually escalated.
According to the
same Daily Mail article, during the standoff, Dezi
"claimed he had autism and post-traumatic stress disorder, and insisted a disability liaison officer be present."
Given all of the above mentioned reports of Dezi's mental health struggles and his claimed conditions (autism and PTSD), even without formal diagnoses, I can't help but wonder if alternative approaches could have altered the outcome. Of course, hindsight is 20/20. I just don't understand why at the least a trained negotiator wasn't deployed.
According to
this Guardian article:
a former friend has questioned whether police were aware of his deteriorating mental health, suggesting that sending 10 officers to his door to execute a warrant would have been “the worst thing for him”.
and
"Given Freeman’s history with firearms and interactions with police, the man questioned the decision of officers to execute the warrant as they had on Tuesday.
The Victorian chief police commissioner, Mike Bush, has confirmed that a risk assessment was done and that it had considered deploying the special operations group from Melbourne, but did not request the elite tactical unit."
Has anyone found reports on successful de-escalations in similar cases?
www.dailymail.co.uk
