'Theatre of strength': where the thin blue line meets the mental health crisis

Victoria has a long and tragic history of police shootings of people in extreme mental health crisis. What are the factors contributing to excessive use of force?

On 15 September, a man brandishing a large kitchen knife was spotted inside a toilet in the Lilydale Marketplace. Armed with the knife, he made his way to a medical centre where he filled out a new patient form. The police were called to the busy shopping complex at 8.30am. First responders confronted the man outside the medical centre. He was asking the officers to kill him.

We now have two more police vehicles," a bystander told a live radio broadcast on 3AW. On mobile phone footage, the 24-year-old man appears agitated as he sparks a cigarette. The police had been negotiating with him for half an hour. They urged him to put down the weapon. The man rushed towards the police officers. And we now have police in black," the bystander continued. Oh shit, they're shooting. They've just shot. There's just been three or four rounds. I can't see." Two officers fired their weapons and shot the man. Police believed the man, who remains in a stable condition, suffered from mental health issues.