While most officers go decades without needing to use their firearm, former officer Yasmin London was brand new to the force when she first needed to draw her gun.
In 2006, London found herself inside an abandoned church in Camperdown, Sydney, faced with an armed offender. She was only six weeks into the job.
Ex-cop Yasmin London explains what went through her mind when wielding a firearm on the Crime Insiders podcast:
“My partner told me to draw my gun, and sure enough, a couple of minutes into our search, I saw the glint of a 30-centimetre kitchen knife ahead of me,” London said.
“He was still very agitated. And I remember looking at that kitchen knife because he was doing figure eights with it,” she said.
London describes what goes through her mind when holding out a loaded firearm, including legal considerations, the safety of others, and the weight of taking someone’s life.
“You have this moment where you’re going, is this actually real? Am I potentially going to have to take someone’s life today?”
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