SIEGE CONSTABLE FACING SACK

A police officer at the scene of a fatal shooting of a farmer is facing
dismissal by the Police Commissioner, Mr Peter Ryan, after testing positive
to cannabis.

The officer, a senior constable with the Tactical Operations Unit, showed
positive when he and other officers were given routine drug tests after the
February 24 shooting of Mr Jim Hallinan.

Mr Hallinan, who lived on a property near the southern NSW township of
Tumut, was shot dead after a day-long siege.

The head of the homicide squad, Superintendent Ron Smith, last night
confirmed the officer had been suspended pending a coronial inquiry.

He said that since July 1, 1998, drug and alcohol tests had been required
following any police operation in which anyone was killed or seriously injured.

But "the officer who tested positive was not the officer who fired the
fatal shot and at no time did he fire a weapon during the incident".