Woman smashes police officer’s head into concrete during face mask conflict

The alleged incident occurred just after 5 p.m. on Monday in the Frankston area of Melbourne, Australia, when the 26-year-old constable approached the woman to inquire as to why she wasn't wearing a mask, whereupon the woman assaulted the officer.

The woman and the officer struggled on the ground and, according to witnesses, the officer's head was repeatedly smashed into the hard concrete, and the woman tore a handful of hair from the officer's head.

A spokesperson from the Victoria Police Association called the attack "disgusting" and went on to say: "People have to absolutely understand, there are consequences for your actions, and if you're not doing the right thing, we will not hesitate to issue infringements, to arrest you, to detain you where it's appropriate."

The alleged attacker was charged with nine separate violations, including the serious and indictable offense of assaulting a police officer. Other charges range from refusal to cooperate with emergency personnel to failure to state her name or address. The assailant was released on bail, and this is her first criminal offence.

Melbourne and the rest of the state of Victoria in Australia have been subject to one of the world's most severe lockdowns, with mandatory curfews between 8 p.m. and 5 a.m. then next morning. City and state officials in the area are considering making phone tracking apps mandatory. The app is already available and ready for use, but has not yet been forced onto the public.

A spokesperson for the Melbourne police force said that "on three or four occasions in the past week we've had to smash the windows of people in cars and pull them out of there so they could provide their details because they wouldn't tell us where they were going."

Melbourne has dedicated 1,500 officers each day to enforcing restrictions, curfews, and face masks. "There are consequences, and we will enforce them," the police spokesman said, "and the window of discretion is virtually closed."

These measures were implemented due to new cases and deaths being reported in Melbourne and across Victoria. Detractors of the measures claim they are too severe, as the number of new coronavirus cases has only gone up to 439, and also question the necessity of severe and potentially counterproductive measures like the curfew. People supporting the measure are worried about the current numbers growing exponentially if something isn't done immediately.