Sisters Sue Victoria Police Over Post-Death Support

The sisters of a slain Victoria Police officer have launched legal action against the force, alleging inadequate communication and support in the aftermath of his death during a confrontation in northeast Victoria last year.

Dianne Thompson and Lois Kirk, sisters of Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson, 59, claim they were left feeling abandoned following the August 26 shooting at a property in Porepunkah, where their brother and Senior Constable Vadim de Waart-Hot were killed, and a third officer was seriously injured. The officers had arrived to execute a warrant related to historical sex offenses against the property's resident, Dezi Freeman, who fled into nearby bushland and remained at large for seven months until police shot him dead on March 30 at a remote site in Thologolong, near the New South Wales border.

In a December letter to Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Mike Bush, the sisters described their ongoing distress, writing, "We expected grief, we expected heartbreak, but we did not expect to feel invisible. We were left alone with no support, no face to speak to, no hand on our shoulder." They detailed learning of Thompson's death via a phone call...