| Western Australia Police | |
| Logo of the Western Australia Police. | |
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 1 January 1834 |
| Employees | 7,526 |
| Legal personality | Governmental: Government agency |
| Jurisdictional structure | |
| Operations jurisdiction* | State of Western Australia, Australia |
| Map of Western Australia Police's jurisdiction. | |
| Size | 2,645,615 km2 |
| Governing body | Government of Western Australia |
| General nature | |
| Operational structure | |
| Headquarters | 2 Adelaide Terrace, East Perth, WA 6004 |
| Agency executive | Karl J O'Callaghan APM, Commissioner |
| Units |
List
|
| Facilities | |
| Stations | 162 |
| Website | |
| www.police.wa.gov.au | |
| Footnotes | |
| * Divisional agency: Division of the country, over which the agency has usual operational jurisdiction. | |
The Western Australia Police services an area of 2.5 million square kilometres, the world's largest non-federated area of jurisdiction. In 2008, its 7,526 employees included 5,647 police officers.
Contents |
The genesis of the police was the appointment of a sheriff by Captain Stirling in June 1829, as part of the proclamation of the Swan River Colony. The proclamation provided for the appointment of a sheriff having under his direction a high constable, constables, bailiffs and surveyors of highways. The sheriff still exists as an officer of the Western Australian Justice Department—no longer having police or highways under their jurisdiction. The sheriff retains responsibility for enforcement of court judgments and the administration of jury service. Police continue to carry out sheriff & bailiff duties, particularly in remote country locations.
Early colonial policemen were recruited by magistrates and worked part-time. They were paid only for specific tasks, such as one shilling for serving a summons. By 1830, there were fifteen part-time constables in the state, of whom five worked in Perth.
A mounted force was established in 1834, proving unpopular with citizens on the grounds that it was not efficient and was being paid out of their taxes for duties which the military should be performing. It was involved in the "Battle of Pinjarra", in which Captain Ellis, the Police Superintendent was killed together with a large number of Aboriginal people.[1] The first full-time constable for Perth was appointed in 1840.
The Legislative Council passed a police ordinance in 1849 that outlined police powers and responsibilities. An organised police force was formally established in 1853.
After convicts started arriving in the colony in 1849, the police acquired the duties of registering and supervising the ticket-of-leave men. By 1870, after transportation had ceased, some 1,244 ticket-of-leave men had to be supervised by 146 police employees.
Applicants for police service were required to be aged under forty, literate and physically fit. Leave was difficult to obtain and officers were not to appear in public when out of uniform. Until the end of the nineteenth century, the monthly pay day was marked by a parade with band.
A Criminal Investigation Department was set up in 1873, although two detectives had been sent out from Britain in 1854. A fingerprint bureau was set up in 1902 and the first female officer was appointed in 1921.
The Police Headquarters is located in East Perth overlooking the Causeway, near the WACA Ground. The 1960s curved building also houses the East Perth Lockup and is entered on the State Heritage Register. Recruits are trained at the Western Australian Police Academy at Joondalup. Previously the Academy was located at Maylands, in premises still used by various units including the mounted and K-9 (police dog) sections. The Perth Police Station is located at Curtin House, Beaufort Street.
All police recruits begin their service as uniformed constables
The command structure has the state divided into three regions and sub-divided into fourteen districts. The highest-ranking police officer in the Western Australia Police holds the title of Commissioner of Police. The current Commissioner is Karl O'Callaghan, appointed in June 2004. Chris Dawson (Operations) is the deputy commissioner. Politically, the service comes within the portfolio of the Minister for Police.
A number of specialist units have been established, including the Tactical Response Group (TRG), Gang Crime Squad, Crime Investigation and Intelligence Services, Water Police, Traffic Enforcement Group, Specialist Police Motorcycle Unit, Regional Operations Group, Police Airwing and the Gold Stealing Detection Unit.[2]
Traditionally the Commissioner came from with in the service though in 1994 and 1999, police commissioners were head-hunted from outside WA police ranks. In 1994, Victorian Bob Falconer APM was imported from the Victoria Police where he had been a deputy commissioner. Falconer was effective in implementing the Delta Program designed to achieve organisational and cultural change.[3] Falconer later argued that internal measures were inadequate and that a standing crime and corruption commission was necessary to combat police corruption.[4] In 1999 Barry Matthews, then a deputy commissioner of the New Zealand Police, was appointed and served until 2004.[5] Matthews was, however, succeeded in June 2004 by Dr Karl O'Callaghan APM, PhD who had been employed in the WA service since age 17 and was one of the service's first officers to achieve a PhD.[6]
| Constable | First Class Constable |
Senior Constable |
Sergeant | Senior Sergeant |
Inspector | Superintendent | Commander | Assistant Commissioner |
Deputy Commissioner |
Commissioner |
The Tactical Response Group (TRG) is a Police Tactical Group, a component of the Counter-Terrorism and State Protection Group (CT&SP TRG). It is a civilian body accountable under the state's police legislation (1892)[7] and criminal code [8].
Since 1978, the Australian Government's National Anti-Terrorism Plan[9] has required each state police force to maintain a specialised counter-terrorist and hostage-rescue unit.
TRG officers are trained for high-risk physical situations. They provide support to WAPOL and other agencies [10]. Such situations include dealing with armed offenders, attending sieges and civil-disorder incidents, protecting endangered witnesses, undertaking searches of premises, securing and escorting dangerous prisoners, heads of state, VIPs and internationally protected persons, as well as the state's counter-terrorist responsibility. Specialist positions include marksmen, bomb technicians and negotiators [11][12].
The TRG is equipped with a wide range of less-lethal devices as well as specialist firearms and equipment for 'domestic' and counter-terrorist operations. Training includes tactical roping, fieldcraft, paramedical courses, the use of chemical, biological and radiological equipment, self-contained breathing apparatus and weapons. In October 2007 the TRG took delivery of a Lenco BearCat armoured vehicle for use domestic high-risk situations such as sieges.[13]
The TRG has in recent times also expanded its capability to respond to counter terrorist and high risk incidents in a maritime environment including specialist divers, swimmers and the ability to board ships and oil/gas platforms[14].
All officers are armed when on duty. The standard firearm is the Glock 22 pistol. Officers also carry the X-26 Taser Electronic Control Device (ECD), often described in the media as a "less-than-lethal-force" option.
Because of the weight of equipment carried on officers' belts, Western Australian uniformed officers are being progressively issued with equipment vests fitted with pockets to safely contain equipment including ammunition magazines for the service pistol, pepper spray, baton, handcuffs, radio and mobile phone. The vests are navy blue in colour, although a fluorescent yellow version is worn for some operations. The Commissioner of Police has been reported as saying that his department will invest $A4 million to provide 1100 additional tasers, making a total of 1350 in use by officers.
Further specialised equipment is utilised by the TRG, as detailed in that section above.
The Police Air Wing provides support services to frontline police, including deployment of police personnel, crime detection and prevention, search & rescue and medical transfers.
The current fleet[15] is composed of:
The Air Wing has a primary base at Jandakot Airport, in addition to a PC-12 being based Karratha Airport.
The Pilatus PC-12 is a single engine turbo-prop aeroplane, which can carry a maximum of eight passengers 1800 km (as far as Broome). It can cruise up to a height of 30,000 ft (9,100 m) and can travel at approximately 500 km/h. The PC-12's primary role is to transport staff state-wide, but it can be utilised for search and rescue (SAR) and disaster relief efforts. The Cessna 182 is mainly used for surveillance and patrol work and can be fitted with a Leo400 FLIR unit. It is also used for inshore and land SAR searches.
The Kawasaki BK117 is a twin engine helicopter, which has been upgraded to B2 specification. Purchased in 1990, and known as Polair 61, the aircraft’s role is police patrol, surveillance, search and rescue and officer deployment. It is fitted with a Star Safire III FLIR unit with downlink capabilities, Avalex digital recorder, Avalex moving map system, 4 monitors, Wulfsberg tactical radio, Nitesun search light and a double lift 600 lb (270 kg) rescue winch. Forward Looking Infra-Red cameras track heat sources, such as a vehicle or human body in darkness and have a high powered zoom video camera for daylight hours.
In September 2011, the Police Air Wing took delivery of a new Eurocopter AS365 N3 helicopter.[16] The cost of the new helicopter has been reported at $AU13 million for the helicopter, plus $AU9 million of equipment enhancements including Forward Looking Infra-Red cameras, winches, and live surveillance with downlink capabilities to the Police Operations Centre.[17] The AS365 is slated to replace the BK117 as the primary helicopter for WA Police, with the BK117 to be retained for backup capabilities, and was delivered 2 months ahead of schedule to enable its use at CHOGM 2011.[18]
On 8 May 1992, the Polair One helicopter crashed while attempting to land on a sports oval for a public display in Kelmscott. The helicopter, an Aerospatiale AS355F1, was destroyed after a fire started in the engine bay following ground impact. The Bureau of Air Safety Investigation report determined "The helicopter probably entered a vortex ring state during the final approach". No one died as a result of the crash.[19]
On the 26 January 2001, four police officers lost their lives when their Cessna 310R plane crashed at night near the mining town of Newman. The plane was returning from Kiwirrkurra, on the edge of the Gibson Desert, when the aircraft's engines failed due to fuel starvation on the approach to Newman airstrip. The crash was the single biggest loss of police lives in West Australian history, and the first involving a police aircraft.[20][21] The officers killed in the crash were: Senior Constable Donald Richard Everett 4600 – 49 years - Pilot of Karratha Police Airwing; Senior Constable Phillip Gavin Ruland 7877 – 32 years - Newman Police Station; First Class Constable David Adrian Dewar 9178 – 31 years - Newman Police Station; Constable Gavin Ashley Capes 10305 – 27 years - Newman Police Station
Throughout the 1990s there was widespread public concern about police activities and perceived shortcomings in internal integrity, resulting in development by the Labor parliamentary opposition of draft terms of reference for a proposed royal commission.[22] In 2002, the Kennedy Royal commission commenced to examine aspects of the behaviour and culture of the service. It concluded in 2004, finding that
...the full range of corrupt or criminal conduct from stealing to assaults, perjury, drug dealing and the improper disclosure of confidential information have been examined. [the Western Australian Police force] has been ineffective in monitoring those events and modifying its procedures to deal with that conduct and to prevent its repetition. ...The fact that there remain in WAPS a number of officers who participated in this conduct, and who not only refused to admit it, but also uniformly denied it with vehemence, is a matter of concern.
The royal commission investigated the death of 18-year-old Stephen Wardle, who died whilst in custody in the East Perth lockup .[23]. The commission's report noted:
"The royal commission has no authority under its terms of reference to go beyond the determination of whether or not there has been criminal or corrupt conduct by any Police officer with respect to the death of Stephen Wardle. The evidence does not sustain any contention that there was corrupt or criminal conduct by any Police officer or officers in relation to his death"[24]
In September 2010 a video was released where numerous police officers tasered a man 13 times while inside a police station. The incident sparked world wide publicity and renewed debate about the inclusion of tasers in the police force and officers' excessive use of it.[25]
Crime:
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