Since Victoria Police released its restricted Pursuit Policy in July this year, The Police Association has received a steady stream of feedback from members. The feedback has been mixed but more recently it has focused on unintended consequences of the policy. Continue reading Victoria Police Officers – Have Your Say On Police Pursuit Policy→
South Australian police officers have been buying their own video cameras which they are attaching to their uniforms to film interactions with the public, a report has revealed.
Existing security measures have been shown to be “working” through the response to a man who brought two knives into Perth Magistrates Court, WA’s attorney-general says.
The West Australian Police Union has used the incident on Tuesday afternoon to renew its call to overturn the ban on police carrying firearms, stun guns, pepper spray, batons and handcuffs in court.
“But there’s resistance from that occurring,” WAPU president George Tilbury told reporters. “We’ve been lobbying government for that change since January this year. The attorney-general and the premier will not be moved.”
“Things need to change for the safety of police officers and the community.” Mr Tilbury said a man brought a kitchen knife and a hunting knife through the security checkpoint on Tuesday and was chased by unarmed security guards into the toilet area.
The Police Academy in Glen Waverley is now ringed with black fencing several metres high.Before the new installation. Picture: Google
Spokeswoman acting communications manager Catherine Allen said such measures were never discussed in detail and would not be providing further comment.
A senior police officer for the region said the change was a result of internal security changes and did not reflect a heightened security risk in the area.
More than 80 per cent of police feel vulnerable or at risk while on the job, a new survey has revealed.
Three quarters of respondents to the Police Association of Victoria’s Priority Policing Issues Survey listed drugs – ice in particular – as a key crime issue facing police today.
Some 83 per cent of the 3000 respondents to the union’s survey also said they believed current levels of substance abuse had made their job different than it was three years ago.
Five Mildura police officers faced months of health tests for Hepatitis and AIDS after restraining a man covered in his own blood in May.
West Australian Police Minister Liza Harvey says it is not realistic for police to be armed in court in the immediate future but that she is sympathetic to their plight.
The police union is fighting for officers to be able to wear their weapons in court and has upped the campaign since changes were made to NSW legislation earlier this month to allow it.
But Ms Harvey said it took time to make changes to long-standing conventions.
Premier Colin Barnett told Parliament this week he could see circumstances where a heightened level of security would be required.
“Terrorist acts, bikie gangs … those would be examples,” he said.
But he said he would prefer police not to carry weapons in court.
Police officers will be able to carry their guns into NSW courtrooms from next week, amid heightened terrorism fears.
Police Minister Troy Grant announced a new protocol on Tuesday that allows officers to wear their weapons while giving evidence or briefing prosecutors inside court complexes without having to seek special permission from the judiciary.
“This is a common sense approach at a time our nation faces a high terror alert and when we’ve seen police overseas become terror targets themselves,” Mr Grant said.
Police news stories and opinions on law enforcement and legal system topics. Focused on Australian stories as well as major international stories of interest to Police Officers.
