Michael Deegan, the head of South Australia’s Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure may have committed a corruption offence in a previous job, according to the Trade Union Royal Commission’s final report. Continue reading Head of SA Planning Department Referred to NSW Police: Possible Corruption Charges
Recommendations to improve the efficiency of the West Australian prison system should be rejected because they are “confusing and contradictory”, a union says.
The Economic Regulation Authority has made 44 recommendations in a report released on Thursday, including performance benchmarks for jails and a commissioning model for choosing prison operators.
But WA Prison Officers’ Union secretary John Welch said a commissioning model would pit private and public sectors and not-for-profit organisations against each other for service contracts.
He said benchmarking would also fail because WA prisons were each different and spread over a large area, which presented unique challenges.
Source: The Australian.
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.
Read more in Sunraysia Daily.
The Queensland Police Union has lambasted the state government over their “behind closed doors” reappointment of police commissioner Ian Stewart.
Police Minister Jo-Ann Miller extended Commissioner Ian Stewart’s three-year tenure for two more years on Tuesday, following months of union criticism of the state’s top officer.
Unlike all other department directors-general, the Labor government didn’t re-advertise the commissioner’s role and Mr Stewart did not reapply for his job under the new merit-based appointment process.
Read more in The Age.
The Mudgee Branch of the Police Association (PANSW) has voted to lodge concerns over station staffing numbers with the Industrial Relations Commission.
The association met with members on Friday to discuss the First Response Policing agreement following previously unsuccessful negotiations to resolve rostering concerns at Mudgee Police Station.
The Association’s executive member for Western NSW, Sue Rose, said the branch is seeking assurances that a supervisor and station officer will be rostered and maintained 24-hours a day in accordance with policy.
“What we’re asking for is the minimum number of supervisors, which is one in most country areas,” Ms Rose said.
Read more in the Mudgee Guardian.
NSW Police Minister Troy Grant says an agreement allowing police to carry guns in court is close to being finalised.
Mr Grant defended the state’s judiciary following an attack by Police Association of NSW president Scott Weber over its refusal to allow officers to carry guns in courtrooms.
Mr Grant denied talks had stalled, saying he supported a call for police to be fully armed as the criminal landscape had changed with a heightened terror threat.
“It’s also for the protection of the judicial officers themselves and everyone in the community who is in and around those courts,” he said.
The comments follow the association’s accusations of a stalemate with the judiciary and Attorney-General Gabrielle Upton.
The Police Association of NSW again called on the NSW Police Commissioner to step in to help resolve an ongoing issue.
Read more in Mudgee Guardian.
Police Commissioner Ian Stewart has made a public pitch to stay in the top job in a move that drew strong criticism from the Police Union.
Union president Ian Leavers last night said the past three years had been a “tumultuous time for all police in Queensland”.
“I found it extraordinary that a Commissioner of Police would go on television to publicly beg to keep his job,” he said.
Mr Stewart’s future has been under a cloud after criticism from Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk that the service rushed the decision to close the Ipswich communications centre.
Read more in The Courier Mail.
Source: www.couriermail.com.au
Police Association of NSW Press Release
The Police Association of NSW is calling on the NSW Commissioner of Police to protect police officers by stopping unsafe work practices.
The NSW Heads of Court have refused to change the current protocol prohibiting police wearing their firearms and appointments in NSW Courts.
Police Association President, Scott Weber, said, “This is an important safety issue raised and campaigned by us over many months, however, our members, the workers and their representatives haven’t been consulted.
“The issue is being discussed behind closed doors by lawyers and the Government with no input from the very officers being placed at risk.
“Today we are appealing to the Commissioner of Police to resolve this issue and direct his officers and our members to cease this unsafe working practice. We expect that the Commissioner will continue to support his workers in their efforts to protect themselves and the public.
“We are asking our members who are required to attend court to consider their options to address this unsafe work practice. There is an option to seek leave to enter the Court while wearing their arms and appointments.
“If leave is not granted, officers should report the matter to their Supervisor and seek a direction from their Supervisor.
“In the interim the Association will continue to consider its available options for resolving this important issue.
“The Commissioner and his executive team have tried to resolve this issue for our members. Once it was brought to their attention they engaged with many stakeholders in control of Courts and their security, so far without success. We thank the Commissioner and his team in their efforts so far in seeking a resolution.
“It’s time for the Attorney General and the Minister for Justice and Police to put Police officer safety and that of the public above politics.
“This is a significant safety concern and it has reached a deadlock. We now call on the Premier to intervene and allow the carriage of firearms in all Courts around the state to deliver police, and all those attending Courts around the state, the protection and security they deserve.”
Hundreds of police are quitting every year to take on jobs in the mines, occupational health and safety, security and other emergency services, with reasons including they feel underpaid.
Almost 1150 officers left the Queensland Police Service in the past three years, according to figures.
Queensland Police Union president Ian Leavers said he was not surprised by the large number of police quitting.
“Morale is at its lowest point in the 25 years I have been a police officer,” Mr Leavers said.
The Gold Coast’s top cop has sensationally quit the force to join the security team for the Commonwealth Games.
Superintendent Des Lacy is a career police officer who has been acting as the Gold Coast District Officer for the past two years.
Supt Lacy will join the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games Corporation (GOLDOC) in the high-profile role of security manager late next month.
Supt Lacy is the latest in a growing list of senior Gold Coast police officers to leave the Glitter Strip.
Related: First Year Police Officer Salaries
Read more in The Australian.
Hundreds of police could be put back on the front line and up to $20 million saved each year under a new watch-house model that has been mothballed by the State Government. The Sunday Mail can reveal Labor has shelved plans to shift responsibility for watch-houses and prisoner transport from police to corrections officers despite “big long-term benefits”.
The Queensland Police Union wants officers to retain watch-houses. President Ian Leavers yesterday said “lives would be lost” if civilians were in control.
Police Commissioner Ian Stewart said police “actually run the watch-houses leaner than what Corrective Services are able to under their current policies”.
Read more in Courier Mail (with a grain or two of salt).
Source: www.couriermail.com.au
