Western Australia Police

The Western Australia Police covers the largest single police jurisdiction in the world (except national police forces), an area of 2.5 million square kilometres. Its 6,318 employees include 4,993 police officers.

EARLY HISTORY

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 , Bailiff s and surveyors of Highways .

The Sheriff, an ancient and independent Office of the Crown, still exists but no longer has police or highways under his jurisdiction. A public servant from the Western Australian Justice Department is usually appointed Sheriff. The Sheriff retains responsibility for the enforcement of judgments of the Civil Jurisdictions of the Courts and for Juries. Today the police still support the Sheriff and in the country and sparsely populated areas of the State, by arrangement, they continue to carry out Sheriff & bailiff duties in addition to their police duties.

Early colonial policemen were recruited by Magistrates and worked part-time. They were only paid for specific tasks, such as one Shilling for serving a summons. By 1830, there were fifteen part-time constables in the state, of which five worked in Perth.

A mounted force was established in 1834, but it was not popular with the settlers, on the grounds that it was not efficient and was being paid out of their taxes for duties which the military should be performing in defence of the Colony. It was involved in the "Battle of Pinjarra ", in which the police superintendent was killed, as well as a large number of Aboriginals . The first full-time constable for Perth was appointed in 1840.

The colony's Legislative Council passed a Police Ordinance in 1849 that outlined police powers and responsibilities. An organised Police Force was formally established in 1853.

A second Police Ordinance in 1861 clarified the chain of command, the powers and responsibilities of members and the various offences they had to deal with. In 1861, the force consisted of about 75 officers and men. The extent of police jurisdiction expanded with the State. In 1892 there were about 225 police and the ''Police Act 1892'' - still largely in force - was passed.

CONVICT PERIOD

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.

TODAY

The Police Headquarters () is located in East Perth overlooking The Causeway , near the WACA Ground . The 1960's 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 , which is still used by various units including the Mounted and K-9 sections. The Perth Police Station is located at Curtin House on Beaufort street.

All recruits to the Police begin their service as uniformed Constables and are required to serve time in a country district. They are armed when on duty.
A number of specialist units have been established, including the Tactical Response Group, Crime Investigation and Intelligence Services, Water Police Branch, Community Safety Branch, Traffic Enforcement Group, Regional Operations Group and Air Support Unit.

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, with two deputy Commissioners - Tim Atherton (Operations), who recently left the department, and Chris Dawson (Standards and Reform).
Politically, the Service comes within the portfolio of the Minister for Police.

Controversy

Public confidence in the service has come under intense scrutiny in recent years, due to reports of misconduct of police officers.
Reported incidents range from pranks amongst junior officers {Link without Title} ,
brutality and assault of prisoners in custody to corruption [http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/10/03/1033538678821.html and links with organised crime by senior police. In 2002, widespread allegations of corruption forced a Royal Commission into the activities of the service. In 2006, the police minister John D'Orazio was himself under investigation by the Western Australian Corruption And Crime Commission .

POLICE AIR WING

The Western Australian Police operate an Air Support Unit of one helicopter and three fixed-wing aircraft. The helicopter is a corker Kawasaki BK117 with a callsign Polair 61, based at Jandakot Airport . The fixed wing aircraft include two Piper PA-31 Navajo twin engine planes, and a Cessna 182 single engine aircraft with the callsign Polair 62. In May 2005, the State Government announced A$10 million dollars for the purchase of two Pilatus PC-12 planes to replace the existing ageing fleet.

Newman Plane Crash

On the 26th of 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. [http://www.atsb.gov.au/newsroom/2002/speech/speech002.aspx

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Western Australia Police