Australia - Gun ban for liaison police

[Steven Mace]

March 05, 2002

Gun ban for liaison police

By Ben Martin

ABORIGINAL police liaison officers will be left vulnerable to attacks by criminals and unable to patrol remote communities as a result of an order to disarm them, country police say.

Perth-based liaison officers were yesterday told they would not be allowed to carry guns despite sometimes coming across armed criminals and violent situations.

An e-mail sent to officers in charge of metropolitan stations yesterday said a ban on APLOs carrying police-issue firearms would take effect immediately.

Some supervising officers yesterday refused to allow APLOs to carry out active duties because of worries over their safety. They said the firearm restrictions were dangerous and unfair.

The same instruction is likely to be sent to country stations this week and will be discussed at a meeting of top-level police today.

Country officers believe the ban will cause havoc in the rostering and organisation of many small stations, especially in the North-West.

APLOs make up a higher proportion of total police numbers in remote areas and regularly take part in active duties or back-up constables during police operations.

North-West police said it was unlikely unarmed APLOs would be sent on patrols of some remote communities. It was unfair on the APLO and unfair on their partner to send them on patrol unarmed.

Lone, armed APLOs are the only police presence in the remote communities of Bidyadanga and Beagle Bay. Disarming them would be dangerous because back-up from armed officers was up to three hours away, North-West police said.

Acting Assistant Commissioner Steve Robbins said the disarmament plan was designed to reinforce APLOs"role as liaison officers in the Aboriginal community. "That was why they were recruited and what they were trained for," Mr Robbins said.

Police union president Mike Dean said APLOs had for too long been used by the police service as cheap labour.

They were not trained to the same level as constables, were not paid as much but were often required to perform duties which were just as dangerous.

"People in charge of stations have utilised them as part of their full strength," Mr Dean said. "They rely on them.

"The whole thing is a debacle which has been going on for quite some time. I am not happy at all with the entire scheme. Our view is it should be disbanded. Our view is they (APLOs) are getting used and abused."

All APLOs should be made constables. Due weight was not given to the Aboriginal cultural skills APLOs brought to the police service, Mr Dean said.

http://www.thewest.com.au/20020305/news/state/tw-news-state-home-sto47129.html

Steve Mace

[Steven Mace]

Gun ban makes officers targets

By Ben Martin
March 28, 2002

ABORIGINAL police liaison officers who have been stripped of their guns fear they could become targets for tribal payback attacks.

The liaison officers told the WA Industrial Relations Commission yesterday that the ban prevented them from intervening in violent community disputes. This made them highly visible, but defenceless, targets for payback attacks.

One officer said the ban was degrading. It made it seem that a white officer's life was more important than that of an Aboriginal officer.

The WA Police Union is challenging the ban in the commission on behalf of the Aboriginal officers. It says the ban, imposed early this month, is not safe. APLO Gordon Marshall, who is based at Bidyadanga, 180km south of Broome, said residents would expect him to stop violent assaults and to maintain law and order despite being unarmed.

If he did not intervene, he would have to flee the town. He claimed his family would be subjected to revenge spearings and floggings by the victim's family.

He recalled an incident in which he was bashed with an iron bar, despite being armed with pepper spray, and had to be treated in hospital.

Questioned by a union lawyer, the union and the WA Police Service conceded that officers in charge of police stations had long overlooked the Aboriginal officers"liaison role. They were treated as normal police when it suited the officer in charge.

APLO Greg Tait, of Beagle Bay, said his role was formalised in a memorandum of understanding between senior Kimberley police and Beagle Bay Aborigines last year.

The community had provided the officer with a house and car at a cost of more than $100,000. In return, the officer provided basic policing services such as licensing and crime prevention. He ran a warden program to enforce local by-laws.

But APLO Tait said he also dealt with violent crimes. In one case, a man with a seven-metre spear, an axe and a knife ran through the community terrorising residents. APLO Tait managed to disarm the man before driving him 125km on an unsealed road to the Broome police lock-up.

Since the ban, APLO Tait has refused to work at the community because criminals saw him as an easy target. Cdr Graeme Power, representing the service, told the commission that the memorandum of understanding had been made without his authority.

He said Aboriginal liaison officers caught in violent situations should retreat until back-up arrived. But the liaison officers claimed their calls for back-up had been ignored by stations which were short-staffed.

Cdr Power said the officers"task was to prevent crime by building better relationships between Aborigines and police. The officers, on the other hand, claimed that liaison jobs could turn into violent confrontations with little warning.

Commissioner Pamela Scott reserved her decision.

http://www.thewest.com.au/20020328/news/state/tw-news-state-home-sto50524.html

Steve Mace