Victoria Police: Difference between revisions
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|name = Victoria Police |
|name = Victoria Police |
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|image = [[Image:Vpol1.gif|170px]] |
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|mo4tto = Uphold the Right |
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|established = January 8, 1853 |
|established = January 8, 1853 |
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|commissioner = Chief Commissioner Christine Nixon |
|commissioner = Chief Commissioner Christine Nixon |
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Revision as of 16:39, 31 May 2007
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Template:Infobox Australian police
Victoria Police is the primary law enforcement agency of Victoria, Australia. As of 2005, the Victoria Police had over 13,100 personnel along with over 2,100 civilian staff in more than 330 police stations.
History
Early history
The Victoria Police was formally established on 8 January 1853 from an existing colonial police force of 875 men. The first appointment as Chief Commissioner was William Henry Fancourt Mitchell.
Their first major engagement was the following year, 1854, in support of British soldiers during the events leading up to, and confrontation at, the Eureka Stockade where unarmed miners (mostly Irish) were killed. Following the brutality of the police after the stockade, public opinion turned against them, the 13 miners charged with treason were all acquitted and police numbers were dramatically cut.
A new Chief Commissioner, Charles MacMahon, was appointed that same year. The first death in the line of duty, that of Constable William Hogan, also occurred in 1854.
The following couple of decades saw the growth of the police force, including the beginning of construction of the Russell Street police station in 1859 and the establishment of a special station in William Street to protect the Royal Mint in 1872.
Six years later, three more officers (Kennedy, Lonigan and Scanlan) who had jailed Ned Kelly's mother were murdered by the Kelly Gang at Stringybark Creek. Two years later, in 1880, the police confronted the Kelly Gang at Glenrowan. A shoot-out ensued on June 28, during which three members of the Kelly Gang were killed and following which Ned Kelly was captured.
1880 also saw the formation of the Aboriginal Tracker Corps. The corps was disbanded in 1968.
In 1888 Senior Constable John Barry produced the first Victoria Police Guide, a manual for officers. (The Victoria Police Manual, as it is now known, remains the comprehensive guide to procedure in the Victoria Police.) Police officers were granted the right to vote in parliamentary elections the same year.
In 1899 the force introduced the Victoria Police Valour Award to recognise the bravery of members. Three years later, in 1902, the right to a police pension was revoked.
1923 Victorian Police strike
On 31 October 1923 members of the Victoria Police Force refused duty and went on strike over the introduction of a new supervisory system. The police strike led to riots and looting in Melbourne's CBD. The Victorian government enlisted Special Constables, and the Commonwealth of Australia called out the Australian military.
None of the strikers were ever employed as policemen again, and the government increased pay and conditions for police as a result. "Members" of the Victoria Police (as its officers are generally known) now have among the highest union membership rates of any occupation, at well over 90%.The Victorian police union, the Police Association, remains a very powerful industrial and political force in Victoria.
Recent history
In the 1980s and 1990s most Australian police forces battled widespread allegations of corruption and graft. These allegations culminated in the establishment of several Royal Commissions and anti-corruption watchdogs. Victoria Police have also had their fair share of inquiries (Beach et al). Criticisms centred around the fact that Victoria Police members were shooting dead members of the public (both innocent and guilty) at a rate exceeding that of all other Australian police forces combined.
Mostly the deaths were alleged to be due to ineptitude and mistakes on the part of members - but others were said to be deliberate executions. These views were fuelled when various members of the Armed Robbery and Homicide Squads were charged with murder-related offences after Armed Robbery Squad detectives shot Graeme Jensen while trying to arrest him. The Police Association campaigned on their behalf, and the charges were withdrawn.
In 2001 Christine Nixon was appointed Chief Commissioner, becoming the first woman to head a police force in Australia.
In June 2003, Taskforce Purana was set up under the command of (then) Assistant Commissioner Simon Overland to investigate Melbourne's "gangland killings".
In late 2006 after a meeting with the Premier Steven Bracks, the Victorian Police Association secretary Paul Mullett said that they supported the Bracks' government's electoral campaign. Details of the deal were made public on 20 February 2007 by The Age newspaper [1].
In early 2007, Don Stewart, a retired Supreme Court judge called for a Royal Commission into Victorian police corruption. Don stated that the force is riddled with corruption that the Office of Police Integrity was unable to deal with.( although he was unable to provide specific examples of this alleged corruption)
Rank structure
The rank structure of Victoria Police is as follows:
- Recruit
- Probationary Constable (For 2 year period until Probation is lifted)
- Constable
- Senior Constable (Promotion in-situ after 4 years of service)
- Leading Senior Constable
- Sergeant
- Senior Sergeant
- Inspector
- Chief Inspector (No longer a promotable rank, however some members hold this rank)
- Superintendent
- Chief Superintendent (No longer a promotable rank, however some members hold this rank)
- Commander
- Assistant Commissioner
- Deputy Commissioner
- Chief Commissioner
Additional classifications are available for members skillful enough, and upon completion of certain training and work-based performances, for classification of Detective at Senior Constable level. Detectives also hold classification right up to Superintendent.
Detective branch
Detectives form an integral function in Victoria Police for the detection and investigation of serious crime. Crimes ranging from Burglaries and major thefts, serious assaults and now, as a result of the reorganisation of the Crime Department, Murder/Suicides are just some of the crimes investigated by Suburban (Divisional) Detectives.
Many major police stations, in places such as Fawkner, Broadmeadows, Dandenong and Melbourne West have a Crime Investigation Unit attached to the station, which looks after crime within those and other neighbouring sub-districts falling within their area.
The State Crime Squads, situated in St Kilda Road, have been recently realigned and contain a number of squads and mini taskforces responsible for the investigation of major drug trafficking activities, major frauds, Homicides, Armed Robbery and Firearms Trafficking and sex offences to name but a few.
To become a Detective within Victoria Police members must be confirmed Senior Constables, with at least 5 years service, have completed the Field Investigation Course and obtained sufficient experience to sustain the application and interviewing process. Upon obtaining a position at a CIU/Squad, members must then complete the training package (prelilminary portfolio of work and course attendance) at the School of Investigation (Detective Training School) to confirm their position as a qualified Detective. Detective positions within Victoria Police are highly sought after and awarded, generally, to only the best police applying.
Traditionally, more experenced detectives cut their teeth at divisions and then moved into the crime squads. However the last 10 years has seen a switch in that progression, in that many junior detectives first obtain positions at the sometimes easier to fill Crime Department positions and then later moving onto divisional work. One major reason for this is the travel and often heavy hours involved in working within Metropolitan Melbourne.
The more major crime squads, such as Homicide, still attract only the most experienced detectives from divisions. The newly implemented Major Crime Management Model has changed the face of some squads, including the traditional hardmen of the Crime Department, the Armed Offenders Squad, which has lost some of its luster by being forced to choose members who may not have obtained positions were it not for the need to fill these from within the Crime Department.
Firearms and equipment
Officers carry the Smith and Wesson Model 10 .38 calibre revolver containing six copper jacketed, notched, hollow point bullets (147 grain) and one speedloader of spare ammunition (six rounds). They also carry an ASP brand 21-inch expandable baton, Oleoresin Capsicum (OC) Spray and Hiatts brand handcuffs. The vast majority of officers carry a Motorola brand tactical radio (with or without handpiece). Other divisions of the Victoria Police have specialty equipment and defensive weapons.
The weapons issued to police was a politically contentious issue in the 2006 Victorian state election. A deal between the police union and the state government allocated funding sufficient to cover replacement of the revolvers with semi-automatic pistols, and the equipping of all police cars with tasers, was reached without the involvement of police command[1]. However, despite the allocation of funds in the 2007 state budget, there is no indication that the police command has actually decided to purchase the new weapons[2].
Officers killed on duty
- 27 March 1986, Constable Angela Taylor was killed in the Russell Street Bombing. Taylor was the first female police officer killed in the line of duty in Australian history.
- 12 October 1988, officers Steven Tynan and Damian Eyre were gunned down in the Walsh Street police shootings.
- 16 August 1998, officers Gary Silk and Rodney Miller were gunned down in the Silk-Miller police murders.
See also
- Victoria Police Special Operations Group
- Victoria Police Pipe Band
- Office of Police Integrity
- Corrections Victoria
- Crime in Melbourne
References
External links
- Victoria Police website
- Victoria Police official timeline
- Pictures of Victoria Police police cars
- Unofficial Victoria Police recruitment information site and forum
- Memorial to Victoria Police members killed in the line of duty
- One Man's View - Story written by a former Victoria Police Detective
- Melbourne Crime
- Simon Illingworth an anti-corruption cop bashed by colleagues
- Retired judge calls for a Royal Commission into Victoria Police