Victoria Police
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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.
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. 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) were killed 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 Three years later, in 1902, the right to a police pension was revoked.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 mistake by members - but some 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 vigorously on their behalf, and the charges were withdrawn.
Tasty nightclub raid
In August 1994 Victoria Police raided the Tasty nightclub in Flinders Lane, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. All up, 463 patrons were strip searched at the club during the raid. The forced strip search was particularly humiliating for the transgender patrons. The incident led to successful legal action against the Victoria Police force at great financial cost to them. In retrospect it has become a historic and legal precedent limiting the powers of police search in Victoria.
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 by Victoria Police Assistant Commissioner Simon Overland to investigate Melbourne's "gangland killings".
Officers killed on duty
- 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.