❓ Question regarding police resourcing and crime statistics in Fremantle. Minister disputes the accuracy of the member's figures, providing alternative data showing a decrease in assaults and addressing police staffing levels.
AnsweredQoN 1238Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
I refer the minister to comments made by Pat O’Connell, the acting superintendent of the south metropolitan police district, on ABC radio yesterday morning that there were not enough police officers in the Fremantle area. (1) Is the minister aware that according to statistics she tabled in this House last month, the police district was operating 12 officers below its authorised strength, despite her claim yesterday that the area has enough police? (2) Is the minister further aware that the number of assaults in Fremantle has increased by 33 per cent, robberies by 60 per cent, home burglaries by 19 per cent and graffiti by a staggering 568 per cent since the election of this Labor Government? Mrs M.H. ROBERTS
AnswerView source ↗
(1)-(2) I know that the member for Kalgoorlie frequently gets his statistics wrong. Therefore, when I heard him comment yesterday that the number of assaults had increased in Fremantle, I immediately questioned the statistics he quoted. I looked at the Police Service’s web site to compare where we are up to this year with last year and to see whether assaults were on the increase, as was claimed by the member for Kalgoorlie. There were 90 assaults for the 2003 September quarter, and 125 assaults in the 2002 September quarter. That is a significant decrease. I then looked at the first nine months of this year compared with the same time last year. There were 303 assaults in the first nine months of 2002, and 308 assaults in the first nine months of this year. It is fairly static. To get the figures confirmed, I asked the acting assistant commissioner for this area whether the member’s claims were correct. He provided the following advice - ASSAULT STATISTICS FOR THE FREMANTLE SUB-DISTRICT I refer to your request - Mr M.J. Birney interjected. The SPEAKER: Order! I call the member for Kalgoorlie to order for the second time. This is not an opportunity to answer the question as he thinks it should be answered. It is for the minister to answer. Mrs M.H. ROBERTS: The advice from Acting Assistant Commissioner Tovey, which I am happy to table, reads - I refer to your request regarding assault statistics for the Fremantle Sub-district and advise that 116 assaults were reported for the quarter ending 30 September 2003, representing a decrease of 27 (or 18.9%) from the 143 assaults reported for the same period last year. I table that document as part of my answer. [See paper No 1660.] Mrs M.H. ROBERTS: Are there enough police officers in the Fremantle area and are we 12 officers down? The member for Kalgoorlie has accused me of lying yesterday. I regard that as a very serious accusation because I checked yesterday how many officers we were down. I was told that we were down three junior constables but that the situation was expected to be remedied in the short term given that 29 officers graduated from the Police Academy last Friday. Another 30 recruits are due to graduate in November. I made it clear yesterday that there are problems in Fremantle, particularly on Friday and Saturday nights. The Police Service can say with some confidence that it has reduced the number of assaults during this quarter when compared with the same period last year. Police responded to the first telephone call they received within three minutes, but had there been a police presence on the streets of Fremantle, the awful incident lasting 20 minutes would not have occurred. The incident involved chairs being thrown and bottles being smashed. That is unacceptable. I have made it quite clear that it does not match this Government’s expectation of the Western Australia Police Service. I have sought and received an assurance from the Acting Assistant Commissioner of Police that the service will review all staffing of officers in the area and provide a much better staffing arrangement of officers in Fremantle on weekends.
(1) Is the minister aware that according to statistics she tabled in this House last month, the police district was operating 12 officers below its authorised strength, despite her claim yesterday that the area has enough police? (2) Is the minister further aware that the number of assaults in Fremantle has increased by 33 per cent, robberies by 60 per cent, home burglaries by 19 per cent and graffiti by a staggering 568 per cent since the election of this Labor Government? Mrs M.H. ROBERTS replied: (1)-(2) I know that the member for Kalgoorlie frequently gets his statistics wrong. Therefore, when I heard him comment yesterday that the number of assaults had increased in Fremantle, I immediately questioned the statistics he quoted. I looked at the Police Service’s web site to compare where we are up to this year with last year and to see whether assaults were on the increase, as was claimed by the member for Kalgoorlie. There were 90 assaults for the 2003 September quarter, and 125 assaults in the 2002 September quarter. That is a significant decrease. I then looked at the first nine months of this year compared with the same time last year. There were 303 assaults in the first nine months of 2002, and 308 assaults in the first nine months of this year. It is fairly static. To get the figures confirmed, I asked the acting assistant commissioner for this area whether the member’s claims were correct. He provided the following advice - ASSAULT STATISTICS FOR THE FREMANTLE SUB-DISTRICT I refer to your request - Mr M.J. Birney interjected. The SPEAKER: Order! I call the member for Kalgoorlie to order for the second time. This is not an opportunity to answer the question as he thinks it should be answered. It is for the minister to answer. Mrs M.H. ROBERTS: The advice from Acting Assistant Commissioner Tovey, which I am happy to table, reads - I refer to your request regarding assault statistics for the Fremantle Sub-district and advise that 116 assaults were reported for the quarter ending 30 September 2003, representing a decrease of 27 (or 18.9%) from the 143 assaults reported for the same period last year. I table that document as part of my answer. [See paper No 1660.] Mrs M.H. ROBERTS: Are there enough police officers in the Fremantle area and are we 12 officers down? The member for Kalgoorlie has accused me of lying yesterday. I regard that as a very serious accusation because I checked yesterday how many officers we were down. I was told that we were down three junior constables but that the situation was expected to be remedied in the short term given that 29 officers graduated from the Police Academy last Friday. Another 30 recruits are due to graduate in November. I made it clear yesterday that there are problems in Fremantle, particularly on Friday and Saturday nights. The Police Service can say with some confidence that it has reduced the number of assaults during this quarter when compared with the same period last year. Police responded to the first telephone call they received within three minutes, but had there been a police presence on the streets of Fremantle, the awful incident lasting 20 minutes would not have occurred. The incident involved chairs being thrown and bottles being smashed. That is unacceptable. I have made it quite clear that it does not match this Government’s expectation of the Western Australia Police Service. I have sought and received an assurance from the Acting Assistant Commissioner of Police that the service will review all staffing of officers in the area and provide a much better staffing arrangement of officers in Fremantle on weekends.
(2) Is the minister further aware that the number of assaults in Fremantle has increased by 33 per cent, robberies by 60 per cent, home burglaries by 19 per cent and graffiti by a staggering 568 per cent since the election of this Labor Government? Mrs M.H. ROBERTS replied: (1)-(2) I know that the member for Kalgoorlie frequently gets his statistics wrong. Therefore, when I heard him comment yesterday that the number of assaults had increased in Fremantle, I immediately questioned the statistics he quoted. I looked at the Police Service’s web site to compare where we are up to this year with last year and to see whether assaults were on the increase, as was claimed by the member for Kalgoorlie. There were 90 assaults for the 2003 September quarter, and 125 assaults in the 2002 September quarter. That is a significant decrease. I then looked at the first nine months of this year compared with the same time last year. There were 303 assaults in the first nine months of 2002, and 308 assaults in the first nine months of this year. It is fairly static. To get the figures confirmed, I asked the acting assistant commissioner for this area whether the member’s claims were correct. He provided the following advice - ASSAULT STATISTICS FOR THE FREMANTLE SUB-DISTRICT I refer to your request - Mr M.J. Birney interjected. The SPEAKER: Order! I call the member for Kalgoorlie to order for the second time. This is not an opportunity to answer the question as he thinks it should be answered. It is for the minister to answer. Mrs M.H. ROBERTS: The advice from Acting Assistant Commissioner Tovey, which I am happy to table, reads - I refer to your request regarding assault statistics for the Fremantle Sub-district and advise that 116 assaults were reported for the quarter ending 30 September 2003, representing a decrease of 27 (or 18.9%) from the 143 assaults reported for the same period last year. I table that document as part of my answer. [See paper No 1660.] Mrs M.H. ROBERTS: Are there enough police officers in the Fremantle area and are we 12 officers down? The member for Kalgoorlie has accused me of lying yesterday. I regard that as a very serious accusation because I checked yesterday how many officers we were down. I was told that we were down three junior constables but that the situation was expected to be remedied in the short term given that 29 officers graduated from the Police Academy last Friday. Another 30 recruits are due to graduate in November. I made it clear yesterday that there are problems in Fremantle, particularly on Friday and Saturday nights. The Police Service can say with some confidence that it has reduced the number of assaults during this quarter when compared with the same period last year. Police responded to the first telephone call they received within three minutes, but had there been a police presence on the streets of Fremantle, the awful incident lasting 20 minutes would not have occurred. The incident involved chairs being thrown and bottles being smashed. That is unacceptable. I have made it quite clear that it does not match this Government’s expectation of the Western Australia Police Service. I have sought and received an assurance from the Acting Assistant Commissioner of Police that the service will review all staffing of officers in the area and provide a much better staffing arrangement of officers in Fremantle on weekends.
Mrs M.H. ROBERTS replied: (1)-(2) I know that the member for Kalgoorlie frequently gets his statistics wrong. Therefore, when I heard him comment yesterday that the number of assaults had increased in Fremantle, I immediately questioned the statistics he quoted. I looked at the Police Service’s web site to compare where we are up to this year with last year and to see whether assaults were on the increase, as was claimed by the member for Kalgoorlie. There were 90 assaults for the 2003 September quarter, and 125 assaults in the 2002 September quarter. That is a significant decrease. I then looked at the first nine months of this year compared with the same time last year. There were 303 assaults in the first nine months of 2002, and 308 assaults in the first nine months of this year. It is fairly static. To get the figures confirmed, I asked the acting assistant commissioner for this area whether the member’s claims were correct. He provided the following advice - ASSAULT STATISTICS FOR THE FREMANTLE SUB-DISTRICT I refer to your request - Mr M.J. Birney interjected. The SPEAKER: Order! I call the member for Kalgoorlie to order for the second time. This is not an opportunity to answer the question as he thinks it should be answered. It is for the minister to answer. Mrs M.H. ROBERTS: The advice from Acting Assistant Commissioner Tovey, which I am happy to table, reads - I refer to your request regarding assault statistics for the Fremantle Sub-district and advise that 116 assaults were reported for the quarter ending 30 September 2003, representing a decrease of 27 (or 18.9%) from the 143 assaults reported for the same period last year. I table that document as part of my answer. [See paper No 1660.] Mrs M.H. ROBERTS: Are there enough police officers in the Fremantle area and are we 12 officers down? The member for Kalgoorlie has accused me of lying yesterday. I regard that as a very serious accusation because I checked yesterday how many officers we were down. I was told that we were down three junior constables but that the situation was expected to be remedied in the short term given that 29 officers graduated from the Police Academy last Friday. Another 30 recruits are due to graduate in November. I made it clear yesterday that there are problems in Fremantle, particularly on Friday and Saturday nights. The Police Service can say with some confidence that it has reduced the number of assaults during this quarter when compared with the same period last year. Police responded to the first telephone call they received within three minutes, but had there been a police presence on the streets of Fremantle, the awful incident lasting 20 minutes would not have occurred. The incident involved chairs being thrown and bottles being smashed. That is unacceptable. I have made it quite clear that it does not match this Government’s expectation of the Western Australia Police Service. I have sought and received an assurance from the Acting Assistant Commissioner of Police that the service will review all staffing of officers in the area and provide a much better staffing arrangement of officers in Fremantle on weekends.
(1)-(2) I know that the member for Kalgoorlie frequently gets his statistics wrong. Therefore, when I heard him comment yesterday that the number of assaults had increased in Fremantle, I immediately questioned the statistics he quoted. I looked at the Police Service’s web site to compare where we are up to this year with last year and to see whether assaults were on the increase, as was claimed by the member for Kalgoorlie. There were 90 assaults for the 2003 September quarter, and 125 assaults in the 2002 September quarter. That is a significant decrease. I then looked at the first nine months of this year compared with the same time last year. There were 303 assaults in the first nine months of 2002, and 308 assaults in the first nine months of this year. It is fairly static. To get the figures confirmed, I asked the acting assistant commissioner for this area whether the member’s claims were correct. He provided the following advice - ASSAULT STATISTICS FOR THE FREMANTLE SUB-DISTRICT I refer to your request - Mr M.J. Birney interjected. The SPEAKER: Order! I call the member for Kalgoorlie to order for the second time. This is not an opportunity to answer the question as he thinks it should be answered. It is for the minister to answer. Mrs M.H. ROBERTS: The advice from Acting Assistant Commissioner Tovey, which I am happy to table, reads - I refer to your request regarding assault statistics for the Fremantle Sub-district and advise that 116 assaults were reported for the quarter ending 30 September 2003, representing a decrease of 27 (or 18.9%) from the 143 assaults reported for the same period last year. I table that document as part of my answer. [See paper No 1660.] Mrs M.H. ROBERTS: Are there enough police officers in the Fremantle area and are we 12 officers down? The member for Kalgoorlie has accused me of lying yesterday. I regard that as a very serious accusation because I checked yesterday how many officers we were down. I was told that we were down three junior constables but that the situation was expected to be remedied in the short term given that 29 officers graduated from the Police Academy last Friday. Another 30 recruits are due to graduate in November. I made it clear yesterday that there are problems in Fremantle, particularly on Friday and Saturday nights. The Police Service can say with some confidence that it has reduced the number of assaults during this quarter when compared with the same period last year. Police responded to the first telephone call they received within three minutes, but had there been a police presence on the streets of Fremantle, the awful incident lasting 20 minutes would not have occurred. The incident involved chairs being thrown and bottles being smashed. That is unacceptable. I have made it quite clear that it does not match this Government’s expectation of the Western Australia Police Service. I have sought and received an assurance from the Acting Assistant Commissioner of Police that the service will review all staffing of officers in the area and provide a much better staffing arrangement of officers in Fremantle on weekends.
I refer to your request -
The SPEAKER: Order! I call the member for Kalgoorlie to order for the second time. This is not an opportunity to answer the question as he thinks it should be answered. It is for the minister to answer. Mrs M.H. ROBERTS: The advice from Acting Assistant Commissioner Tovey, which I am happy to table, reads - I refer to your request regarding assault statistics for the Fremantle Sub-district and advise that 116 assaults were reported for the quarter ending 30 September 2003, representing a decrease of 27 (or 18.9%) from the 143 assaults reported for the same period last year. I table that document as part of my answer. [See paper No 1660.] Mrs M.H. ROBERTS: Are there enough police officers in the Fremantle area and are we 12 officers down? The member for Kalgoorlie has accused me of lying yesterday. I regard that as a very serious accusation because I checked yesterday how many officers we were down. I was told that we were down three junior constables but that the situation was expected to be remedied in the short term given that 29 officers graduated from the Police Academy last Friday. Another 30 recruits are due to graduate in November. I made it clear yesterday that there are problems in Fremantle, particularly on Friday and Saturday nights. The Police Service can say with some confidence that it has reduced the number of assaults during this quarter when compared with the same period last year. Police responded to the first telephone call they received within three minutes, but had there been a police presence on the streets of Fremantle, the awful incident lasting 20 minutes would not have occurred. The incident involved chairs being thrown and bottles being smashed. That is unacceptable. I have made it quite clear that it does not match this Government’s expectation of the Western Australia Police Service. I have sought and received an assurance from the Acting Assistant Commissioner of Police that the service will review all staffing of officers in the area and provide a much better staffing arrangement of officers in Fremantle on weekends.
Mrs M.H. ROBERTS: The advice from Acting Assistant Commissioner Tovey, which I am happy to table, reads - I refer to your request regarding assault statistics for the Fremantle Sub-district and advise that 116 assaults were reported for the quarter ending 30 September 2003, representing a decrease of 27 (or 18.9%) from the 143 assaults reported for the same period last year. I table that document as part of my answer. [See paper No 1660.] Mrs M.H. ROBERTS: Are there enough police officers in the Fremantle area and are we 12 officers down? The member for Kalgoorlie has accused me of lying yesterday. I regard that as a very serious accusation because I checked yesterday how many officers we were down. I was told that we were down three junior constables but that the situation was expected to be remedied in the short term given that 29 officers graduated from the Police Academy last Friday. Another 30 recruits are due to graduate in November. I made it clear yesterday that there are problems in Fremantle, particularly on Friday and Saturday nights. The Police Service can say with some confidence that it has reduced the number of assaults during this quarter when compared with the same period last year. Police responded to the first telephone call they received within three minutes, but had there been a police presence on the streets of Fremantle, the awful incident lasting 20 minutes would not have occurred. The incident involved chairs being thrown and bottles being smashed. That is unacceptable. I have made it quite clear that it does not match this Government’s expectation of the Western Australia Police Service. I have sought and received an assurance from the Acting Assistant Commissioner of Police that the service will review all staffing of officers in the area and provide a much better staffing arrangement of officers in Fremantle on weekends.
[See paper No 1660.] Mrs M.H. ROBERTS: Are there enough police officers in the Fremantle area and are we 12 officers down? The member for Kalgoorlie has accused me of lying yesterday. I regard that as a very serious accusation because I checked yesterday how many officers we were down. I was told that we were down three junior constables but that the situation was expected to be remedied in the short term given that 29 officers graduated from the Police Academy last Friday. Another 30 recruits are due to graduate in November. I made it clear yesterday that there are problems in Fremantle, particularly on Friday and Saturday nights. The Police Service can say with some confidence that it has reduced the number of assaults during this quarter when compared with the same period last year. Police responded to the first telephone call they received within three minutes, but had there been a police presence on the streets of Fremantle, the awful incident lasting 20 minutes would not have occurred. The incident involved chairs being thrown and bottles being smashed. That is unacceptable. I have made it quite clear that it does not match this Government’s expectation of the Western Australia Police Service. I have sought and received an assurance from the Acting Assistant Commissioner of Police that the service will review all staffing of officers in the area and provide a much better staffing arrangement of officers in Fremantle on weekends.
Mrs M.H. ROBERTS: Are there enough police officers in the Fremantle area and are we 12 officers down? The member for Kalgoorlie has accused me of lying yesterday. I regard that as a very serious accusation because I checked yesterday how many officers we were down. I was told that we were down three junior constables but that the situation was expected to be remedied in the short term given that 29 officers graduated from the Police Academy last Friday. Another 30 recruits are due to graduate in November. I made it clear yesterday that there are problems in Fremantle, particularly on Friday and Saturday nights. The Police Service can say with some confidence that it has reduced the number of assaults during this quarter when compared with the same period last year. Police responded to the first telephone call they received within three minutes, but had there been a police presence on the streets of Fremantle, the awful incident lasting 20 minutes would not have occurred. The incident involved chairs being thrown and bottles being smashed. That is unacceptable. I have made it quite clear that it does not match this Government’s expectation of the Western Australia Police Service. I have sought and received an assurance from the Acting Assistant Commissioner of Police that the service will review all staffing of officers in the area and provide a much better staffing arrangement of officers in Fremantle on weekends.
(1) Is the minister aware that according to statistics she tabled in this House last month, the police district was operating 12 officers below its authorised strength, despite her claim yesterday that the area has enough police? (2) Is the minister further aware that the number of assaults in Fremantle has increased by 33 per cent, robberies by 60 per cent, home burglaries by 19 per cent and graffiti by a staggering 568 per cent since the election of this Labor Government? Mrs M.H. ROBERTS replied: (1)-(2) I know that the member for Kalgoorlie frequently gets his statistics wrong. Therefore, when I heard him comment yesterday that the number of assaults had increased in Fremantle, I immediately questioned the statistics he quoted. I looked at the Police Service’s web site to compare where we are up to this year with last year and to see whether assaults were on the increase, as was claimed by the member for Kalgoorlie. There were 90 assaults for the 2003 September quarter, and 125 assaults in the 2002 September quarter. That is a significant decrease. I then looked at the first nine months of this year compared with the same time last year. There were 303 assaults in the first nine months of 2002, and 308 assaults in the first nine months of this year. It is fairly static. To get the figures confirmed, I asked the acting assistant commissioner for this area whether the member’s claims were correct. He provided the following advice - ASSAULT STATISTICS FOR THE FREMANTLE SUB-DISTRICT I refer to your request - Mr M.J. Birney interjected. The SPEAKER: Order! I call the member for Kalgoorlie to order for the second time. This is not an opportunity to answer the question as he thinks it should be answered. It is for the minister to answer. Mrs M.H. ROBERTS: The advice from Acting Assistant Commissioner Tovey, which I am happy to table, reads - I refer to your request regarding assault statistics for the Fremantle Sub-district and advise that 116 assaults were reported for the quarter ending 30 September 2003, representing a decrease of 27 (or 18.9%) from the 143 assaults reported for the same period last year. I table that document as part of my answer. [See paper No 1660.] Mrs M.H. ROBERTS: Are there enough police officers in the Fremantle area and are we 12 officers down? The member for Kalgoorlie has accused me of lying yesterday. I regard that as a very serious accusation because I checked yesterday how many officers we were down. I was told that we were down three junior constables but that the situation was expected to be remedied in the short term given that 29 officers graduated from the Police Academy last Friday. Another 30 recruits are due to graduate in November. I made it clear yesterday that there are problems in Fremantle, particularly on Friday and Saturday nights. The Police Service can say with some confidence that it has reduced the number of assaults during this quarter when compared with the same period last year. Police responded to the first telephone call they received within three minutes, but had there been a police presence on the streets of Fremantle, the awful incident lasting 20 minutes would not have occurred. The incident involved chairs being thrown and bottles being smashed. That is unacceptable. I have made it quite clear that it does not match this Government’s expectation of the Western Australia Police Service. I have sought and received an assurance from the Acting Assistant Commissioner of Police that the service will review all staffing of officers in the area and provide a much better staffing arrangement of officers in Fremantle on weekends.
(2) Is the minister further aware that the number of assaults in Fremantle has increased by 33 per cent, robberies by 60 per cent, home burglaries by 19 per cent and graffiti by a staggering 568 per cent since the election of this Labor Government? Mrs M.H. ROBERTS replied: (1)-(2) I know that the member for Kalgoorlie frequently gets his statistics wrong. Therefore, when I heard him comment yesterday that the number of assaults had increased in Fremantle, I immediately questioned the statistics he quoted. I looked at the Police Service’s web site to compare where we are up to this year with last year and to see whether assaults were on the increase, as was claimed by the member for Kalgoorlie. There were 90 assaults for the 2003 September quarter, and 125 assaults in the 2002 September quarter. That is a significant decrease. I then looked at the first nine months of this year compared with the same time last year. There were 303 assaults in the first nine months of 2002, and 308 assaults in the first nine months of this year. It is fairly static. To get the figures confirmed, I asked the acting assistant commissioner for this area whether the member’s claims were correct. He provided the following advice - ASSAULT STATISTICS FOR THE FREMANTLE SUB-DISTRICT I refer to your request - Mr M.J. Birney interjected. The SPEAKER: Order! I call the member for Kalgoorlie to order for the second time. This is not an opportunity to answer the question as he thinks it should be answered. It is for the minister to answer. Mrs M.H. ROBERTS: The advice from Acting Assistant Commissioner Tovey, which I am happy to table, reads - I refer to your request regarding assault statistics for the Fremantle Sub-district and advise that 116 assaults were reported for the quarter ending 30 September 2003, representing a decrease of 27 (or 18.9%) from the 143 assaults reported for the same period last year. I table that document as part of my answer. [See paper No 1660.] Mrs M.H. ROBERTS: Are there enough police officers in the Fremantle area and are we 12 officers down? The member for Kalgoorlie has accused me of lying yesterday. I regard that as a very serious accusation because I checked yesterday how many officers we were down. I was told that we were down three junior constables but that the situation was expected to be remedied in the short term given that 29 officers graduated from the Police Academy last Friday. Another 30 recruits are due to graduate in November. I made it clear yesterday that there are problems in Fremantle, particularly on Friday and Saturday nights. The Police Service can say with some confidence that it has reduced the number of assaults during this quarter when compared with the same period last year. Police responded to the first telephone call they received within three minutes, but had there been a police presence on the streets of Fremantle, the awful incident lasting 20 minutes would not have occurred. The incident involved chairs being thrown and bottles being smashed. That is unacceptable. I have made it quite clear that it does not match this Government’s expectation of the Western Australia Police Service. I have sought and received an assurance from the Acting Assistant Commissioner of Police that the service will review all staffing of officers in the area and provide a much better staffing arrangement of officers in Fremantle on weekends.
Mrs M.H. ROBERTS replied: (1)-(2) I know that the member for Kalgoorlie frequently gets his statistics wrong. Therefore, when I heard him comment yesterday that the number of assaults had increased in Fremantle, I immediately questioned the statistics he quoted. I looked at the Police Service’s web site to compare where we are up to this year with last year and to see whether assaults were on the increase, as was claimed by the member for Kalgoorlie. There were 90 assaults for the 2003 September quarter, and 125 assaults in the 2002 September quarter. That is a significant decrease. I then looked at the first nine months of this year compared with the same time last year. There were 303 assaults in the first nine months of 2002, and 308 assaults in the first nine months of this year. It is fairly static. To get the figures confirmed, I asked the acting assistant commissioner for this area whether the member’s claims were correct. He provided the following advice - ASSAULT STATISTICS FOR THE FREMANTLE SUB-DISTRICT I refer to your request - Mr M.J. Birney interjected. The SPEAKER: Order! I call the member for Kalgoorlie to order for the second time. This is not an opportunity to answer the question as he thinks it should be answered. It is for the minister to answer. Mrs M.H. ROBERTS: The advice from Acting Assistant Commissioner Tovey, which I am happy to table, reads - I refer to your request regarding assault statistics for the Fremantle Sub-district and advise that 116 assaults were reported for the quarter ending 30 September 2003, representing a decrease of 27 (or 18.9%) from the 143 assaults reported for the same period last year. I table that document as part of my answer. [See paper No 1660.] Mrs M.H. ROBERTS: Are there enough police officers in the Fremantle area and are we 12 officers down? The member for Kalgoorlie has accused me of lying yesterday. I regard that as a very serious accusation because I checked yesterday how many officers we were down. I was told that we were down three junior constables but that the situation was expected to be remedied in the short term given that 29 officers graduated from the Police Academy last Friday. Another 30 recruits are due to graduate in November. I made it clear yesterday that there are problems in Fremantle, particularly on Friday and Saturday nights. The Police Service can say with some confidence that it has reduced the number of assaults during this quarter when compared with the same period last year. Police responded to the first telephone call they received within three minutes, but had there been a police presence on the streets of Fremantle, the awful incident lasting 20 minutes would not have occurred. The incident involved chairs being thrown and bottles being smashed. That is unacceptable. I have made it quite clear that it does not match this Government’s expectation of the Western Australia Police Service. I have sought and received an assurance from the Acting Assistant Commissioner of Police that the service will review all staffing of officers in the area and provide a much better staffing arrangement of officers in Fremantle on weekends.
(1)-(2) I know that the member for Kalgoorlie frequently gets his statistics wrong. Therefore, when I heard him comment yesterday that the number of assaults had increased in Fremantle, I immediately questioned the statistics he quoted. I looked at the Police Service’s web site to compare where we are up to this year with last year and to see whether assaults were on the increase, as was claimed by the member for Kalgoorlie. There were 90 assaults for the 2003 September quarter, and 125 assaults in the 2002 September quarter. That is a significant decrease. I then looked at the first nine months of this year compared with the same time last year. There were 303 assaults in the first nine months of 2002, and 308 assaults in the first nine months of this year. It is fairly static. To get the figures confirmed, I asked the acting assistant commissioner for this area whether the member’s claims were correct. He provided the following advice - ASSAULT STATISTICS FOR THE FREMANTLE SUB-DISTRICT I refer to your request - Mr M.J. Birney interjected. The SPEAKER: Order! I call the member for Kalgoorlie to order for the second time. This is not an opportunity to answer the question as he thinks it should be answered. It is for the minister to answer. Mrs M.H. ROBERTS: The advice from Acting Assistant Commissioner Tovey, which I am happy to table, reads - I refer to your request regarding assault statistics for the Fremantle Sub-district and advise that 116 assaults were reported for the quarter ending 30 September 2003, representing a decrease of 27 (or 18.9%) from the 143 assaults reported for the same period last year. I table that document as part of my answer. [See paper No 1660.] Mrs M.H. ROBERTS: Are there enough police officers in the Fremantle area and are we 12 officers down? The member for Kalgoorlie has accused me of lying yesterday. I regard that as a very serious accusation because I checked yesterday how many officers we were down. I was told that we were down three junior constables but that the situation was expected to be remedied in the short term given that 29 officers graduated from the Police Academy last Friday. Another 30 recruits are due to graduate in November. I made it clear yesterday that there are problems in Fremantle, particularly on Friday and Saturday nights. The Police Service can say with some confidence that it has reduced the number of assaults during this quarter when compared with the same period last year. Police responded to the first telephone call they received within three minutes, but had there been a police presence on the streets of Fremantle, the awful incident lasting 20 minutes would not have occurred. The incident involved chairs being thrown and bottles being smashed. That is unacceptable. I have made it quite clear that it does not match this Government’s expectation of the Western Australia Police Service. I have sought and received an assurance from the Acting Assistant Commissioner of Police that the service will review all staffing of officers in the area and provide a much better staffing arrangement of officers in Fremantle on weekends.
I refer to your request -
The SPEAKER: Order! I call the member for Kalgoorlie to order for the second time. This is not an opportunity to answer the question as he thinks it should be answered. It is for the minister to answer. Mrs M.H. ROBERTS: The advice from Acting Assistant Commissioner Tovey, which I am happy to table, reads - I refer to your request regarding assault statistics for the Fremantle Sub-district and advise that 116 assaults were reported for the quarter ending 30 September 2003, representing a decrease of 27 (or 18.9%) from the 143 assaults reported for the same period last year. I table that document as part of my answer. [See paper No 1660.] Mrs M.H. ROBERTS: Are there enough police officers in the Fremantle area and are we 12 officers down? The member for Kalgoorlie has accused me of lying yesterday. I regard that as a very serious accusation because I checked yesterday how many officers we were down. I was told that we were down three junior constables but that the situation was expected to be remedied in the short term given that 29 officers graduated from the Police Academy last Friday. Another 30 recruits are due to graduate in November. I made it clear yesterday that there are problems in Fremantle, particularly on Friday and Saturday nights. The Police Service can say with some confidence that it has reduced the number of assaults during this quarter when compared with the same period last year. Police responded to the first telephone call they received within three minutes, but had there been a police presence on the streets of Fremantle, the awful incident lasting 20 minutes would not have occurred. The incident involved chairs being thrown and bottles being smashed. That is unacceptable. I have made it quite clear that it does not match this Government’s expectation of the Western Australia Police Service. I have sought and received an assurance from the Acting Assistant Commissioner of Police that the service will review all staffing of officers in the area and provide a much better staffing arrangement of officers in Fremantle on weekends.
Mrs M.H. ROBERTS: The advice from Acting Assistant Commissioner Tovey, which I am happy to table, reads - I refer to your request regarding assault statistics for the Fremantle Sub-district and advise that 116 assaults were reported for the quarter ending 30 September 2003, representing a decrease of 27 (or 18.9%) from the 143 assaults reported for the same period last year. I table that document as part of my answer. [See paper No 1660.] Mrs M.H. ROBERTS: Are there enough police officers in the Fremantle area and are we 12 officers down? The member for Kalgoorlie has accused me of lying yesterday. I regard that as a very serious accusation because I checked yesterday how many officers we were down. I was told that we were down three junior constables but that the situation was expected to be remedied in the short term given that 29 officers graduated from the Police Academy last Friday. Another 30 recruits are due to graduate in November. I made it clear yesterday that there are problems in Fremantle, particularly on Friday and Saturday nights. The Police Service can say with some confidence that it has reduced the number of assaults during this quarter when compared with the same period last year. Police responded to the first telephone call they received within three minutes, but had there been a police presence on the streets of Fremantle, the awful incident lasting 20 minutes would not have occurred. The incident involved chairs being thrown and bottles being smashed. That is unacceptable. I have made it quite clear that it does not match this Government’s expectation of the Western Australia Police Service. I have sought and received an assurance from the Acting Assistant Commissioner of Police that the service will review all staffing of officers in the area and provide a much better staffing arrangement of officers in Fremantle on weekends.
[See paper No 1660.] Mrs M.H. ROBERTS: Are there enough police officers in the Fremantle area and are we 12 officers down? The member for Kalgoorlie has accused me of lying yesterday. I regard that as a very serious accusation because I checked yesterday how many officers we were down. I was told that we were down three junior constables but that the situation was expected to be remedied in the short term given that 29 officers graduated from the Police Academy last Friday. Another 30 recruits are due to graduate in November. I made it clear yesterday that there are problems in Fremantle, particularly on Friday and Saturday nights. The Police Service can say with some confidence that it has reduced the number of assaults during this quarter when compared with the same period last year. Police responded to the first telephone call they received within three minutes, but had there been a police presence on the streets of Fremantle, the awful incident lasting 20 minutes would not have occurred. The incident involved chairs being thrown and bottles being smashed. That is unacceptable. I have made it quite clear that it does not match this Government’s expectation of the Western Australia Police Service. I have sought and received an assurance from the Acting Assistant Commissioner of Police that the service will review all staffing of officers in the area and provide a much better staffing arrangement of officers in Fremantle on weekends.
Mrs M.H. ROBERTS: Are there enough police officers in the Fremantle area and are we 12 officers down? The member for Kalgoorlie has accused me of lying yesterday. I regard that as a very serious accusation because I checked yesterday how many officers we were down. I was told that we were down three junior constables but that the situation was expected to be remedied in the short term given that 29 officers graduated from the Police Academy last Friday. Another 30 recruits are due to graduate in November. I made it clear yesterday that there are problems in Fremantle, particularly on Friday and Saturday nights. The Police Service can say with some confidence that it has reduced the number of assaults during this quarter when compared with the same period last year. Police responded to the first telephone call they received within three minutes, but had there been a police presence on the streets of Fremantle, the awful incident lasting 20 minutes would not have occurred. The incident involved chairs being thrown and bottles being smashed. That is unacceptable. I have made it quite clear that it does not match this Government’s expectation of the Western Australia Police Service. I have sought and received an assurance from the Acting Assistant Commissioner of Police that the service will review all staffing of officers in the area and provide a much better staffing arrangement of officers in Fremantle on weekends.
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