❓ Mrs O'Malley questions the Minister for Police about the suitability of Fremantle Police Station following a CCC report and footage of an injured person being dragged upstairs. The Minister acknowledges the issue, blames the previous government's inaction, and outlines steps being taken to find alternative premises.
AnsweredQoN 147Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
FREMANTLE POLICE STATION —
CORRUPTION AND CRIME COMMISSION REPORT
147. Mrs L.M. O'MALLEY to the Minister for Police:
I refer to the Corruption and Crime
Commission report on an incident at the Fremantle offender management area and
the footage recently released of an injured member of the public being dragged
upstairs at Fremantle Police Station. Can the minister outline to the house why
Fremantle Police Station is not fit for purpose and advise what action this
government is taking to fix this issue?
CORRUPTION AND CRIME COMMISSION REPORT
147. Mrs L.M. O'MALLEY to the Minister for Police:
I refer to the Corruption and Crime
Commission report on an incident at the Fremantle offender management area and
the footage recently released of an injured member of the public being dragged
upstairs at Fremantle Police Station. Can the minister outline to the house why
Fremantle Police Station is not fit for purpose and advise what action this
government is taking to fix this issue?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for Bicton for
this question. She is quite right to be concerned about not just the offender
management area at Fremantle Police Station, but also the adequacy of the
station to be able to treat members of the public who are brought in there and
its fitness for purpose for police officers to work out of.
Members may recall that back in 2012
the old Fremantle Police Station had to be vacated. That station was built back
in 1897 and was not fit for modern-day purposes, and had asbestos issues. That
was a problem confronting the former government and the member for Scarborough
in her role as Minister for Police. The fact of the matter is that in 2013, the
officers were moved out of there to a couple of different locations, but most
officers were moved to High Street in Fremantle. They moved into a former bank
building that was not fit for purpose. It was a building with stairs in it and
not designed as a police station at all. This was a temporary fix; it was not
ever a permanent solution. In 2013, police officers in the major district
centre of Fremantle were put into what was an old bank. It had stairs and was
not fit for purpose. No plan was ever entered into about where they were going
to be in the long term. There was no future planning, no building, no police
station, no tender, no lease—nothing. It was an inadequate situation.
I know that the former Minister for
Police got a lot of complaints, particularly from police officers working out
of that station. They were not happy. The people in Fremantle were not happy
either because Fremantle Police Station does not have adequate parking there in
High Street in Fremantle. It was not fit for purpose. Having been alerted to
that in 2012, 2013 and 2014, the problem was still there. In 2015, 2016 and
2017, not one cent was ever put into the budget, and there was not a plan for
anything else. It culminated in a recommendation from the Corruption and Crime
Commission on 28 February this year. Paragraph [97] states —
The Commission recommends that the
Government give urgent consideration to upgrading the Fremantle OMA �
That is the offender management
area. It is not just the offender management area that needs upgrading; it is
the whole police station. This is another legacy issue from a government that
did not invest in our police. Members need only look at the Langoulant report
to see how they were denied.
Mrs L.M. Harvey interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for
Scarborough!
Mrs M.H. ROBERTS : Read page
160 of the Langoulant report, member for Scarborough, and hang your head in
shame, because they were denied, year after year, the capital works funding
that they needed. As a consequence, members of the public are being dragged
upstairs.
Mrs L.M. Harvey interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for
Scarborough, I call you to order for the first time.
Mrs M.H. ROBERTS : Are you
proud of your lack of action at Fremantle—a major station?
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Members!
Mrs M.H. ROBERTS : Hang your
head in shame and be embarrassed.
Our government is moving on and
cleaning up the situation, as it has had to do on so many different issues. We
did not wait for the CCC report to come out. In November, after work by police,
an expression of interest was advertised on the Tenders WA website for some 4 300
square metres of lettable space in the centre of Fremantle. That expression of
interest closed mid-January and those expressions of interest are currently
being evaluated. We are looking at alternative premises so that we can actually
house police in suitable police accommodation so that we do not have cars
parked all over the streets and that people who are brought into custody do not
have to be put in that vulnerable situation of being assisted upstairs by
police officers.
this question. She is quite right to be concerned about not just the offender
management area at Fremantle Police Station, but also the adequacy of the
station to be able to treat members of the public who are brought in there and
its fitness for purpose for police officers to work out of.
Members may recall that back in 2012
the old Fremantle Police Station had to be vacated. That station was built back
in 1897 and was not fit for modern-day purposes, and had asbestos issues. That
was a problem confronting the former government and the member for Scarborough
in her role as Minister for Police. The fact of the matter is that in 2013, the
officers were moved out of there to a couple of different locations, but most
officers were moved to High Street in Fremantle. They moved into a former bank
building that was not fit for purpose. It was a building with stairs in it and
not designed as a police station at all. This was a temporary fix; it was not
ever a permanent solution. In 2013, police officers in the major district
centre of Fremantle were put into what was an old bank. It had stairs and was
not fit for purpose. No plan was ever entered into about where they were going
to be in the long term. There was no future planning, no building, no police
station, no tender, no lease—nothing. It was an inadequate situation.
I know that the former Minister for
Police got a lot of complaints, particularly from police officers working out
of that station. They were not happy. The people in Fremantle were not happy
either because Fremantle Police Station does not have adequate parking there in
High Street in Fremantle. It was not fit for purpose. Having been alerted to
that in 2012, 2013 and 2014, the problem was still there. In 2015, 2016 and
2017, not one cent was ever put into the budget, and there was not a plan for
anything else. It culminated in a recommendation from the Corruption and Crime
Commission on 28 February this year. Paragraph [97] states —
The Commission recommends that the
Government give urgent consideration to upgrading the Fremantle OMA �
That is the offender management
area. It is not just the offender management area that needs upgrading; it is
the whole police station. This is another legacy issue from a government that
did not invest in our police. Members need only look at the Langoulant report
to see how they were denied.
Mrs L.M. Harvey interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for
Scarborough!
Mrs M.H. ROBERTS : Read page
160 of the Langoulant report, member for Scarborough, and hang your head in
shame, because they were denied, year after year, the capital works funding
that they needed. As a consequence, members of the public are being dragged
upstairs.
Mrs L.M. Harvey interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for
Scarborough, I call you to order for the first time.
Mrs M.H. ROBERTS : Are you
proud of your lack of action at Fremantle—a major station?
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Members!
Mrs M.H. ROBERTS : Hang your
head in shame and be embarrassed.
Our government is moving on and
cleaning up the situation, as it has had to do on so many different issues. We
did not wait for the CCC report to come out. In November, after work by police,
an expression of interest was advertised on the Tenders WA website for some 4 300
square metres of lettable space in the centre of Fremantle. That expression of
interest closed mid-January and those expressions of interest are currently
being evaluated. We are looking at alternative premises so that we can actually
house police in suitable police accommodation so that we do not have cars
parked all over the streets and that people who are brought into custody do not
have to be put in that vulnerable situation of being assisted upstairs by
police officers.
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