❓ Mr. Millman asks about additional resources for WA Police during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Minister details increased funding, recruitment of officers, technology upgrades, and expedited training to support police efforts.
AnsweredQoN 232Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
CORONAVIRUS —
POLICE RESOURCES
232. Mr S.A. MILLMAN to the Minister for Police:
Before I ask my question, I recognise
the tremendous work of the WA Police Force during this particularly challenging
time.
I refer to the efforts of
frontline agencies that are working together to manage and respond to the
impact of COVID-19. Can the minister outline to the house what extra
resources have been provided to the WA Police Force to ensure that our police
can perform the extra duties required during this difficult time?
POLICE RESOURCES
232. Mr S.A. MILLMAN to the Minister for Police:
Before I ask my question, I recognise
the tremendous work of the WA Police Force during this particularly challenging
time.
I refer to the efforts of
frontline agencies that are working together to manage and respond to the
impact of COVID-19. Can the minister outline to the house what extra
resources have been provided to the WA Police Force to ensure that our police
can perform the extra duties required during this difficult time?
AnswerView source ↗
I
thank the member for Mount Lawley for his question and for his appreciation of
the Western Australia Police Force. He knows that local police do an
excellent job in his electorate, and they are doing an excellent job right
around the state. During this COVID-19 situation, they have a range of extra
responsibilities, and they are stepping up to the mark and doing a fantastic
job. It is worth noting that they are going about their normal job too,
attending all those major incidents that we
hear about in the news every day. Overnight I heard that a 47-year-old male had
come off his motorbike and died. Over the Easter weekend, I heard that a
17-year-old girl died in a motor vehicle crash in the south west. I think everyone
will have seen on the news that two homicides occurred in the metropolitan area
over the weekend.
Our major crash unit, our local
police, our homicide squad and all those units of policing are getting on and
doing their job. Side by side with that, they
have had to step up to the mark, particularly with border control and
establishing those intrastate borders. That has never been done before.
We have had ordinary people—not criminals, not people who have broken
the law—in quarantine. It is so important that those ordinary people,
who have perhaps been on a cruise liner or come from interstate, remain in
quarantine and that we track those people on behalf of the whole community of Western
Australia. That is why the McGowan government has given police additional
resources to respond to the COVID-19
pandemic. We immediately recruited an additional 150 police officers. We are
purchasing a further 100 automatic numberplate recognition cameras. We
have also funded 200 GPS tracking devices for electronic monitoring to enhance
police tracking capabilities. Those initiatives are part of a $91 million
package to support WA police.
As people are already aware, during
its term in office the McGowan government has already provided an additional $300 million to the WA Police Force, which
includes $90 million for body armour, body-worn cameras, drones, and personal issue mobile devices, otherwise known as phones. All those things are
proving vital during this pandemic.
As part of the additional $91 million
that was just announced, those 150 police officers will get expedited training.
They will do some core components, and then we will put them out to police
stations and into behind-the-scene roles, so that we can free up other fully
trained and qualified officers to head out to the front line. Similarly, we are
fast-tracking the 135 recruits that we have in training, again to serve roles
in our police stations and those behind-the-scene roles within police, so that
we can free up more fully trained police officers to go out.
Automatic numberplate recognition
technology will enhance our capacity. This was introduced under the Gallop
government and police have gradually increased their number of ANPR over the
years. They are very useful for keeping those intrastate borders in place.
Traditionally, we use them to identify vehicles of people who have done
something wrong: people who perhaps have a bench warrant out for their arrest,
or whose vehicles are unlicensed, or who have lost their driver's
licence, or a range of other things. But we can also key in datasets of those
who are allowed to have free passage. Numberplates of trucks and those for
other essential travel can go into the system, and they need not be stopped at the border at all. Likewise, tracking devices
will save a lot of police time so that we not only have more police to
respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, but also ensure that we are not taking away
from those day-to-day instances that police have to attend, some of which, as I
highlighted at the start, are very significant.
thank the member for Mount Lawley for his question and for his appreciation of
the Western Australia Police Force. He knows that local police do an
excellent job in his electorate, and they are doing an excellent job right
around the state. During this COVID-19 situation, they have a range of extra
responsibilities, and they are stepping up to the mark and doing a fantastic
job. It is worth noting that they are going about their normal job too,
attending all those major incidents that we
hear about in the news every day. Overnight I heard that a 47-year-old male had
come off his motorbike and died. Over the Easter weekend, I heard that a
17-year-old girl died in a motor vehicle crash in the south west. I think everyone
will have seen on the news that two homicides occurred in the metropolitan area
over the weekend.
Our major crash unit, our local
police, our homicide squad and all those units of policing are getting on and
doing their job. Side by side with that, they
have had to step up to the mark, particularly with border control and
establishing those intrastate borders. That has never been done before.
We have had ordinary people—not criminals, not people who have broken
the law—in quarantine. It is so important that those ordinary people,
who have perhaps been on a cruise liner or come from interstate, remain in
quarantine and that we track those people on behalf of the whole community of Western
Australia. That is why the McGowan government has given police additional
resources to respond to the COVID-19
pandemic. We immediately recruited an additional 150 police officers. We are
purchasing a further 100 automatic numberplate recognition cameras. We
have also funded 200 GPS tracking devices for electronic monitoring to enhance
police tracking capabilities. Those initiatives are part of a $91 million
package to support WA police.
As people are already aware, during
its term in office the McGowan government has already provided an additional $300 million to the WA Police Force, which
includes $90 million for body armour, body-worn cameras, drones, and personal issue mobile devices, otherwise known as phones. All those things are
proving vital during this pandemic.
As part of the additional $91 million
that was just announced, those 150 police officers will get expedited training.
They will do some core components, and then we will put them out to police
stations and into behind-the-scene roles, so that we can free up other fully
trained and qualified officers to head out to the front line. Similarly, we are
fast-tracking the 135 recruits that we have in training, again to serve roles
in our police stations and those behind-the-scene roles within police, so that
we can free up more fully trained police officers to go out.
Automatic numberplate recognition
technology will enhance our capacity. This was introduced under the Gallop
government and police have gradually increased their number of ANPR over the
years. They are very useful for keeping those intrastate borders in place.
Traditionally, we use them to identify vehicles of people who have done
something wrong: people who perhaps have a bench warrant out for their arrest,
or whose vehicles are unlicensed, or who have lost their driver's
licence, or a range of other things. But we can also key in datasets of those
who are allowed to have free passage. Numberplates of trucks and those for
other essential travel can go into the system, and they need not be stopped at the border at all. Likewise, tracking devices
will save a lot of police time so that we not only have more police to
respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, but also ensure that we are not taking away
from those day-to-day instances that police have to attend, some of which, as I
highlighted at the start, are very significant.
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