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Legislative Council - Fifty-First Parliament, Second Session (51-2)
2008-05-08 Daily Xml
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TASERS

The Hon. T.J. STEPHENS (15:09): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Police questions about assaults on police.

Leave granted.

The Hon. T.J. STEPHENS: Last week I indicated and reported to the council that the new Police Association President Mark Carroll will lobby the government to support the introduction of tasers across operational policing roles. Latest statistics show there has been a 64 per cent rise in assaults on police in the Adelaide service area in the past nine months. Between July 2007 and March this year, 169 officers were assaulted, predominantly in the city, a rise of 66 assaults compared with the same period in 2006-07. Commenting on these statistics, Mr Carroll made the point that the community probably underestimates the level of violence in general, and assaults on police in particular, that officers confront every day. The Liberal opposition does not underestimate this problem, which is why we will continue to ask the same questions until we get reasonable answers. My questions to the minister are:

1. Will he advise the council whether he has discussed these latest statistics with the Police Commissioner, and is the Commissioner any closer to considering a trial of taser technology across policing roles?

2. Without turning the question around and blaming the former Liberal government as he usually does, will the minister finally admit now that it is time to trial taser technology across operational policing roles?

The PRESIDENT: The minister will disregard the opinion in the question.

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY (Minister for Police, Minister for Mineral Resources Development, Minister for Urban Development and Planning) (15:10): The Hon. Terry Stephens asked me a question earlier this week and one last week in which, of course, he had his facts totally wrong. Those questions related to the police plane and the issuing of uniforms to police in the northern areas. Certainly, the number of reported assaults have increased, and there are a number of reasons for that. It is partly due to the new category of serious assaults. However, there is no doubt—

The Hon. D.W. Ridgway interjecting:

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY: It does work like that, actually, yes. This question was asked in the lower house the other day. I was quoted by the Leader of the Opposition in the other place, and I am glad he did. There are 72 more police patrols in South Australia since 2002—72 more police patrols on the road. I simply pointed out that, if you have those patrols on the road, the police are more likely to see stolen cars and traffic offences, so statistics related to police proactive crime will increase. What we have seen is a decrease in victim-reported crime. Of course, the two go together—the more police you have, the more presence they have, the more proactive they are, the less victims are affected. That is why you have less victim reported crime but more police proactive crime. That is just a fact of the statistics.

It is a serious question in relation to assaults on police. Police have obligations. Their motto is to make our community safe; but, like all other workers, they have the right to have the safest working conditions available to them. They have the right to expect that they will be protected. There are a number of reasons why we have had an increase in assaults, not the least of which has been alcohol use, and there has been a broad debate about that in this community. The Prime Minister has bought into it, as well as other people. Obviously it is not a local debate but a national debate about growing alcohol use within the community, particularly binge drinking amongst young people.

It would not surprise anyone if I said that violence and assaults are more likely to be associated with heavy drinking. That has been the case for a long time. In relation to the city, yes, the police have been subjected to more aggressive behaviour, and there are a number of reasons for that. Yes, I have discussed the matter with the Police Commissioner on a number of occasions. To suggest that if you give police taser guns it will solve the problem is grossly over-simplifying it. The police have various types of equipment available to them. Under this government they will be getting automatic firearms. That have capsicum spray, batons, handcuffs and a lot of other equipment. Each type of equipment has its advantages and a particular application, and they also have disadvantages. Obviously—

The Hon. T.J. Stephens interjecting:

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY: What are the disadvantages with tasers? A couple of people have died during their application. They must be used properly.

An honourable member interjecting:

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY: Yes. It is important that they are used on the right occasions, because there have been those incidents. Tasers are deployed by the Star Force, which is the section of the police force best trained to deal with violent situations. Obviously, if you do get violence on the street the best solution is to get the Star Force involved because it has the specialist skills, training and equipment to deal with it. There is obviously a limit to how much equipment police officers on the beat can take with them. However, the priority is—

An honourable member: You're going to have to give them a bag to carry it in!

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY: If the Hon. Terry Stephens had his way, the police would have so much around their belts they would be lucky to keep their trousers up. Put it this way: they would not be much good at chasing anyone. If someone had about 30 or 40 kilograms of equipment around them, they would not want to pursue someone. You cannot just keep arguing for more equipment to be provided to police and keep adding to it and think that you are going to solve problems. If the honourable member thinks that we are going to solve problems that are committed basically because of excess alcohol and complex social issues, who is he kidding?

As I indicated some months ago when the honourable member asked a similar question, the Commissioner of Police was considering the issuing of tasers to senior officers and looking at where they might be used in particular locations where they have an advantage, but to have an across-the-board issue of them is not necessarily in the best interests of police officers. However, in cases where they do have advantages and where they can best be applied, I am sure the Commissioner will do so. Certainly, if that is his decision, this government will support him in relation to resources.

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