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Legislative Council - Fifty-First Parliament, Second Session (51-2)
2008-07-22 Daily Xml
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Question Time

POLICE RESOURCES

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Leader of the Opposition) (14:39): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Police a question about (as luck would have it) police resources. In particular, to be more specific, about an incident that occurred on Tuesday 10 June 2008.

Leave granted.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: An article in The Advertiser states:

Two school boys have made statements to police alleging they were assaulted by an off-duty officer they feared was trying to abduct one of them by dragging him into his car. The boys, aged 16 and 15, and a female friend, 14, told police they were walking home from a western suburbs high school about 3.40 pm on Tuesday when a car stopped and a man flashed a badge at them. They said the car stopped and the man, who was wearing football shorts, got out and asked for identification.

When one of the boys offered his wallet...it was thrown to the ground. Police confirmed the man, who allegedly grabbed the boys' schoolbags, was an off-duty police officer. The mother of one of the boys said that 'at no time did he identify himself as a police officer, other than just the flash of what they thought was a badge when he pulled up'. One of the boys told The Advertiser he feared they were being robbed and pushed against the man to reach for his bag. 'I thought he was trying to steal our stuff after he threw the wallet on the ground...he put me in a headlock, then pushed me on the ground and stomped on my hand', the boy said. 'I was trying to push him off and my friend was trying to push him off...Then he said he'd take us to the police station and get us locked up. Then [he] just said, "F... it, I'll take you myself", and tried to drag me to his car.'

A motorist parked in a van across the street yelled out when the officer dragged the boy towards the car, thinking he was witnessing an abduction. When the witness yelled, the boys say the man got back into his car and left. The witness came over and helped the bleeding teenager, as one of the group wrote down the car's registration.

Forensic technicians were called to take photographs of the boy's injuries, which included cuts, a swollen hand and fingers, and a scalp injury from which hair was allegedly pulled out. A police spokeswoman said the officer believed the boys had been damaging a street sign and he had gone to the school to find out who they were and later found and stopped them in the street.

The article went on to state that police investigations were continuing and police were talking to the witness from the van.

In the past couple of weeks I have spoken to the mother of the boys and it is quite interesting to note that she was visited by a senior sergeant from the Henley Beach Police Station, who indicated to her that the internal investigations branch of SAPOL would be looking at this particular matter, given that the incident involved an off-duty police officer.

Some time later (a couple of days, I believe, or it may have even been a week) an officer from the Director of Public Prosecutions came and suggested that she would take a statement. When the mother asked, 'Well, what about the police and the internal investigations branch?' she was told that there were insufficient resources within the police force for that to take place and that it was now being handled by the DPP. However, the officer from the DPP said that they were lacking resources and that she was in the middle of handling a murder trial and did not know when she would be able to complete the investigation. My questions are:

1. Will the minister concede that the lack of police resources is now having an impact, not only on public safety but on other roles and functions of SAPOL and is contributing to a lack of public respect for SAPOL?

2. Has the minister received a report on this incident and, if so, will he release it to the public?

3. Is it normal practice for an officer of the DPP to take a statement and not provide a copy of that statement to the witnesses?

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY (Minister for Police, Minister for Mineral Resources Development, Minister for Urban Development and Planning) (14:43): I will refer to the Attorney-General the latter question relating to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions. But how typical it is of this opposition that whenever allegations are made it will always assume that the police are wrong. If by some misfortune a Liberal government had been elected, we could have a minister for police who does not trust the police force, who has no confidence and no faith in police but, not only that, who goes further and actively seeks to undermine the police of this state. That is a disgrace.

There are accusations being made, they are subject to investigation and that is why I will not comment on them. I think it is a very sad state of affairs when the opposition in this state will always side against the police of this state.

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