December 2001 Volume 82 Number 12 "serving the protectors"

Police who work in the industrial relations arena should – and do – remember the old adage: “Those who forget the past are bound to relive it”. How perilous it would be to forget the despicable acts of eastern states’ police commissioners, Blamey and MacKay, last century (A Century of Struggle, page 10).

The key ingredient to an efficient police force was then – and remains today – total support for rank-and-file cops. Police should only ever have to fight one war: the one on the streets. For Blamey and MacKay to have engaged their officers in such self-serving, unjustified wars was unforgivable.

And to excuse them – or their actions – as simply products of the time is equally offensive.

Professor Mark Finnane’s address to the Police Association of SA annual conference provided a perfect opportunity to learn of and reflect on the serious misdeeds of past police management. Knowledge of such history is essential: some of the more autocratic of today might support or, indeed, try surreptitiously to replicate such deeds.

Consider the police bill proposed to the SA parliament in 1998. It sought to:

• Increase the Commissioner’s dismissal powers.
• Introduce contract employment for those of and above senior constable rank.
• Remove the right to merit appeal over promotion.

Sound familiar?

Shadow Police Minister Patrick Conlon at the time warned that the bill “created…opportunity for cronyism”.

Those who represent rank-and-file police must be ever ready to fight those who would seek to undermine their industrial influence and erode their power. To win that fight, they must remember the past.

Exceptional conduct

Probationary Constable Melanie Ahearn won the Police Association’s Walter Wissell trophy for academic achievement at her graduation last month. She joined a number of other officers recognized for exceptional conduct.

The Police Journal congratulates bravery medal recipients, Steve Lang and Shane Wisseman, who disarmed and arrested a man with a spear. The journal also congratulates Scott Richter, Andrew Burgwin and Desmond Noll, awarded certificates of merit for their handling of a firearms incident.

editor@pasa.asn.au

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