Page 4719 - Week 16 - Wednesday, 28 November 1990
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made by Mr Moore during previous debates, which supported the original Bill, and I think it is important that that fact should be put clearly on the record.
However, once again, there are two sides to an argument. I would suggest that the task of policing our community is not an easy one. Many members of the police force often have to put their lives on the line. When they approach a given situation, they do not really know what the end result may be. There have been a number of tragic incidents in other States - fortunately, not so much in the ACT, although I recall that at the last police memorial service an ACT constable was listed amongst those who had paid the supreme sacrifice in assisting the policing of our community.
Another aspect of the police men's and women's role is to attend some pretty nasty incidents, be they traffic accidents or some other situations that have pretty horrific results, particularly murders, et cetera. As Mr Berry well knows from his time working in the emergency services, those sorts of things can have a major effect on the personality of a person who comes across that sort of situation on a number of occasions. I think it is important to ensure that the necessary degree of counselling and advice is given to police officers in these situations. To be fair, we must remember that there are continuing pressures on our police men and women in this city, and it is important to acknowledge that.
However, let it not be said, Mr Speaker, that at any stage I would condone the sorts of activities that have, on odd occasions, surfaced in relation to the actions of police officers in their dealings with young people. Like everybody else, I think that police officers have a responsibility to ensure that their dealings with the public are conducted in such a way that the sorts of problems that occasionally appear before the police ombudsman are not required to take place, because they have received the necessary training, assistance and advice to cover these sorts of areas, particularly some of the younger police men and women in the earlier parts of their careers. I think it is important that the training ensure that they develop this relationship and knowledge of attitudes of some of our young people. It is something that I would like to see encouraged, and I think it is very important.
On that note, Mr Speaker, I would like to suggest that clearly there is an indication that the use of these powers be continued, provided that they are properly and effectively used and monitored. There have been some 1,670 incidents in relation to which the move-on powers have been used, resulting in only 13 arrests. I am also advised that there has been a considerable reduction in the number of offences that have taken place in the past, which have often resulted from the sorts of incidents that the move-on powers now seek to resolve.
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