Page 1316 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 3 April 2019
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The ability of the operations centre to have a view of what the police on the ground are seeing will enable police to be more responsive, whilst also improving the safety of the officers at the scene. Previously, at major events the operations centre had to rely on radio reports. With this new technology they will have the potential to see what is happening in real time. I noted that Sergeant Marcus Boorman, a 30-year police veteran who heads up the road safety operations team, said that this new technology will make police officers feel safer. He was quoted as saying:
There’s also those situations where you pull up a car at night and there’s four guys in the car you stopped, and you have that feeling that something’s not quite right. Back in operations, they can see exactly what’s going on. When you’re out on your own, that’s reassuring.
Those comments reflect how much potential there is for technology to make policing safer. The fitting of the new technology to police operations cars is just one example of the resources that have been given to ACT Policing. I was extremely pleased to see the recent announcement that 480 body camera kits will also be rolled out across the ACT’s police force over the next 12 months. This follows the introduction of this technology in other police forces around Australia.
The cameras, which will be worn at chest level, are electronically linked to the officer’s taser and Glock sidearm. If the Glock is drawn, the camera automatically activates. When the taser is activated, ready for firing, the camera will also start recording. When on patrol in groups, when one officer’s camera starts recording, all of their colleagues’ cameras start recording as well. This will enable a retrospective view, from multiple angles, of a particular police interaction with the public. At the end of each shift, any recorded information is uploaded and stored.
This will increase public confidence about how the police force conducts itself. It will also greatly assist in prosecutions for offences committed against police or in the presence of police. With video evidence, the court will be able to have a much more complete picture of a particular series of events, rather than merely relying on one person’s word against another’s.
These are good examples of additional resources that have been given to ACT Policing that will make their jobs easier, safer and more efficient—a range of things, depending on the circumstances. Minister Gentleman has outlined other examples of how the ACT government has been investing in ACT Policing, and some of that is touched upon in the amendment that he has moved today.
For me, the central point in this discussion is actually about keeping our community safe, because that is the role of police. It is worth reflecting that Canberra is one of the safest places in Australia to live and that in recent times we have seen crime numbers going down. Community safety is also about more than police numbers. When we are having a discussion about community safety, we need to reflect on the fact that in order to reduce crime and to assist police in performing their duties we also need to be investing in educational and social programs—investing in our community.
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