THE ASSOCIATIONS’ PAGE

Federal Police Association Commonwealth Police Officers Association ▼

CRIMINAL HOW THE INVESTIGATION ASSOCIATIONS BILL: CAUSE SHOULD FOR CONCERN WORK

The advent of the Australian Federal Police will I would first like to thank the Editor for inviting bring new dimensions to policing within Australia me, on behalf of the Commonwealth Police Officers' and more importantly to our members' careers. The Association, to participate in the first edition of the scene is set for an exciting and challenging period in Australian Federal Police Force — Inter-Force — which each member will play a part, nevertheless, Journal. one can foresee difficulties which will cause grave Perhaps it may be an appropriate time for me to concern especially should the Criminal Investigation outline in brief the history of our Organisation. Our Bill become law. This proposed legislation, even in a Organisation was originally formed on February 4, revised form, will no doubt further restrict police in 1942, and was registered pursuant to the Com­ their fight against crime and may. at the same time, monwealth Conciliation & Arbitration Act 1904 (as afford a wider form of protection to those who seek amended). In 1942 there were no Commonwealth to avoid justice. Police as we know them today, but members of the We, as an Association, concede that Police Organisation then were a group of people known as should be seen to be accountable for their actions the Commonwealth Peace Officer Guards, whose and society has every right to expect this. The good prime purpose was to protect the property of the order and conduct of the community is at risk when Commonwealth. legislation is introduced which effectively ties the In 1960 the Commonwealth Police Force was hands of those who are responsible for the protec­ created. In its creation it brought together approx­ tion of life and property and the prosecution of of­ imately 600 men, made up of Commonwealth In­ fenders. The Criminal Investigation Bill when it was vestigatory Service personnel and Commonwealth first introduced into Federal Parliament gave such Peace Officer Guards. The Commonwealth In­ cause for alarm that the Police Associations vestigatory Service was made up of members of the throughout Australia undertook an active publicity Third Division Public Service. These members were campaign to advise members of the public the responsible for the detection and investigation of of­ ramifications of this obnoxious piece of legislation. fences against the Laws of the Commonwealth. It Now we arc led to believe that a revised form of may be interesting to note that two years prior to the the Bill is forthcoming. existence of the Commonwealth Police Force, our Let there be no doubt that the Association will Organisation’s name was changed to the "Com­ be at the forefront in an effort to ensure that monwealth Police Officers’ Association". This year common sense prevails. we celebrate the 21st year of our existence as the As the result of a resolution passed unanim­ "Commonwealth Police Officers' Association", and ously at the Police Federation of Australia and New have a membership of just under 2,000. Zealand Bi-Annual Conference held in Darwin It seems ironic now. that on reaching earlier this year the following letter was received "adulthood", our Police Force is being merged with from the Attorney-General by Bob Page, Secretary of another to create an Australian Federal Police the Federation. Force. Continued on page 17 Continued on page IB incidence of violence between po officers and citizens has b> Women in policing significantly reduced since they ti to provoke less hostility than met As a direct result of their by Senior Constable Susan Beatty bringing many women tend to c tribute a compassionate, humaniz approach to their work. To work s cessfully with equal opportunity i The Australian Federal Police that women can bring to policing. police force need not mean tl Force has 195 female officers cover­ Coupled with the fact that women women lost their individual traits, ing most ranks, with expertise volunteer to take on police work as fact some of these traits could prt extending to a wide range of an occupation, management has to be just as valuable to policeme specialist duties including street become convinced that the assets of­ In simplistic terms it is more policing, criminal investigation, fered to law enforcement by women matter of male and female offict juvenile welfare, intelligence gather­ far outweigh any physical liabilities. learning to appreciate and use t ing and protective security policing. It has taken only a short number inherent talents and strengths of t As little as ten years ago, in the of years for Police Forces to realise other. traditionally male-dominated law en­ that policewomen are here to stay. Women's interest in police work forcement arena this involvement They are not in the force to be pro­ very real and understandable. It c would have been considered im­ tected by male officers any more provide benefits and challenges th possible. But dramatic changes have than one male partner would protect more traditionally female orient occurred in a profession where another male partner. They are jobs do not. It is a career, not mere women had never constituted more simply there to do the job, whatever a time filling gap between school ai than a small percentage of the total the job happens to be. marriage. On commencement it pi police workforce in any country. Another factor to be considered in vides equal training and salarf Australia can be justifiably proud favour of women playing an integral and the opportunity to meet ai of the fact that it was among the part in law enforcement is that just serve the community at large. It al: pioneers in the employment of over 50% of our population is offers security in today's growii women in law enforcement. In 1915 female. Therefore the presence of employment crisis, with attracth both the South Australian and the women police officers gives each holiday and sick leave benefits. 1 New South Wales Police Forces force a more balanced representa­ reality women are attracted i made their first female appoint­ tion of the public it serves. police work for similar valid reasor ments. In a survey conducted by the that men are. In the past few years attitudes American Police Foundation it was Very few studies have been coi toward the employment of found that women police officers ducted on the effect of women i policewomen have gone through two tend to defuse possible volatile situa­ policing. However, there have bee separate but major periods of tions (i.e. domestic disputes) and the an amazing number of unsupporte change. The first period brought the assumptions and statistics given i gradual acceptance of women into support of male officers as oppose police organisations because of their to female. originally specified role, that of deal­ Some of the more familiar an ing with the protection and care of often quoted include: society ha other women. However, the second reared women to be passive and nc stage has been the acceptance and active: men are rational and wome attempted integration of women in more emotional: men can hand! all aspects of policing, including crises but women fall apart: me routine general patrol work. have greater motivation to achiev Predictably, such changes must but women are not as ambitiou: bring barriers of resistance that men are capable of performing mor have had to be overcome. The difficult jobs but women are conter loudest protestations concerned the with repetitive tasks: men' traditional fear of women’s physical dominance commands respect an inabilities in circumstances where women by their passive motives cai partners are dependent on each not achieve leadership. other for their very lives. However, The Australian Capital Territor this could be well equated with the and Commonwealth Police Force physical capability of a slightly built that have now become th male officer, an officer nearing Senior Constable Susan Beat­ Australian Federal Police, have bot retirement age or an overweight and ty, 32, is a fourth generation been worthy of congratulations i out-of-condition male officer of any Australian police officer. In not being influenced by the trite e: age. 1966 she followed her father, pressions offered on women’s abilit It has only been since forward­ Sergeant 1st Class Norman to successfully perform law enforci thinking administrators have stop­ Beatty (ret.) into the NSW ment duties. ped worrying about their well-being Female officers comprised a| simply because they are women that Police Force. Constable Beatty proximately 11% of the totf it has been possible to examine the joined the A.C.T. Police in workforce of the Commonwealt inherent skills and unique benefits 1972. Police Force, deployed in both plai 16 clothes and uniform divisions: ability and not gender being the governing criteria. The Australian Capital Ter­ ritory Police, recognising the con­ tributions to be made by women in law enforcement, for some five years now has assigned women to general patrol duties and given female of­ ficers the opportunity to train as detectives. Given the opportunity to demonstrate the valuable contribu­ tions they can bring to their respec­ tive forces, the rest could depend on the women themselves. The indica­ tions are that women officers are just as capable of handling their duties as their male counterparts. As they continue to demonstrate that they can do the job. the previous negative attitudes and reactions will tend to disappear as they are ac­ cepted as full time police officers in their own right.

be afforded for comment by the public including the ASSOCIATIONS’ PAGE Police Forces. Yours sincerely, Continued from page 15 (PETER DURACK)

Attorney-General Mr R. W. Page. Parliament House CANBERRA, A.C.T. 2600 Secretary, 8 October, 1979 Police Federation of Australia & New Zealand, P.O. Box Q.283, Dear Mr Page, Queen Victoria Building, I refer to your letter of 18 September 1979 con­ SYDNEY. NSW 2000 cerning the resolution passed at the recent Bi-ennial Conference of the Police Federation of Australia In closing, may I take the opportunity of extend­ relating to the Criminal Investigation Bill. ing, on the behalf of my members, best wishes and As you will be aware, when the Criminal In­ expressions of our continued support to Sir Colin vestigation Bill 1977 was left to lie on the table of the Woods in this task as Commissioner of the AFP, and House, a great deal of comment was received from also extend to our counterparts from the former both interested individuals and organisations. These Commonwealth Police our firm undertaking to do all comments hove now been closely examined. in our power to create a common bond of under­ However, the Government has not yet decided standing. whether a revised Bill will be proceeded with. Alan K. Bilbie Should the Government decide to proceed with Secretary, the introduction of a new Bill ample opportunity will Federal Police Association,

Languages: NOT EVERYONE SPEAKS STRINE Have you ever wished that you member who can speak one or more the result of friendships with officer- could speak another language? foreign languages. Languages trainees from Papua-New Guinea.) Perhaps, as a police officer, you spoken by members include Greek, If you are an AFP Member who is have encountered a person whose Macedonian, Yugoslav, French, Ger­ able to write another language, the English is difficult to understand. man. Italian, Spanish. Kiswahili, Editor would be grateful if you got in Australia is a multi-racial society Japanese, Indonesian, Russian. Viet­ touch. Perhaps you could help and newly-arrived settlers need namese. Dutch, Polish and Esperan­ Platypus by contributing a short arti­ some time before they have a to. cle in another language. substantial grasp of English or, as it (At the AFP training college in By publishing AFP stories in other is becoming known, Australian- Barton, A.C.T., a handful of instruc­ languages, we hope to get Platypus English or "strine". tors are even able to master a few articles reprinted in some of But perhaps you are an AFP key phrases of Pidgin and Motu — Australia’s many foreign language newspapers. Southern Division 03 6542744 Officer-in-Charge 03 6544981 Airport 03 3383839 TELEPHONE Currency Squad 03 4197111

Tasmania Branch 002 236508 DIRECTORY Officer-in-Charge 002 231002 Airport 002 485216 Launceston Station 003 318188 STD Tel. No. Australian Federal Police Central Division 08 2722377 Headquarters 062 496555 Officer-in-Charge 08 2724108 Airport 08 436611 Australian Capital Territory Salisbury Station 08 2596597 Division Woomera Station 743238 tn ™ General Policing A.C.T. 062 497444 Belconnen Station 062 514444 Woden Station 062 497444 N.T. Branch Driver Training Centre 062 974344 N.T. Darwin Station 089 818639 Protective Service 062 481611 Airport Station 089 891378 AFP Training College 062 704811 Alice Springs Station 522244 trunt Airport 062 480095 Northern Division 07 2296088 Eastern Division 02 6980044 Officer-in-Charge 07 2211389 Officer-in-Charge 02 6988330 Airport 07 2684311 Airport 02 6693311 Townsville Station 077 790262 Australian Police College 02 9775800 Cairns Station 070 531541 Neutron Activation Analysis Section 02 5310111 AFP Newcastle Station 049 24785 Western Division 09 3253611 AFP Tamworth Station 067 661323 Officer-in-Charge 09 3259531 AFP Wollongong Station 042 287191 Airport 09 2775593 AFP Lithgow Station 063 513211 Exmouth Station 099 493282

to all our members. During our latest discussion both ASSOCIATIONS’ PAGE Organisations agreed we should set up an inter­ Continued from page 15 Association Committee consisting of three Executive members from each Association under the chair­ It is no secret that during the formation of the manship of Mr Ralph Tremethick, immediate past Australian Federal Police Force our Organisation President of the Police Federation of Australia. Our opposed the concept and showed some concern that representatives are Federal President K. A. Dowell, perhaps its creation was not in the best interests of Federal Treasurer P. Thompson, and myself. our members, or members of the Australian Com­ Hopefully, this committee will meet soon with the munity. The Australian Federal Police Force is now endeavour of getting the relevant matters moving. a reality: we now have a two-component Police At our National Annual Conference which was Force made up of members of the Commonwealth held in Brisbane during the week commencing Police Force and the Australian Capital Territory October 8, 1979, the Federal Executive of our Police Force. As I see it, the ball is now in our court. As Organisation invited the Secretary of the Federal members of the Australian Federal Police Force, we Police Association, Mr Alan Bilbie, to address must unite and strive to make this Police Force the Federal Council on his Association’s ideas concern­ most efficient and well equipped in Australia. After ing the merger. We hope later to have the same all, this was the Australian Government’s intention opportunity to meet and discuss our ideas on a when the idea was first conceived. However, in do­ National Police Organisation with members of the ing this, we as members must be treated accord­ Federal Police Association. There will be problems. ingly, and by this I mean we should have terms and However, they are not insurmountable, and will no conditions which are conducive to a Police Force of doubt be resolved around a conference table. We this calibre. This is where the Associations become look forward to these further discussions. involved. Finally, I hope this contribution has in some Nobody would doubt the logic of having one small way helped to create an understanding of our Association to protect the interests of members of Organisation and some of the problems that have the Australian Federal Police Force. Bearing this in been encountered, and will be encountered by both mind, our Organisation has met with the Federal Police Organisations in their endeavour to merge. Police Association on three occasions and discussed briefly some of the problems associated with the P. N. CURTIN, merging of both Organisations. We have agreed on General Secretary, certain broad principles which have been circulated Commonwealth Police Officers’ Association.