11 May 2006
Fake cops an offence to the uniform
Police could be abetting an offence by dressing non-sworn officers in blue Police uniforms with police hats, the Green
Party Police Spokesperson Keith Locke says.
"Every person, other than a police officer, commits an offence under Part 3 Section 51A of the Police Act if they use
any uniform or item of uniform in circumstances likely to lead any person to believe the user is a genuine member of the
Police," Mr Locke says.
"This offence of impersonating a police officer is taken so seriously, the law holds that even the prior approval of the
Police Commissioner cannot authorise such action, if it should result in people being misled that the user is a real
police officer.
"The law is strong on this point for very good reason. The extensive powers that society grants the police force is done
on the basis they are fully trained and able to protect the public.
"The news that ordinary citizens are being sworn in as 'temporary constables' is therefore very disturbing," Mr Locke
says.
"The public stand to be left totally confused between police who are real police, people in uniforms who are really
security guards with no powers of arrest, people in what look like police uniforms who are really only temporary
constables with minimal training, and people who are really out there trying to impersonate police officers.
"Such potential confusion puts the public at risk. If people are being attacked or robbed, they need to have certainty
that the person in the blue uniform really is a police officer.
"The whole process seems to be being driven by cost cutting. If ordinary citizens are to be employed in a support role
for police, they should, as a first resort, be trained security firm personnel.
"If 'temporary constables' are to be used, they must be dressed in in an unmistakably different uniform, of a quite
different colour."
ENDS