Another mad Qld. cop. Sounds like a REAL gun nut

Weapons seized from home of police "ethics" expert! A fair commentary on Qld. police ethics, I think



QUEENSLAND's Water Police chief is under investigation by Customs and police for allegedly importing illegal machinegun parts. Customs and Border Protection officers, members of the police Weapons Licensing Branch and the Australian Defence Force's Explosive Ordnance Demolition team raided the home of Inspector Alan Magarry north of Brisbane last Thursday.

Police said a van was removed, along with items suspected of being Australian Defence Force property including a Kevlar helmet, current-issue body armour and boxes of .223 ammunition. Insp Magarry is also being questioned over his alleged possession of a fully automatic Steyr assault rifle, a type of firearm used by the ADF.

Neighbours said cars were lined up all along the street during the raid. "There were soldiers in camouflage gear and a couple of cars up the driveway," said one resident. "A paddy wagon was out the front and a girl was bringing stuff out of the house." An ADF spokesman confirmed the Explosive Ordnance Demolition team attended because of the nature of the material being seized. Insp Magarry is a qualified armourer and operated a private armory business from the stately brick home.

A Customs spokesman said the raid was a result of the discovery of firearm parts in four parcels from America addressed to the home. It is alleged the parts are machinegun kits allegedly used to make inoperable automatic weapons operable. Other items included documents and computers.

Police said Insp Magarry was currently on recreational leave, but was assisting the Ethical Standards Command. "Customs informed police of their concerns last week and we have been assisting them in their inquiries since that time," said a QPS spokeswoman. Insp Magarry was appointed as the Water Police State Co-ordinator this year after a stint with the Ethical Standards Command.

An officer of 27-years' experience, he spent six years as officer-in-charge of Mareeba police station in north Queensland where he drove award-winning projects tackling truancy, graffiti and juvenile crime.

President of the Queensland Police Commissioned Officers Union, Detective Superintendent Tony Cross said there was a "slight chance" the matter would be raised at the next executive meeting. "I understand the allegations are outside the ambit of his work," Det-Supt Cross said.

SOURCE

More evidence that many of the Qld. police are just hoons -- even in an "elite" squad

Police union pleads for them not to be fired and says Australians will understand why officers played up on a bucks night

THE Queensland Police Union has called for a reprieve for officers involved in a buck's night nude run. The police service's ethical standards command is investigating a report from a woman who witnessed two men run naked around a bus stopped at traffic lights in Brisbane's east on Sunday. When police checked the bus's registration, they realised it was an unmarked police vehicle. The officers on board were from an elite squad, and were celebrating a buck's night.

Deputy Commissioner Ian Stewart said yesterday that other officers on board the bus may have been naked.

Both the nude run and the use of two police vehicles is being investigated, and the officers could face criminal charges, as well as disciplinary action ranging from a caution to sacking.

Queensland Police Union president Ian Leavers said on Tuesday that sacking the officers would be "over the top". The officers conceded their actions were stupid, but didn't deserve dismissal, Mr Leavers said. "Of course it's embarrassing and they will face some internal discipline issues, however sacking them would not only have a massive affect on them and their families, it would also deprive the QPS of officers who are trained to the very highest of standards," he said in a statement.

"The officers involved were part of a specialist squad which requires extremely rigorous training and skills. "Because of the specialised nature of their work and the fact that these officers are usually on call 24 hours a day, these officers do not normally drink alcohol. "Their actions on Sunday are completely out of character and they are very remorseful."

Mr Leavers said most people would recognise that people acted out of character on buck's nights. "I think that many Australians can relate to things that can occur on buck's or hen's celebrations," he said.

Police Minister Neil Roberts and Commissioner Bob Atkinson are expected to give a media conference at 10am (AEST).

SOURCE

Update about the police hoons:

A POLICE bus carrying at least five naked SERT officers stopped at least four times as it drove across Brisbane to allow passengers to make nude runs outside.

An embarrassed Police Commisssioner Bob Atkinson today admitted the police minivan was carrying at least five naked officers and said the vehicle stopped at least four times for those on board to make nude runs outside it. The officers involved are members of the Special Emergency Response Team, who cost $50,000 each to train (in addition to their regular police training).

One of those stops was at a Capalaba intersection where a woman motorist saw nude men running around the bus and phoned police - who were very surprised to discover that a police vehicle was involved.

Commissioner Atkinson said the last three months had been terrible for the police service, and he could offer no excuses. He promised the matters would be fully investigated.

The practice of passengers running around vehicles parked at intersections is known as the Chinese fire drill.

Earlier today, the state's Police Union dismissed calls for the sacking of the off-duty officers as too high a price to pay. Callers to talkback radio have demanded the police be fired for the buck's party stunt at Capalaba on the southside on Sunday afternoon.

SOURCE

Apologies to any non-Australian readers: "Hoon" is an Australian slang term that is virtually untranslatable into standard English. It implies a combination of stupidity, self-indulgence, exhibitionism and disregard for the law. Street racers are hoons

Update 2: Naked police officers stood down

FIVE Queensland police officers allegedly involved in naked romps through Brisbane on Sunday have been stood down. The Ethical Standards Command will investigate reports of the highly-trained Special Emergency Response Team (SERT) officers allegedly running naked around a police vehicle while stopped at several sets of traffic lights in Brisbane during a buck's party, which had also involved a river cruise with strippers.

The latest scandal for the Queensland police came to light after a member of the public reported an incident of naked men running around a small bus at traffic lights. A number plate check revealed it was a police vehicle, apparently authorised for use by a police sergeant.

A sergeant from the Metropolitan North district, an acting sergeant from Operational Support Command and three senior constables from Operational Support Command will work in Brisbane-based non-operational roles outside the command while the investigation is finalised. The stand downs will not affect the operational readiness of specialist police services, police said in a media statement. The state's Crime and Misconduct Commission has been advised and will overview the investigation.

On Tuesday, Commissioner Bob Atkinson said the police service was taking the incidents seriously. "This has been the worst couple of months for us that I can recall for many years,'' he said. "It's a nightmare in a sense that you just hope there's nothing else coming.'' [The more they are given slaps on the wrist for bad behaviour, the more there WILL be something else coming -- JR]

The officers have the backing of the Queensland Police Union, which says the naked romps are not a sackable offence.

SOURCE

'Urinating' Queensland cop shocks onlookers

There really are some charmers in the Qld. police

A QUEENSLAND police officer is being investigated after allegedly being caught urinating on a poker machine inside a Sunshine Coast nightclub last night.
The officer has been stood down pending the outcome of an investigation. This follows another police officer being stood down after allegedly clocking 223km/h during an authorised pursuit.

In the latest incident, a group of off-duty police officers were celebrating the departure of several colleagues from the force at the Blue Bar at Alexandra Headland, when it is understood an officer was caught urinating on a poker machine inside the premises. CCTV footage from the club has been seized and it is understood the alleged incident was captured on a mobile phone.

Senior officers from the region are investigating the allegations, with oversight from the Ethical Standards Command. The Crime and Misconduct Commission has also been informed about the investigation. Staff at the Blue Bar refused to comment about the incident.

SOURCE

Tasers unsafe in the hands of Australian police goons

They are a valuable alternative to gunfire but police use them indiscriminately -- meaning that a valuable tool may have to be taken away from them in order to protect the public from a rogue police force. Can you imagine a cop firing one 28 times into a man lying on the ground? No wonder the guy died of a heart attack! Such an abuse is of course well outside all guidelines for use of the weapon. The cop concerned should be in jail for manslaughter

The controversial Taser stun guns may be scrapped in Queensland after a review warned that the weapons could kill and could not be modified to prevent a repeat of the death of a man this year when he was shot 28 times with the 50,000-volt device.

The joint Crime and Misconduct Commission-police review, launched after the June heart-attack death of north Queensland man Antonio Galeano, has ordered an overhaul of police training and operational policy, requiring the stun guns to be used only when there is a "risk of serious injury".

The review, to be released today and obtained exclusively by The Australian, marks the first time an Australian authority has recognised the possibility the stun guns can injure or kill, especially when fired repeatedly at a person. "The possibility of Taser use causing or contributing to death is possible and cannot be ruled out," the review warns.

The Arizona-based manufacturers have repeatedly denied the weapons can kill.

The report is expected to influence the nationwide rollout of Tasers, amid mounting evidence the weapons are being used by police as an everyday compliance tool and not as a non-lethal substitute for a standard gun in high-risk situations.

Sources have told The Australian a coronial investigation has concluded that amphetamine addict Galeano, 39, was deliberately shot 28 times, each time for a duration of up to five seconds, after he confronted police with a steel bar at his unit in Brandon, south of Townsville. It was initially claimed the stun gun might have malfunctioned or that there was a glitch with the built-in computer system recording the number and duration of shots from the weapon.

But investigators will allege the policeman repeatedly Tasered Galeano, who dropped the metal bar after the first few shots, while he lay unarmed and writhing on the floor. He died minutes later while still in handcuffs.

Civil liberties lawyers called for a criminal investigation into the death of Galeano in June, when The Australian revealed he had been shot 28 times. Until then, police had claimed he had been shot only two or three times.

It will be announced today that the freeze on the rollout of Tasers to 3000 general duties officers -- ordered after the death of Galeano -- will be maintained while police move to implement the recommendations of the review.

Meanwhile, the 1200 Tasers with the Queensland police force will remain in operation. But the use of Tasers is under threat, with the CMC recommending they be modified so a single shot lasts no longer than five seconds, and that a limit be put on the numbers of times the weapon can be fired. Police have been told by the manufacturer that "at this stage, this is not feasible with the Taser X26" -- the $15,000-a-piece weapon being used in Queensland and around Australia.

The review recommends that Queensland Police fit an automatic video device on the weapons, which records every time the Taser is pulled from its holster. Queensland police last year refused to buy the weapons with the optional "Tasercam" because of the cost.

Civil liberties lawyer Scott McDougall, director of the Caxton Legal Centre, said police should be forced to table in parliament every deployment of the stun guns in Queensland. He said an independent medical study should be conducted on the weapons, and a freeze on their use should be implemented until the findings were released. "We have clients who were Tasered who were not offering any resistance to police," he said. "Fears that Tasers would be used as a compliance tool may have come to fruition around Australia."

SOURCE

Another Queensland police thug

Law enforcement by a senior cop who has no respect for the law?? He has already killed two people but he apparently wanted another "scalp"



A POLICEMAN has been allegedly clocked doing 223km/h during an unauthorised pursuit, six years after being involved in a wild chase in which two men were killed. Senior-Sergeant Bryan Eaton is being investigated for allegedly racing after a speeding car along a busy section of the Bruce Highway near Brisbane 11 days ago without flashing lights and sirens – or approval. The car got away but the pursuit was captured on camera.

Sen-Sgt Eaton has since been stood down as officer-in-charge of the Pine Rivers traffic branch pending an investigation by Ethical Standards Command. The matter also has been referred to the Crime and Misconduct Commission.

The Queensland Police Service changed its pursuit policy in May 2004 after the deaths of Coen stockmen Andrew Hill, 33, and Alan Toohey, 49, on Anzac Day the previous year. Both men died when their unregistered and unroadworthy car crashed into a creek bed and a police four-wheel-drive driven by Sen-Sgt Eaton ploughed into them. A coronial inquest was told the police vehicle reached about 75km/h on a dirt road and in bad light in pursuit of the men, who were driving a "bull-chaser".

State Coroner Michael Barnes found Sen-Sgt Eaton had driven in a "dangerous manner, with little regard for the safety of the occupants of the car he was chasing". Mr Barnes did not recommend charges because he found a reasonable person would not have foreseen the "chain of events that led to the deaths". But he urged "a more restrictive pursuit policy". After the inquest, Hill's widow, Camilla, attacked the decision not to charge Sen-Sgt Eaton, claiming traffic officers could "get away with murder".

The pursuit policy has undergone further modification since 2004, and yesterday a Queensland Police Service spokesman said every pursuit and attempted intercept was closely monitored "to ensure adherence to these policies". Under current policy, officers must immediately abandon a chase if it creates an unacceptable risk to the safety of any person. Officers also must inform police communications of the pursuit and follow their instructions.

Queensland Police Union president Ian Leavers said their best advice to officers was to avoid police chases. "Our union has long recommended to our members that they do not pursue offenders under any circumstances because of the lack of legislative protection and the attitude of the State Coroner should a tragic incident occur," Mr Leavers said. He said earlier this year that police felt extremely frustrated and hamstrung by the pursuit policy, which was seen as preventing them from catching offenders. "I see a lot of anger from police around the state because they are not allowed to do their job," he said.

Sen-Sgt Eaton is continuing to work for the police service in the Metropolitan North regional office. An estimated 650 police chases are conducted by Queensland police each year.

SOURCE