Tasmania Police

Structure

Tasmania Police is part of the Tasmanian government's Department of Police and Emergency Management, which also consists of the State Emergency Service, Forensic Science Service Tasmania and the Tasmania Fire Service.

State headquarters

The Commissioner of Police also serves as the secretary of the Department of Police and Emergency Management, and the State Emergency Management Controller.

Support commands

Tasmania Police comprises five support commands which support the geographical districts:

Geographical commands

The force is divided into three geographical district commands: Southern, Northern and Western. Each district is divided into several geographical divisions, and is administered by a Commander.

There are 73 police stations across the state.

Tasmania Police Academy

The Tasmania Police Academy is located in the suburb of Rokeby on Hobart's Eastern Shore.

Local training of police officers in Tasmania began in 1958 at Sackville Street in Hobart. In 1960, Commissioner Delderfield suggested the establishment of a police training college on Hobart's eastern shore, and the idea was discussed until Commissioner Phil Fletcher managed to get the proposal approved by cabinet on 16 December 1969. Several sites were considered until Rokeby was selected.

The main road into the Tasmania Police Academy, Phil Fletcher Drive, was named in his honour.

The Academy was officially opened on 6 March 1976 by the Premier of Tasmania, Bill Neilson. Tasmania Police had the first purpose-built Police Academy in Australia.

The Tasmania Police Academy offers training for Tasmania Police recruits, currently serving Tasmania Police officers, and is offered as a community resource to various local community groups.

History

Prior to the formation of a unified police force, Tasmania (then called Van Diemen's Land) was policed from 1803 under the administration of Lieutenant Governor David Collins by a small number of superintendents and overseers, and from 1804 by a civilian body known as the "Night Watch", brought by Collins from Port Phillip Bay. The Night Watch was disbanded in 1806 due to ineffectiveness and was replaced by British military patrols. A municipal police force was established at Port Dalrymple (Launceston) on 19 November 1804, with Thomas Massey as Chief Constable.

With the introduction of the Police Regulation Act 1898, one unified police force was established which came into being on 1 January 1899. George Richardson was appointed the first Commissioner of the new force, and he quickly implemented several structural changes to the existing municipal policing areas, amalgamating them into 14 districts between a total of 246 police members. The early police officers were to undertake a wide variety of tasks from compiling the electoral roll in 1903, to tracking missing rifles from the Tasmanian contingent to the Second Boer War. Richardson complained frequently about the workload placed upon his officers, until a Royal Commission in 1905 recommended his replacement. William Hunt was appointed as Richardson's replacement but died before he could take office, and Colonel John Lord took his place, serving as Commissioner for 16 years with a break to serve with the First Australian Imperial Force during World War I.

The Police Act 1905 defined and expanded the powers of Tasmania Police, which included liquor and lodging licensing, dog registration, vehicle regulation and disorderly conduct. In October 1917, the force appointed its first female police officer, Kate Campbell, and in 1918 two women were added to police staff primarily to police child protection laws. As of 30 June 2011, around 29 per cent of Tasmania Police officers were female.

In 2004 the Police Regulation Act 1898 was finally repealed and the new Police Service Act 2003 (Tas) was proclaimed. The new Act retained a number of features of the old Act but the most controversial change was that of the powers of the Commissioner, including powers to test police officers for drugs and alcohol, integrity testing and the power to seek details of an officer's financial position. The powers of the Commissioner may, generally speaking, only be used if there is some sort of suspicion attached to an individual police officer.

The Tasmanian Police Association was established in 1921, and in 1935 the Attorney-General wrote to the Commissioner stating that preference for transfers and promotion was to be given to members of the association. In addition to its social aspects, the Association also negotiated long-service leave arrangements for officers.

Commissioners of Tasmania Police

The following police officers have been promoted in rank and appointed to serve as the Commissioner of Tasmania Police:

Ranks

Tasmania Police has several ranks, some of which have various titles within that rank. Officers are promoted from one rank to another, however movement between designations within each rank is by completing parts of the promotion process, and comes automatically upon completing that part of the process. This promotion process has been in effect since 2003.

Ranks (and titles where applicable) are as follows:

Firearms

The general-issue Glock 17 9-mm semi-automatic pistol retains the "three-tier" safety features of the original model, and does not include any special features specific to Tasmania Police. Contrary to popular belief, there was never a Glock model specifically developed for use that was unique to Tasmania Police. Tasmania Police underwent a period of individual issue of the weapon until the adoption of the Glock 17 as the standard-issue weapon in 1999. The S&W Model 10 is no longer issued, or carried by Tasmania Police officers by the time of 2013.

The Glock 19 compact pistol was then generally issued mainly to traffic sections, and the Glock 26 sub-compact model was adopted as the general-issue sidearm for detectives and covert units. A degree of individual preference of model adopted by the individual officer exists to this day.

Tasmania Police evaluated the use of taser stun guns in 2009, but the decision was made not to issue tasers to front-line officers. Currently, only officers of the Special Operations Group and the emergency response team at HM Prison Risdon are authorised to carry Tasers.

Operational equipment

In addition to firearms, police are also equipped with an expandable baton, OC spray. In April 2015, the Multiuse Integrated Protection Vest (MPIV) was issued, a combination of a load bearing vest and a Ballistic vest, with a high visibility over garment similar to vests in use with Victoria Police, together with a new uniform.

Many Tasmania Police general patrol vehicles are now equipped with data terminals, used to interrogate criminal and traffic databases.

Vehicles

Tasmania Police vehicles are based around the Holden Commodore and Ford Falcon for general (urban) patrol. Various other makes and models are employed on a "best-suitability" basis for rural, investigative, personnel transport and general inquiry roles. The Ford Ranger and Toyota Hilux are currently used as base vehicles for divisional vans, fitted with a custom Vawdrey-brand rotary-moulded, "custody cell" for transport of prisoners. Divisional vans are also predominantly used as patrol-support vehicles, to transport people under-arrest who have displayed a propensity for violence.

Tasmania Police vehicles have a general exemption against the Tasmanian government's "green-fleet" designations, as most vehicles under this designation are unsuitable for policing duties, and do not comply with Australian standards for the minimum requirements for Australian police vehicles.

Tasmania Police currently employ the BMW R1200RT-P motorcycle to supplement traffic control and enforcement duties.

Tasmania Police Pipe Band

The Tasmania Police Pipe Band was formed in 1969. The band wears the Fletcher of Dunans tartan in honour of the Commissioner of Police at the time Mr PW Fletcher CBE, MVO, JP.