August 2009 - The Police Association Victoria

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13 that declaration is made. Unified command and control, with a single person in charge, may have made a very real difference. If the 7 th of February 2009, being the worst natural disaster in Australia’s history, was not an appropriate time to declare a state if disaster, one wonders exactly what situation the legislation contemplates. These issues deserve clarity if the public of Victoria are to ever know the truth. The Police Association has addressed some of these issues in its submission to the Royal Commission. The submission was prepared after TPA asked for feedback from members on three key issues: communications, resources and command & control. Police Association Secretary Greg Davies addressed the key communications issues in a newsletter in July. Greg says a “glaring omission” from the commission hearings so far is the failure to call former Chief Commissioner Christine Nixon in her role as the State Emergency Response Co-ordinator and the Police Minister in his role as Co‐ordinator in Chief. He said, “Fire warnings have become an absolutely critical issue. The law says the Victoria Police has responsibilities for warnings. We need to know why a State of Emergency was not called. It is difficult to see how the commission can come to any conclusions on how the system failed Victoria without hearing directly from the two most senior people responsible for emergencies.” So – we are all aware of who was supposed to be in charge. The $64 question now is, “Who was?” Member’s are invited to read the The Police Association’s submission to the 2009 Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission in its entirety on our website – www.tpav.org.au The Police Association has made the following recommendations to the Bushfire Royal Commission. 1. Funding of ESTA in rural Victoria. Funding must be made available immediately to move all “country D24” centres to the ESTA facility at Ballarat and provide CAD facilities. Funds must also be made available to replace the country analogue radio network with a digital network capable of communicating with the metropolitan radio network and other emergency services. 2. Co-location of Emergency Services. When responding to emergencies such as the fires of 7 February 2009, Police and fire fighting authorities should, at all levels, be located together to facilitate timely communication and co-ordination. 3. Alignment of Geographic Areas. Police, CFA and DSE geographic areas should be aligned. 4. Alignment of Agency Structures. The internal structures of the CFA, DSE and Police for response to fires must comply with the framework in the Act and the Manual. 5. Clear Statutory Responsibility. The scope and content of the roles designated by the Act and the Manual should be explicitly and unambiguously set out5. The responsibility of the State Emergency Coordinator of DISPLAN to actively check the timing, content and issue of warnings, including advice to evacuate (currently implicit) should be made explicit. 6. Strict Statutory Compliance. Those assuming roles under the Act should actively fulfill them and only delegate their responsibilities as expressly provided in the Act and Manual. If a role is delegated, the delegator should provide a detailed written description to the delegatee of the scope and responsibilities of the delegated role. 7. Communication of timely and detailed information. Communication to the public of timely information about fires detailing their location, intensity, size, direction and speed of travel, and expected changes in these elements together with weather reports and forecasts should properly form the basis of adequate warnings. Details of what people in the path of a fire can expect and strategies which they ought to adopt, or at least consider, should be incorporated into any public messages. Members of the public must be urged to maintain battery operated radios in order to receive warnings in the event of power failure. 8. Warnings must provide useful and relevant content. If warnings include advice to evacuate, then the message should also include a time frame for safe departure from the area under threat. Such advice must also make reference to routes for evacuation and rallying points/refuges. The critical nature of such advice means that it must come from a credible source. The most appropriate source is Victoria Police. The formulation of fire warnings is appropriately the purview of the CFA (being the organization with the best access to detailed information about fires). That the police are required to actively check the appropriateness of the warnings provides a useful safeguard. To the extent that this system is in place it should be retained; to the extent that it is not, it should be implemented. Such a strategy requires Emergency Coordinators to become far more enmeshed in the response to fires. 9. Clarification of Roadblock protocols. Police should be provided with unambiguous instructions detailing who can pass and re-pass roadblocks. The classes of people who are to be permitted to pass roadblocks must be identified clearly. A simple and reliable method of identifying those with permission to pass must be established to facilitate police performing their duty. 10. Warnings and protection for police in fire affected areas. Police working in fire affected areas should be informed of all warnings at least at the same time as the public through the police radio and computer network. This is necessary for the safety of both the public and police members themselves. Police stations should be fire resistant and provide fire suppression equipment. www.tpav.org.au The Police Association Journal August 2009
THE POLICE ASSOCIATION 14 In profile New Staff join our Legal/Discipline and Communications teams Jeff Gundy. Laura Banks. Jeff Gundy has been an active Association delegate for the past five years. One of the driving forces behind his enthusiasm and dedication is his desire to help members when they need it most. When the opportunity arose to join the Association team as a Legal/Discipline Advocate Jeff saw it as a chance to assist members on a full-time basis. “I thoroughly enjoyed assisting members as a delegate. When I saw the position for Legal/Discipline Advocate advertised I knew it was a way I could help through this more permanent role,” says Jeff. Jeff was often contacted by members who were in need of legal or discipline advice. In his role as Association Delegate, Jeff was the conduit between those members and the Association’s Legal/Discipline team, headed up by Tony Walsh. Jeff has been in the job for more than 18 years. For the past 10 years he has worked in the Legal Services area as a prosecutor and training other members for the important role of prosecutor. For the past four years he has been with the Legal Risk Unit. Since taking up his new position last month, Jeff has been attending discipline hearings and the Police Appeals Board with the Association’s other Legal/ Discipline Advocates, learning about this important aspect of this job. “It is a very stressful time for members. The number of questions raised by members when I was a delegate made me realise just how important it is for The Police Association to provide professional service to help members through this difficult time.” Members should contact the Association’s Legal/ Discipline section when they require any legal advice. This service is provided 24 hours a day. Laura Banks has joined the Communications Section as the new Communications Officer. Laura, a journalist by trade, completed her cadetship with the Warrnambool Standard and the Hume Leader. During her time with the Hume Leader, Laura gained a good working knowledge of the issues facing police on the frontline. She wrote many stories on the shortages of police in the area and the high crime rate. For the past 15 months Laura has worked as the Media and Communications Manager with the Victorian Basketball League. She is a keen basketballer and has played since she was five-years-old. Laura will play a significant role in the vital task of getting the Association message across to our members, the media and the general public. Get active in your Association, speak to your Delegate or go to the website Ph: (03) 9495 6899 Fax: (03) 9495 6933 Freecall: 1800 800 537 Get active! VIC T O RIA August 2009 The Police Association Journal www.tpav.org.au
Page 1 and 2: VOLUME 75 - ISSUE 8 August 2009 www
Page 3 and 4: 3 President’s Message By Brian Ri
Page 5 and 6: 6 IR News Fair Work Act - What it m
Page 7 and 8: 8 Legal News Drug and Alcohol Testi
Page 9 and 10: 10 YARRA RANGES COUNCIL SUPPORTS PO
Page 11: 12 Black Saturday Who was in charge
Page 15 and 16: THE POLICE ASSOCIATION 16 Why super
Page 17 and 18: 18 Police Federation of Australia N
Page 19 and 20: 20 Police Association History The P
Page 21 and 22: 22 Victorian on the Front Line Figh
Page 23 and 24: 24 Allen & Unwin ‘Thriller Of The
Page 25 and 26: 26 An important message from Bluey
Page 27 and 28: 28 Photography by gregnoakes.com Ph
Page 29 and 30: 30 Member Classifieds Surfers Parad
Page 31 and 32: 32 Ocean Grove, Barwon Heads & The
Page 33 and 34: 34 Delegates Police Association Del
Page 35: xclusive savings …so easy ® ! Po

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