Safety a must for members all year round

Once again, New Year’s Eve activities on the Mornington Peninsula and the response of our members attracted a great deal of media attention.

Over the past four years, members have endured the violent behaviour of louts at New Year’s Eve celebrations at Rye. Three of our members were seriously injured in 2006.

Given the history of violence directed at police in Rye, The Police Association requested the Force to provide protective head gear to ensure members’ safety.

As the Force initially did not provide the equipment necessary to ensure the safety of members, a prohibition notice was served on local management. This resulted in the Force supplying members with protective shields but not head protection. 

The Police Association is disappointed that it had to resort to issuing a prohibition notice to ensure that its members were properly protected while dealing with a potentially violent situation on New Year’s Eve. Our disappointment was compounded by the Force’s action to appeal the prohibition notice to WorkSafe.

Although WorkSafe withdrew the prohibition notice, it will conduct a review of protective equipment issued to our members when dealing with potentially violent situations. 

This is an issue that has not just arisen in the few days prior to New Year’s Eve.  The Police Association has been actively seeking assurances from the Force that it will take the action necessary to provide our members with protective equipment, particularly light-weight head protection to ensure that our members remain safe, whether it be at New Year’s Eve celebrations or other events that involve the potential for violence. 

Bruce McKenzie

Assistant Secretary