Chris Cahill: Police Association President on the need for search powers in the gang crackdown

Police say they need search powers to crack down on gang associates and their firearms. 

New proposed Firearm Prohibition Order laws would ban people committing lower level offences from holding a firearms licence, and allow warrantless police searches of suspects. 

The Justice Select Committee's asking the Government to soften some changes, concerned it would give police too much power. 

Police Association President Chris Cahill told Mike Hosking it's better than what they had. 

He says the law is toothless without any form of search powers. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Justice Select Committee believes police may have too much
power when it comes to warrantless searches, so several changes
have been recommended to soften the Firearms Prohibition Amendment Bill.
So where does this leave the government's cracked down on gangs?
For example, the Police Association president Chris Carr Hill's back. Well,
this is Chris, very good morning to you.

Speaker 2 (00:16):
Good morning Mike.

Speaker 1 (00:17):
If this goes through, does it make your life harder
if you can't search where you want to search?

Speaker 2 (00:21):
Now? Look, when the firearms prohibition orders were brought in
by Labor, they had no search pairs at all, and
that was always we said that toothlus without it. So
national change that or this government changed that, said that
we're going to have search pairs. They probably pushed their
luck going that you could use it with suspect rather
than believe. You know, that's a subtle thing to some,

(00:42):
but when you're actually exercising that pair, having the belief
row and just suspicion is important, and then just limiting
exactly where you can search us is probably fair enough.
You're going to get the mixed right when you're using
coersive pairs. So I think we can still do a
job pretty well with what they've come up with.

Speaker 1 (00:58):
So you would back yourself to in whatever circumstance you
need to go and search for something, you will be
able to have the law that backs you up to.

Speaker 2 (01:06):
Do it as long as you believe the person you're
dealing with has a firearms prohibition order. Now, the majority
of the times you're going to know you can do
a computer check straight away. But if you don't, the
person gives you a false name and you think I
believe your line and I think I know who you
really are, you can still use it. But if you're

(01:26):
just suspicious that he is, you could And I think
that's your next when you're using pass like this.

Speaker 1 (01:32):
Okay, is this I read some of the stuff that
the committee is looking at. The committee to a point
seems to have wandered into the weeds, and they've got
a lot of red tape coming and your second guessing everything.
And you might be able to do this, but then
you can't do that, And what if you're over there
but not over here? Is it got that about it
or not?

Speaker 2 (01:49):
It has a little bit, But I think the challenge
they've got is they know the courts are going to
scrutinize this really closely. The Bill of Rights is going
to come into play, so I think they're trying to
get that mix right. And but what have always learned,
you can pass whatever all you like in the end,
it's how the Court's intern put it. So these are
things that are going to be heavily challenged in the court,
probably all the way to the Supreme Court. So we'll
just have to see how that unfolds. But I think

(02:11):
they've got the mix right on paper, and then we'll
just have to see how the theory works. But it's
certainly better than what we had with no search pairs whatsoever.

Speaker 1 (02:19):
Okay, you got to be on Andrew Costa. Moving on.

Speaker 2 (02:22):
Oh look, I think nothing against Andrew, but I think
time for a change, you know. I think we've got
a new government with a different focus, and I think
they probably want to see someone different there, and I
think everyone really through a bit of a change for
five years.

Speaker 1 (02:37):
Good on YP nice to talk to you, appreciate it
very much, and it was sort of my view yesterday,
wasn't it was a nice enough guy. But listen Chris
Carhill of the Police Association for.

Speaker 2 (02:45):
More from the mic, asking Breakfast.

Speaker 1 (02:47):
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