Chris Cahill: Police Association President on the Government's commitments to law and order in the next quarter

The Government's committed to passing four pieces of law and order legislation in the next quarter.  

It includes enabling police to ban gang patches and confiscate firearms.  

They'll also improve efficiency in the courts system and increase access to rehabilitation for on-remand prisoners.  

Police Association president Chris Cahill told Mike Hosking that they're liking what they see  

He says there's a lot of action and the public would generally say it's what they want to see, which police officers would support. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Back home. Here comes the law in order to train.
The government set the Q three action Plan yesterday. The
crime and law changes. They're the major focus for laws
to be past things like gang patch bands, increase and
rehab access for prisoners on raman. They're also looking to
improve efficiency in the courts. On top of that, new
bills to tough and sentencing rules and to enable roadside
drug testing as well. Chris Carhill Police Association bosses with us. Chris,

(00:20):
very good morning to you. Broadly speaking, are you liking
what you see?

Speaker 2 (00:27):
We are. There's a lot of actionally, a lot of
good things. I think the public would generally say this
is the sort of thing we want to see, and
police officers would support that as a hell of a
lot of work and travers though.

Speaker 1 (00:39):
That's true. We saw over the weekend the boy racer thing,
and once you dip into a specific area of crime,
it seems to be there's a lot of it out
there to be dealt with. Is that fair?

Speaker 2 (00:49):
Yeah, that's very fair. Look the weekend's a good example.
It was so successful on Friday night that the boy
racers recruited and police had the court staff then on
Saturday because there was even more of them out there,
so you know, there's lots of challenges when you start
trying to please these things pretty hard.

Speaker 1 (01:07):
So what does this tell us about where we've been
as far as police are concerned. How much of what
you deal with crime is police led, top down, police
lead versus the government coming in and going right, we're
doing things differently you go to it.

Speaker 2 (01:19):
Yeah, certainly a big change in focus. I mean, there
was a lot of focus around prevention stuff, so we're
getting involved in a lot of what you could call
social work stuff, looking at trying to change things for
the future. This government says, no, we want to focus
more on what's happening at the moment. And I think
that's what the public want to say. They want to
see cops on the beat. They want to see people

(01:41):
that has doing and causing problems for gang members when
they're out there marking life uncomfortable for them, and that's
a lot more proactive. Shall we say, do.

Speaker 1 (01:50):
You think it's effective in a more effective way of policing?

Speaker 2 (01:54):
Well, I think you've got to get the mix right,
and I think the mix has gone far too far
away from what was happening in front of them, and
I think the police out there are key to get
involved in what they see, and I think that that's
what the public was. I think the mix had gone
wrong and it's good to see a change.

Speaker 1 (02:11):
Do you worry about the judiciary. Do they back you
up so you lay some charges you get to court
that's where the trouble strikes. Or are the judiciary do
you think on board?

Speaker 2 (02:21):
Well, the message is clear. Whether we're on board is
another matter and time will tell. But one of the
problems is the court system just can't handle extra work.
It's one of the most inefficient processes I've ever met.
It's been like that for you know, as long as
I can remember, and the idea of reforming it, I
sort of shake my head because I've heard this all before.

(02:43):
It's got a bit more efficient.

Speaker 1 (02:45):
Is it obviously inefficient? Therefore there's an obvious solution if
we did the right things, or it's just so convoluted
in complex we don't know how to get ourselves out
of the whole.

Speaker 2 (02:55):
I think probably the latter. But the key for me
is the number of remands. People shouldn't go to court
and get reminded time and again and again and again.
Things need to be dealt with a fronton. You know,
there was a criminal Procedures Amendmentville was meant to make
this happen. Things like case review here insights, so all
issues in dispute were sorted early. They just haven't worked

(03:18):
to the point they should, so it needs to be
more efficient.

Speaker 1 (03:21):
Okay, good insight, Chris appreciated as always, Chris caur Hill
Police Association President.

Speaker 2 (03:25):
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Speaker 1 (03:29):
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