Victoria Police Strike - 31 October 1923

The 1923 Victorian Police strike occurred in Melbourne on the eve of the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival in November 1923, half the police force in Melbourne went on strike over the operation of a supervisory system using labour spies. Riots and looting followed as crowds poured forth from Flinders Street Station on the Friday and Saturday nights and made their way up Elizabeth and Swanston Streets, smashing shop windows, looting, and overturning trams.

The strike started late on Wednesday night 31 October 1923 - the eve of Melbourne's Spring Racing Carnival - when a squad of 24 constables at Russell Street Police Headquarters refused duty, citing the continued use of spies by management. The Victoria Police force at the time were understaffed, lowly paid in comparison with other state police forces, and had no industry pension, with the government continually deferring promises on the introduction of a pension program.

The Police Association had made repeated attempts to improve the pay and conditions of the force, and had made representations over the use of "spooks" as inappropriate for supervision to the Nationalist government of Victoria under the Premier, Harry Lawson. The strike was led by Constable William Thomas Brooks,of the licensing squad, who two years earlier circulated a petition among his fellow officers calling for better conditions. Headed Comrades and Fellow Workers, it was signed by almost 700 men.

The strike was not a Police Association initiative, although the organisation negotiated on behalf of the strikers with the Premier, Harry Lawson. Most of the strikers were constables, many of them returned servicemen. Detectives and senior officers did not participate.

After 24 hours the Premier demanded a return to work and promised no victimisation, although there was no promise of meeting the strikers' demands. After 48 hours the Premier again demanded a return to work with no guarantees regarding victimisation.

The Victorian Trades Hall Council, surprised by the wildcat strike, volunteered to negotiate on behalf of the strikers but were rebuffed by the government. Subsequently 634 policemen were discharged and two were dismissed, about a third of the Victorian force, never to be re-employed as members of the Victorian Police Force.

On Friday and Saturday nights riots and looting occurred in the city, resulting in three deaths, trams being turned over, plate glass windows being smashed and merchandise looted from stores. Constables on point duty were jeered at and harassed by people until they retreated to the Town Hall, where the crowd taunted them to come out. Tramways staff and uniformed sailors helped to direct traffic in the absence of police.

A request by the Premier to the Federal Government for troops to prevent and put down trouble was refused, however Sir Harry Chauvel and other army chiefs appointed guards on defence establishments. Over the weekend five thousand volunteer 'special constables' were sworn in to restore order, under the direction of Sir John Monash at the Melbourne Town Hall and led by AIF veterans and CMF officers. They were identified by badges and armbands.

The rioting and looting was quickly attributed to Melbourne's criminal element by all of Melbourne's newspapers, but subsequent court records show that most of the offenders who were apprehended were young men and boys without criminal histories. After the strike, the Monash Royal Commission into the Victoria Police strike brought down its findings. The government subsequently increased pay and conditions for police, including a bill to establish a police pension scheme before the end of 1923.

The Lucky Country? Depends on your point of view I guess...

THE head of one of the families allegedly involved in a violent feud in Melbourne says he wants to return to Lebanon because police in Australia are not helping his family.

Abdul Tiba says Australia is a "shit country" where no one cares about his family, which is allegedly involved in an increasingly violent feud with a rival clan police have alleged.

"No one helps me in this country, no police, not any community, no St Vincents (de Paul), no one," Mr Tiba told Fairfax radio.

"I tell them I want to protect my family. No one cares about this.

"They want to give me all the responsibility for this and I don't know nothing. I give them my statement but still no one cares in this country."

Mr Tiba said he had been living in his car since his house in Coolaroo was shot at on Monday, one of six tit-for-tat incidents involving guns and a bomb in Melbourne's northern suburbs in nine days.

"I've been sleeping in the car. They give me two days in a motel like a fucking gypsy," he said.

"I've had enough of this stress.

"Australia country they bring on 2006 from Lebanon all the citizenship, they spend 20 million thousand dollars but no one can spend $1000 to save my family.

"I tell them I want to go back, I don't want to stay in this s*** country like that."

Mr Tiba said he had no idea why his house in Guildford St, Coolaroo was being targeted in the feud, which is reportedly with the Kassab family.

"If I know I tell the police. I don't know," Mr Tiba said on Monday.

Police have said they have spoken to the families but have received little co-operation.

The feud escalated yesterday when shots were fired from a car at another on a busy street in Glenroy at 3pm.

A house in nearby Jacana was shot at last Thursday and again on Monday morning, followed by a car chase that ended in more shots being fired at a playground.

Mr Tiba's house has been shot at twice, had a home-made bomb thrown through the window and been rammed by a truck.

**With all due respect to Abdul Tiba, the non-working, welfare draining patriarch of a family that includes serious drug traffickers, a convicted murderer, three other sons in jail for firearms violence and serious assaults, I will personally grab a bus and drop your family, the Kassab family, the Kheir family, the Chaouk's, the Haddara's and all other families of your ilk at Tullamarine and you can fuck right off.**

Bezzina Interview - ABC 774 - September 2010

Here is an interesting interview between Darren Lunny, John Faine and Charlie Bezzina that didn't get much play during September 2010.

Bezzina released his book late last year and, although I personally wasn't a fan of it because it came across as quite arrogant and self serving, Bezzina displayed that he is blue of blood...

The Liam Houlihan interview on the other hand, has not changed my opinion of him.

This interview is vintage Faine, where he carries on with his usual self righteousness that makes me turn off everytime I hear him speak...

http://www.abc.net.au/local/audio/2010/09/27/3023045.htm

Cruel Hunt

The Apollo Task Force is again examining the case files regarding a notorious child rapist and killer wanted over the murder of Karmein Chan and attacks on other girls during the late 80's and mid 90's..

Despite media reports, police are no closer to catching the man.

Original information is being examined as part of a review of the original Operation Spectrum - the largest investigation in Victoria's history - and intelligence gathered since it closed in 1994.

Mr Cruel - considered a serial paedophile - terrorised Melbourne families in the late 1980s and early '90s. His last suspected crime was the killing of Karmein Chan, who was abducted from her Templestowe home as she babysat her sisters on April 13, 1991.

Karmein Chan's remains were found at Edgars Creek, Thomastown, a year later. She had been shot three times in the head. Karmein's mother, Phyllis, has kept in regular contact with police during the 20-year hunt for her daughter's killer.

Mr Cruel is wanted over attacks on at least three other girls, and is believed to have attacked up to 12 children over 10 years dating back to 1985.

After having interviewed 27,000 people in the biggest investigation in Victoria’s history, investigators revisited a huge stockpile of evidence.

To date more than 12,000 separate pieces of information had been reviewed and cross-referenced with new details as part of the investigation.

Police cannot rule out the possibility Mr Cruel had since fled the country, died or committed suicide. The profile of Mr Cruel that investigators narrowed down was of a man with few distinguishing features.

Police have not revealed whether the new suspect fits a different description to that issued in the early 90s. But at that time detectives built a picture of a man aged between 35 and late 40s, slightly built, with sandy or ginger-coloured hair, clean shaven, softly spoken and "quite caring in his own monstrous way". The man would now be close to 60 years of age.

A $300,000 reward exists for information that leads to a conviction.

HOMICIDE squad detectives fear missing schoolgirl Siriyakorn "Bung" Siriboon may have been abducted and murdered.

The 13-year-old’s disappearance has baffled seasoned detectives, who are struggling for leads weeks after she vanished outside her Boronia home on June 2.

Homicide Squad Det Insp Ian Potter said his team had taken more control over the case in the past week with the possibility she may not be found alive.

"There is that possibility unfortunately," he told reporters. "We’ve got to look at that. We’ve become involved from day one in a monitoring sense. We’ve taken a more active role over the last week or so. "We see this as a suspicious missing person. A girl 13-years of age walking to school, doesn’t arrive at school and has never been seen of since."

Their fears follow the conclusion of an extensive investigation into the teenager’s internet activity, which provided no further clues to her mysterious disappearance.

The Herald Sun revealed last week that Bung had three Facebook sites - some under false identities - and was active elsewhere on the web in the weeks before she vanished from Boronia on June 2.

Det-Insp Potter said police fear she may have been abducted while walking to school, but have absolutely no evidence to support it.

"We haven’t got any new information in that regard. We’d certainly like to know if anyone does have any information to please come forward," he said.

Bung was last seen by a neighbour as she walked down her street dressed in her school uniform and carrying her school bag.

Det Insp Potter said police did not suspect her parents of foul play.

"We’re saying Bung left home in a normal scenario, walking to school and has disappeared," he said.

Her devastated parents refuse to give up hope that they will find their daughter alive.

"The family are grieving for their daughter," Det Insp Potter said. "They are desperately in need of information…They are confident that she will be okay and that she will come home."

Detectives have been forced to return to the information they have previously received in the hope of finding something they may have missed.

"We’ve got to reinterrogate any of that information. We’ve got to sift through what we currently have," he said. "Clearly somebody knows something and we’re desperate for that person or persons to please come forward."

Rise and Rise again until lambs become lions...

Untouchables?

Melbourne's new gangland war appears to be hotting up with gunshots fired into a house in which two members of a notorious crime family were staying. The house was then set alight. The attack came as word spread that a northern suburbs family had moved to fill the void left by the demise of much of Melbourne's 'old school' underworld and after a member of the family, who Derryn Hinch named as Mahmoud Kiah, was shot at his home the previous week.

A man and woman asleep in the upstairs bedroom scrambled to safety out a window and down drainpipes after their two-storey home was blasted with gunfire and firebombed at 3am. The two criminals, who were staying over at the home, were sleeping downstairs and escaped through the back door. Between four and six shots were fired by a skinny gunman into the home in Barry Rd, Coolaroo.

He then threw a petrol bomb, which caused a large fire inside the house.

The attacker, aged about 20, escaped in a white van. On March 29, 2008, a man was shot in Gladstone Park. Two days later, in what is believed to be revenge, a 30-year-old Gladstone Park man, Mahmoud Kheir, was shot in the top of both legs in his driveway and taken to hospital. Neighbours called police after hearing gunfire in Bladen Place at about 5.35pm and seeing two men fleeing into Wolverton Drive on foot. He was treated by ambulance paramedics at the scene for a bullet wound in his thigh and taken to the Royal Melbourne Hospital, where he was in a serious but stable condition. Armed crime taskforce detectives were investigating the circumstances surrounding the shooting and appealed for witnesses to come forward who may have seen anyone acting suspiciously in the area around the time of the incident. "It's believed a man in his 30s has been shot in the leg and transported to hospital," a Victoria Police spokeswoman said. Kheir is a member of the now infamous crime family commonly referred to as 'The Untouchables' who, according to a caller to the Hinch program, have a 'huge family network of protection' and who, according to Age and 3AW journalist John Silvester, have a seemingly endless supply of weapons.

Silvester told 3AW's Ross and John that the violence associated with this family, who according to Silvester idolise Tony Mokbel, has been going on for a lengthy period with members of the family in and out of jail. But he said that family members regularly receive bail and that when they are back on the street, the violence worsens.

A policeman who called the program said that the family had been involved in violent crime for several years and that numerous peolple had been shot, stabbed and bashed.

On April 16, 2008, Hizir Ferman was arrested when Special Operations Group police intercepted a vehicle in which he was a passenger in Glenroy.

Sen-Det Mark Nichols, of the armed crime taskforce, later alleged Mr Ferman removed something from his waistband and placed it down beside the seat. He said a loaded 9mm semi-automatic handgun was later found between the passenger seat and the console. The driver was allegedly found with a black bag on his lap containing a .357 magnum Smith & Wesson revolver and a bag with five grams of cannabis.

Ferman was charged with two counts of being a prohibited person in possession of an unregistered firearm and possession of cannabis. Ferman, linked by police to two convicted gangland killers, was later denied bail on the firearms charges.

Melbourne Magistrates' Court heard the driver had been in regular phone contact with gangland killers Carl Williams and Evangelos Goussis before his arrest. Sen-Det Nichols told the court Mr Ferman had been identified as a "person of interest" in a shooting at Gladstone Park a week earlier. Magistrate Maurice Gurvich refused bail. He said the evidence suggested Mr Ferman, of Port Melbourne, was a career criminal who associated with "like-minded" offenders and had failed to appear in court several times. The court heard another man had made a statutory declaration claiming he had left the 9mm handgun in the car, but Sen-Det Nichols said the man had since admitted the declaration was false.

Mark Buttler wrote in the Herald Sun about the fears of tit-for-tat violence after the shootings. Buttler wrote that the family was involved in brutal ofences in the northwestern suburbs for years. 'Detectives believe they are linked to large-scale drug dealing, shootings, torture, witness intimidation, bashings, kidnappings, road-rage attacks, blackmail and knife crimes'. 'They have taunted police with claims that they have better guns. And their victims have been shot and attacked with machetes just for looking the wrong way'. The Herald Sun's Elissa Hunt wrote that police had appealed for help in breaking a code of silence that surrounds an alleged Victorian crime family dubbed "The Untouchables".

Police say victims and witnesses to the family's crimes are terrified and many refuse to assist prosecution. Family members have allegedly shot, beaten and tortured people in the northern suburbs over two years. The father and three sons are suspected of shootings, stabbings, armed robberies, drug trafficking, road rage, abduction, torture, bribery and blackmail. And after they allegedly threatened to machinegun a police station, officers confiscated a machinegun. The four now face dozens of charges, while police have seized numerous weapons, cash and drugs.

Inspector Frank Neagle said: "Witnesses won't come forward or have withdrawn (complaints) being threatened. "They (the family) think they can intimidate everyone, even the police. They taunt the police, saying their guns and ballistic vests are better than those police have." In one incident that has resulted in charges, a family member allegedly attacked a man with a machete at a service station because he had looked at a female passenger. One drive-by shooting in Campbellfield was believed to have been sparked because the victim had "looked the wrong way" at the shooter.

It is understood that when banks foreclosed on two Broadmeadows houses that the family were paying off, the banks hired security guards to protect the properties. Police are investigating the kidnapping and torture of a man who was later "dumped" at a hospital. Insp Neagle said the family was also suspected of widespread fraud, including identity theft and false loan applications. Northern suburbs residents were worried about the family's alleged road rage, he said. "When they are confronted (over poor or dangerous driving) they resort to violence," Insp Neagle said. "We appeal for people to come forward, so we can get these people and put a stop to the violence," Mr Neagle said.

On February 11, 2008, John Silvester wrote about a northern suburbs crime family who were making their presence felt in the underworld after the demise of criinals such as Tony Mokbel, Carl Williams and the Moran family.

'A police taskforce is investigating an emerging organised crime group intent on exploiting the void left by the destruction of the Tony Mokbel drug cartel', wrote Silvester. The taskforce, code-named Lased, has unearthed evidence linking the syndicate to drug trafficking, abductions, shootings, intimidating witnesses, bribery and attempted murder.

Taskforce investigators from the crime department and Broadmeadows say the members of the Lebanese crime cell have studied law enforcement methods, have expertise in money laundering, attempt to bribe officials and regularly try to intimidate police. "They are absolutely out of control," one detective said.

Police set up the taskforce after previous investigations into the group failed when frightened witnesses refused to co-operate. Gang members threatened one local woman and then smashed every window in her house as a warning to remain silent.

The cell — controlled by one crime family — has been linked to attacks in Fawkner, Campbellfield, Thomastown, Broadmeadows, Gladstone Park, Glenroy, Mill Park and Coolaroo in the past two years. In one case a pedestrian is said to have "looked the wrong way" at one of the team's gunmen, who responded by firing shots in his direction. Police have seized at least seven handguns and a quantity of drugs from the group but say the suspects still have access to firearms. They have also removed from a wall bullets they believe were shot next to a bound victim in a torture room.

Detectives have also recovered guns and drugs hidden in the walls of a house used by the syndicate. The Australian Crime Commission and the Purana gangland taskforce have been asked to help establish the scope of the group's criminal activities.

The Tax Office is expected to be asked to investigate the four key family members who control the group and appear to be living beyond their means. Police say the father is the decision-maker, his two eldest sons are the muscle and the youngest is the brains and anointed successor. They are backed by a group of subordinates, many of whom have convictions for drug trafficking and firearms offences. Police have already made several arrests but say the cell is still operating. Investigations are continuing. Late last week more drugs were seized and another suspect charged.

Detective Acting Superintendent Phil Swindells of Region Three (Broadmeadows) said: "We hope that a number of witnesses who have been reluctant to come forward previously will co-operate now that we have made some significant arrests. We will be able to provide support for any witnesses who do come forward." Senior police say several new groups are positioning themselves to take over areas once dominated by gangsters killed or jailed during Melbourne's underworld war. Detective Superintendent Richard Grant (of the crime strategy group) said last year that police would move on groups trying to fill the void. "We are in the target development phase of identifying the suspects that we should concentrate on. We will be moving on the next generation and established networks."

Mr Grant said police needed an accurate criminal intelligence bank to anticipate which criminals were likely to become major gangland influences. On April 16, 2008, the Herald Sun reported that senior police had been accused by one of their own of bungling an investigation into the new bloody gang war. The Herald Sun had learned a senior investigator quit the case, accusing top police of putting petty squabbles before crime-fighting. In an email to senior police -- including Assistant Commissioner Simon Overland -- Det-Sgt Paul Lunt of Broadmeadows withdrew from the investigation and threatened to resign over "the total incompetence of those charged with the responsibility of the management of investigations of major crime in this state". "I can no longer stand by whilst the departmentally sanctioned spin doctors sugar coat what is a very serious gang war in the making and letting a very dangerous family run amok without proper co-ordinated attention," he wrote.

Det-Sgt Lunt wrote that local police had asked for help from the Australian Crime Commission and the Purana Taskforce in the investigation's early stages and had not received a reply. He said the Victoria Police armed crime taskforce had become involved recently. "None of you have obviously learned lessons from what come (sic) out of Purana," he wrote. "The only difference here is that no one has died. And that is only good luck, not good management. "But you're all more worried about your petty squabbles over staff ownership and whether you may get criticised in the media." Senior police last night defended their record, saying Operation Lased had achieved some outstanding results and heavily disrupted criminal activity in the area.

Supt Richard Grant, who was one of the officers who received the email, said there had been three significant arrests in the past week bringing the total arrest tally to about 20 in the past six months. "Victoria Police respects the right of its members to express their opinions and concerns to their managers and members of senior command. However, it is confident that it is effectively managing the ongoing investigation known as Operation Lased. "A number of key arrests and firearms and drug seizures is evidence that this highly targeted approach is having a major impact."

Supt Grant said Victoria Police believed enough resources had been committed to the operation so far but, if necessary, more resources would be provided in the future. Police Association secretary Sen-Sgt Paul Mullett said Det-Sgt Lunt's attack was proof the force's major crime management model had been an "abject failure". Sen-Sgt Mullett said the situation sounded like an episode of Yes Minister. "This is another example of our members crying for help. The member is right. Victoria Police is being more run by spin-doctoring and propaganda these days," he said. Sen-Sgt Mullett said Det-Sgt Lunt was a dedicated policeman who, he hoped, would not be made to pay for his comments.

Its been awhile...

It's been quite a while since I last posted on this thing... Its funny how as much as some things change, so much remains the same?

I read with interest today comments in the newspapers from former CCP Christine NIXON, commenting about her role as the Chief Commissioner and lamenting as to why she has been criticized for being a poor leader because of her inaction over the bushfires.... From where I stand, she has contributed more to the disassociation with the community and apathetic attitudes of Victoria Police than any other person in history. Through her command, and the sycophants who replaced her, the organisation has become a total disgrace. The people in leadership positions (sub-officer and up) within the organisation care nothing for the jobs they actually do, just what they can get out of it and where they can climb to.

Gone are the days of police being happy to stay in whatever fields they choose (be it as a Detective, General Duties police member or Highway Patrol member). Apparently we need to adapt, modify and change to the ways of modern management structures and pilot programs.

Fuck it, I've busted my arse to get where I am, am damn good at what I do and don't plan on changing it anytime soon. I saw her out and I'll see all of these other hopeless fuckwits out as well...

What Price Justice?

18 months on and my weariness knows no bounds...

One thing that has become evident in the preceding 15 months has been the necessity to switch off once my job is completed.

Once all of the evidence is gathered, the offender charged, the brief of evidence completed and the matter goes to court, the investigators becomes nothing more than an observer.

The current court systems and processes afforded offenders is nothing short of a debarcle.

Being able to string a matter out up to five years is a blight on our justice system, and a slap in the face to victims of crime.

The monies being made by Victroian Barristers and Solicitors, from the proceeds of crime, is phenominal. People have some inclination of the sorry state of our Jutsice system, but no idea as to the true horrors...