A former West Australian police officer has been sentenced to more than two years jail for tipping off a drug dealer that his home was going to be raided.

Paul O'Keefe was a detective at Fremantle 2002 when he rang his friend, Tyssul Davies, and told him to be careful.

Mr Davies was being investigated for drug dealing, and when police searched his home they found no illegal substances.

Last year O'Keefe was found guilty by a jury of attempting to pervert the course of justice and today Judge Kevin Sleight sentenced him to two years and four months jail.

Judge Sleight said O'Keefe had seriously breached his obligations as a police officer, and betrayed his colleagues.

He also said O'Keefe's crime was likely to lead to a loss of confidence in the police service.

O'Keefe will have to serve 14 months before he can be released on parole.

Source: ABC Online

Senior Constable David Hill appeared in Perth Magistrates Court yesterday after his home was raided, and his personal computer was analysed.

He is due to reappear in the court in late February.

Another Senior Constable will face one charge of possessing child pornography in court on Friday.

Police say the cases are unrelated.

Source: ABC Online

THE WA Police Service is losing more than one officer a day.

While police chiefs are confident the recruiting problem has been solved, the WA Police Union is not convinced.

The force lost 391 officers last year, a figure that has grown steadily from 2003, when 206 left.

Last year, 546 officers graduated, leaving Commissioner Karl O'Callaghan with an extra 155 officers.

But the union is concerned that the figures do not add up.

The police-authorised strength in June last year was the equivalent of 5193 full-time officers, even though 5330 names were on the books.

About 235 officers worked only part time last month, some for as little as one day a week.

Another 32 have been given 12 months leave without pay. They include officers who wanted to resign, but were given a year off to ``think about it''.

Twelve more were seconded to the Australian Federal Police joint airport taskforce, and paid by the agency, and 23 officers were on maternity/paternity leave.

They are all still WA police officers and are included in the official figures.

Police Union president Mike Dean said: ``I've always been concerned that the figures are not a true representation of the real numbers on the ground.

"I see this when I walk into a police station. There are massive shortages, huge workloads and stress on individuals.''

Last year, 300 officers resigned, 56 retired, 19 were retired medically unfit and five died.

Eleven of those who left were Aboriginal liaison officers.

In 2006, the service rose by only 37 officers, in 2005 by 42, in 2004 by 93, and in 2003 by 71.

Mr O'Callaghan said: ``We've got more people on the books because some jobs are shared between more than one employee. That's been like that for ever.''

He said having 12-15 per cent of the workforce on leave had always been factored into the budget.

He said also that by June 2008 he would have 5371 officers.

"The salaries of those on unpaid leave are used in other areas, to buy another police officer, to pay overtime,'' he said. "I replace them by using their salaries.''

In an interview with The Sunday Times in December last year, Mr O'Callaghan said: ``We've come from the situation at the beginning of 2007 where we've had the highest attrition rates ever and the lowest recruiting applications and a forecast that we were struggling to get people on board.

"Now it's a situation where we will meet our full targets by May, we've solved our recruiting problem. We don't have a recruiting problem.

"We have a local recruiting challenge. We do not have a recruiting problem. I could get 450 people tomorrow if I just snap my fingers, they'd all come out from the UK.''

Mr Dean said annual losses raised serious concerns, particularly the loss of experience.

"Experience is being lost, but there is also a loss to the public purse,'' he said.

"It costs $80,000-$100,00 to fully train and equip an officer.''

Opposition police spokesman Rob Johnson said: "The truth is that we are under strength on authorised officers on the streets, carrying out investigations or in a supervisory role.''

WA Police plan to increase the number of speed and traffic-light cameras by a massive 350 per cent.

Fixed Speed and Red Light Camera - Driver Improved Version

Currently, there are 25 Multanovas and 30 red-light cameras in the State. The proposal, contained in a police-commissioned consultants' report, says: "... additional cameras are planned (an increase of 350 per cent) to achieve targeted reduction in speed and red-light violations, and hence road-related deaths.''

Police would not reveal whether the plans involved increasing each type of camera by this amount, or both combined.

If the number of each type was increased, it would result in up to 112 speed and 135 traffic-light cameras on the state's roads.

Police confirmed the report had gone to the WA Government for consideration, as part of a "broader approach to road safety.

The report, titled Infringement Management Service Provision, Project Steering Committee 1, said: "(WA Police) is facing a challenge in delivering on its road-safety objectives, as a result of constraints being experienced in its speeding and red-light camera, and traffic-infringement operations.

"(It) currently takes nearly six months to process an infringement, a delay that erodes the effect of cameras on driver behaviour.

"Further, additional cameras are planned (an increase of 350 per cent) to achieve targeted reduction in speed and red-light violations, and hence road-related deaths, placing further strain on the current operation.''

Opposition Leader Paul Omodei said the report showed the Government was on the wrong track because increasing the number of speed cameras had failed to curb road deaths.

Since 2006, Multanova numbers have nearly doubled, from 14 to 25, yet the death toll shot to an 11-year-high of 235 last year, he said.

"If the State Government is planning to go ahead with this, when speed cameras have proven ineffective in reducing the number of people dying on our roads, then the question must be asked, is it more about revenue-raising than road safety?'' Mr Omodei said.

"I have had enough of hearing about mothers, fathers, sons and daughters dying on our roads, while this Government sits on its hands, refuses to take road safety seriously, and then moves down the same failed path of putting in place more speed cameras as a silver-bullet fix.''

He said the Liberal Party wanted a parliamentary inquiry to come up with solutions.

"We want to look at aspects of road safety, from driver training to the condition of our roads and the amount of time police have to spend off the road to do administration work, rather than patrolling,'' he said.

"There is no doubt that we need more police on our roads. I want to see at least a 25 per cent increase in the amount of time spent by police officers on traffic patrol after 2007's shocking road toll.''

He also said that only 21 cameras were operating and only five of those were based in regional areas where many road fatalities occurred.

A spokesman for acting Police Minister Eric Ripper said the plan was "among all the things continuously being considered''.

He denied it was about revenue, saying speed was a direct contributor to the deaths of about 60 people on WA roads every year.

Source: Perth Now 

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A SENIOR police officer has denied he deliberately withheld information from defence lawyers involved in the Pamela Lawrence murder case, which might have helped prove the innocence of their client Andrew Mallard.

The Assistant Police Commissioner Mal Shervill is giving evidence to a Corruption and Crime Commission inquiry, which is investigating the case of Mr Mallard, who spent 12 years in jail after being wrongfully convicted of the 1994 murder.

Assistant Commissioner Shervill has been questioned about why he asked a forensic pathologist to delete parts of his report on the case, including a finding that no blood was detected on any of Mr Mallard's clothes.

He denied it was because he did not want the defence to find out about it, and said he did include the information on the comprehensive summary of evidence he provided to the DPP.

Mr Shervill's lawyer Ron Davies has objected several times to the line of questioning taken by Counsel Assisting the Inquiry Jeremy Gormly.

The Hearing continues.

Source: ABC Online

The volunteers would perform routine administrative work and could be used to perform crowd and traffic control duties under the supervision of a sworn officer.

Mr Watson says the program, which is used in both New South Wales and Queensland, could alleviate the shortage of police officers in the state.

He says using the volunteer officers to perform non-urgent or clerical work would free-up sworn officers for more important front-line duties.

"I know most policemen get very frustrated by the amount of time they've spent in the office doing a lot of paperwork," he said.

"So I think it's a perfect opportunity to not only for some of our people in our community who are looking to help people, but also the police as well."

Source:  ABC Online