User:Ronnam/New AFP article/Australian Federal Police (history)

Although not formed until 1979, the Australian Federal Police can trace its ancestry back to 1908, when the first investigative function was established by the Australian Government. A variety of Commonwealth units and agencies with responsibilites for law, order, and criminal investigations were formed and reformed in the seventy years from 1908 to 1979.

Antecedents

Public service investigators

The first investigators for offences under Commonwealth laws where appointed around 1908. These public service investigators were appointed by the Attorney General (Commonwealth). They policed matters relating to tax evasion, electoral law, and old age pensions.

Northern Territory Mounted Police

In 1911 the Commonwealth took over the responsibility for policing in the Northern Territory from the South Australian Government. The organisation became known as the Northern Territory Police during the 1930s. The granting of self government to the Northern Territory in 1978 moved responsibility for policing in the territory from Canberra to the new local territory Government.

Commonwealth Police (1917-19)

On November 29, 1917, Prime Minister Billy Hughes while addressing a crowd during a train stop at Warwick, Queensland was hit by a thrown egg. The local police sergeant when requested to take action by the Prime Minister pointed out that he worked for the Queensland Government, not the Commonwealth.

The Prime Minister created a Commonwealth Police Force to protect him and his Ministers, appointing the first Commissioner on December 7, 1917]], which operated mainly in Queensland from 1917 to 1919 to carry out the law of the Commonwealth. This force has become known as the Commonwealth Police (1917-19).

Main article: Commonwealth Police

Investigations Branch

In 1919 a plain clothes unit known as the Investigations Branch was formed in 1919 to take over the function of the public service investigators.

Peace Officers

During a seamen's strike in 1925 the New South Wales Government refused to allow the New South Wales Police Force to serve process on the president and secretary of the Seamen's Union . The New South Wales Police Force was requested to arrest unionists for contravention of the Immigration Act, but Jack Lang, Premier of New South Wales refused. On September 2, 1925, in response, the Commonwealth created a Peace Officers unit , for the preservation of peace throughout the Commonwealth under the new Peace Officer Act 1925.

After the strike ended, the Peace Officers continued to serve Commonwealth process and performed police functions for the Investigations Branch.

Commonwealth Police (Federal Capital Territory)

In 1927, eight New South Wales Police Force members were seconded to the Commonwealth, and together with 10 Peace Officers, formed the Commonwealth Police (Federal Capital Territory), which then took over the policing of the Federal Capital Territory from the the New South Wales Police Force, in time for the inauguration of the Federal Parlaiment. The Commonwealth Police (Federal Capital Territory) changed its name to the Australian Capital Territory Police Force in 1957.

Main article: Australian Capital Territory Police

Defence Establishments Guard

Strike action by civil watchmen at the Maribyrnong munitions factory in 1935 prompted the formation of the Defence Establishments Guard to protect Commonwealth buildings and munitions factories in Sydney and Melbourne.

Peace Office Guard

In 1940 the Peace Officers and the Defence Establishments Guard were merged to form the Peace Office Guard.

Commonwealth Investigation Service

In 1946 the Investigations Branch was merged with the wartime military Security Service to form the Commonwealth Investigation Service (CIS), with offices in all Australian states.

Commonwealth Police (COMPOL)

In 1960 the Peace Office Guard and the Commonwealth Investigation Service merged to form the Commonwealth Police (COMPOL) . This allowed a plain clothes service to combine with a uniformed service. COMPOL did surveillance work, established anti-terrorist and atomic evaluation sections, and later took over diplomatic and airport guarding. COMPOL was responsible for the establishment of the Australian Police College, and had postings at Interpol in Paris and Cyprus for the United Nations .

Main article: Commonwealth Police

Australia Police

Lionel Murphy, Attorney General (Commonwealth) is credited with creating the basic concept and framework for an effective system of federal policing in Australia, after 70 years of various initiatives, in the form of the Australia Police .

The Australia Police concept involved amalgamating the Commonwealth Police Force, the Australian Capital Territory Police Force, the Northern Territory Police Force, and the Federal Bureau of Narcotics (Australia) .

Jack Davis was appointed as Chief Commissioner for the Australia Police. However, the Australia Police initiative was abandoned with the change of the Australian Government's legislative assembly in 1975 .

Preformation

The Sydney Hilton Hotel bombing during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Regional Meeting in Sydney on February 13, 1978 was the initiator for the eventual formation of the Australian Federal Police (AFP).

On March 1, 1978 the Australian Government commissioned Sir Robert Mark, GBE, QPM, the former Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police and Chief Constable of the City of Leicester, to report on the police resource organisation of the Commonwealth of Australia. Sir Marks' report was presented on April 6, 1978.

The Government adopted the report and established an inter department committee (IDC), chaired by Sir Peter Lawler, overseeing a task force to implement the report's major recommendation, the creation of the AFP.

The task force was headed by Mr Geoff Halliday, a First Assistant Secretary of the Department of Administrative Services. Other members were John Johnson, Deputy Commissioner, Australian Capital Territory Police, Roy Farmer, Acting Assistant Commissioner, Commonwealth Police (COMPOL).

Issues

One of the issues to be overcome was a previous attempt to rationalise in some form policing in Australia. The professional standing of the new organisation had to be protected, becasue of the aborted mid 1970s Australia Police initiative.

Another issue was the breadth of activity to be undertaken by the new organisation. The new organisation would be a mutliple component organisation and this issue would cause amalgamation problems and division until the establishment of the Australian Protective Service five years later.

There was early disagreement as to whether or not the Commonwealth's illict drug enforcement function should become part of the AFP. Sir Robert Mark advised against this, but this recommendation was not accepted.

Constitution

The AFP was constituted by legislation, the Australian Federal Police Act 1979, which passed through the Australian Parliament in May 1979, and received assent on June 15, 1979.

Establishment

The AFP's first Commissioner, Sir Colin Woods, was sworn in on September 11, 1979 and took charge of planning for the commencement of operations.

Formation

The AFP was formed and commenced as an operational entity on October 19, 1979 , bringing together the Commonwealth Police (COMPOL) and the Australian Capital Territory Police.

The Federal Bureau of Narcotics was transferred from the Australian Customs Service to the AFP on November 7, 1979.

There were drug liaison officers posted in Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, London, and Washington. Officers were also posted to Interpol in Paris and New Scotland Yard in London. The AFP became solely responsible Austalia's United Nations peace keeping policing duties, and twenty officers were posted to Cyprus.

The AFP's first headquarters was in the National Mutual Building, Canberra. The AFP moved into its interim headquaters building in March, 1987.

The AFP's budget for 1979 was $72,806,676. The newly formed AFP had a total 2952 personnel, 1134 members for general policing, 1443 for protective service, and 375 public servants including the former Narcotics Bureau personnel. At the time of its formation the AFP had 195 female officers.

Mandate

As well as the AFP having its general mandate and responsibilities defined by legislation, the AFP is subject to Ministerial direction. The ministerial direction provides broad direction and operational priority guidance to the AFP in its support for the Government's general law, order, and security policy initiatives. The first such direction to the AFP's new Commissioner was to

... lay the foundation for the Australian Federal Police and build the new force into a first class police organisation imbued with integrity, the confidence and pride of the ACT community and the nation, and which will be highly respected internationally ...

The new AFP's initial responsibilities were:

• investigating crimes against the COmmonwealth under the Crimes Act (1914) (Commonwealth)
• policing the Australian Capital Territory
• coordinating training and support for counter terrorist activities
• Special Branch duties
• escorting very important persons (VIP) and internationally protected persons )IPP)
• policing at Australian airports
• sending police officers to other Commonwealth investigative bodies

In 1980, Justice David Opas, a Family Law Court judge, was shot and killed. This led to the AFP being assigned responsibility for Family Law Court security.

The AFP took over responsibility for the guarding of Government House, the Lodge, and Parliament House in 1981.

AFP Overseas offices and postings
Location Opened Closed Type Interpol, Paris 1979 October1 1991 Secondment New Scotland Yard, London 1979 October1 closed Liaison officer Cyprus 1979 October1 Peace keeping Bangkok 1979 November2 Liaison office Kuala Lumpur 1979 November2 Liaison office Jakarta 1979 November2 1987 March Liaison office London 1979 November2 Liaison office Washington 1979 November2 Liaison office Los Angeles 1982 May closed Liaison Office Wellington 1982 November 1993 January Liaison office Hong Kong 1983 November Liaison office Washington 1983 November Liaison office Islamabad 1984 March closed Liaison office Manila 1984 September Liaison office Singapore 1985 May Liaison office London 1986 July 12 Liaison office Honolulu 1986 August 1993 June Liaison office Nicosia 1988 June 7 2001 June 303 Liaison office Namibia 1989 January Peace keeping Buenos Aires 1989 February 2002 September 204 Liaison office Chiang Mai 1990 January 13 1996 May Liaison office Rome 1990 February 2000 January Liaison office Interpol Lyon 1991 Secondment Jakarta 1992 December Liaison office Port Moresby 1994 February Liaison office Bangkok 1996 April 2 Liaison office Bougainville 1997 December Peace keeping Hanoi 1998 January 7 Liaison office Beijing 1999 April 2 Liaison office Rangoon 2000 January 24 Liaison office Bogota 2000 July 3 Liaison office The Hague 2000 November 17 Liaison office Port Vila 2000 November Liaison office Phnom Penh 2001 July 1 Liaison office Beirut 2001 July 1 Liaison office Honiara 2001 November 1 Liaison office Dili 2002 January 29 Liaison office Suva 2002 February 18 Liaison office Mandalay 2002 September Liaison office Belgrade 2002 October 8 Liaison office Brasilia 2002 October 28 Liaison office Dubai 2002 October 29 Liaison office Chiang Mai 2002 November 1 Liaison office Pretoria 2002 November 1 Liaison office Ho Chi Minh City 2002 November 23 Liaison office United Nations, New York 2003 July 1 Liaison office Bali 2004 July 4 Liaison office
1 Inherited on formation from Commonwealth Police. 2 Inherited on formation from Federal Bureau of Narcotics. 3 Moved to Beirut. 4 Moved to Brasilia.

The AFP's Australian Capital Territory Police division introduced Neighbourhood Watch within the Australian Capital Territory on July 15, 1985, and Crime Stoppers on December 13, 1996.

The AFP's responsibility for guarding Australian overseas diplomatic missions ceased in November, 1986.

Structural changes

Inclusion of coastal surveillance

Mr Kim Beazley, the Minister assisting the Minister for Defence presented a report to the Australian Government in 1984 recommending that coordination of the Australia's coastal surveillance be transferred to the AFP. This transfer occured on April 1, 1984.

Splitting off of Australian Protective Service

The Australian Proctive Services Act 1987 received royal assent on March 13, 1987. The Australian Protective Service (APS) was created on October 20, 1984, removing the protective service component, comprising 600 personnel, from the AFP.

Splitting off of coastal surveillance

In 1988 the coastal surveillance role, Coastwatch, was transferred to the Australian Customs Service (ACS). The coastal surveillance function established wihtin the ACS was a more viable one than the AFP had been given.

Australian Capital Territory policing

The Australian Capital Territory was granted self governement on January 1, [1989]].

To enable the AFP to continue to provide police services to the Australian Capital Territory legislative changes were made via the Australian Capital Territory (Self-Goverment) Act 1988 and the Australian Federal Police Act 1979.

Inclusion of the Australian Protective Service

In July 2002 the Australian Protective Service became an operating division of the AFP, to enhance cooperation between key counter-terrorism agencies, and greater operational coordination of Commonwealth law enforcement resources.

Australian Institute of Police Management

While remaining as an independent entity, the Australian Institute of Police Management (AIPM) becomes subordiante to the Australian Feferal Police Act 1979 on December 13, 1996.

Major events

The head of the Australian Capital Territory Police, Assistant Commissioner Colin Winchester was assinated outside his home on January 10, 1989.

The AFP's budget for 1989 was $163,338,000.

Females in the AFP in 2003 495 sworn 455 unsworn.

Hong Kong office also opened 20 July 1984 ????

Chiang Mai office also opened February 1990 ????

In 1989 the AFP had 2401 sworn and 467 unsworn.

Jakart office also reopened in December 1993 ????

Islamabad office also opened on May 1994 ????

Port Moresby office also opened in September 1994 ????

External links

• Official website the Australian Federal Police