I have never been a regular police or court reporter but I think it is worth posting this to show I can be versatile if needed. The Irish Brides story is nice too.
Bikie let off with fine …
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Category Archives: Police
Curious Sutton claim 5/1/2017
This is the story of the legal action taken against a local councillor and then abandoned.
It prompted academic Joseph Fernandez’s statements about privacy law.
From the Great Southern Weekender Thursday, January 5, 2017.
Authorities unlikely to get any fire restitution 11/8/2016
This is an example of a story lead changing right on deadline.
I had written about a judgement made against a young man who had started a bushfire and was ordered to pay a six-figure sum in damages.
I interviewed the fire control officer who was pleased with this result.
My editor had already put the story “on the page” when the man’s lawyer contacted me telling me his client could not be jailed for non-payment as it was a civil matter.
From The Great Southern Weekender Thursday, August 11, 2016.
Lessons learned from fire 14/01/2016
ALBANY’S chief fire control officer offers a different slant on the events of the past few weeks.
Click on this image to read the story.
Residents of the South West town of Yarloop have criticised authorities for not warning them of the catastropic blaze that destroyed their town until it was almost upon them.
He contrasted this with the actions of a few young campers at Two Peoples Bay, near Albany, who alerted authorities within 15 minutes of a similar fire starting, allowing firefighters to start arriving within another 20.
From The Great Southern Weekender, January 14, 2016.
Academic gets new take on old treasure 8/11/2014
Archaeologist Liesel Gentelli has borrowed techniques used by the police gold stealing squad to identify Spanish silver coins from old ship wrecks.
Click on this image to read the story
The WA Museum allowed her to study deformed lumps of silver from six ships wrecked off the west coast before the days of the Swan River Colony.
Ms Gentelli identified silver dollars from far-flung mints in Mexico, Peru, Spain and the Netherlands from the time when Spanish silver was the world currency.
She switched majors from archaeology to forensics to pursue this major project for her PhD studies.
This story first appeared in Science Network WA on 5 October 2014. The Kalgoorlie Miner republished it on 8 November 2014.
Science Network WA [read this story]
Aboriginal store ripoff ‘widespread’ 30/12/2008
Remote Aboriginal community stores are being ripped off throughout the Kimberley, prominent indigenous residents say.
The stores have become prime targets for unscrupulous store managers, with those doing it almost always escaping prosecution.
“They haven’t even been asked to pay the money back,” retired Aboriginal policeman Gordon Marshall said.
WA Today [read this story]
Aboriginal night patrols 17/7/13 and 31/7/13
The Koori Mail
Text by GEOFF VIVIAN
Police, the WA government and Aboriginal community organisations agree that night patrols are an essential service.
Click on this image to read the story
Teams of trained Aboriginal workers drive through the streets of Perth and regional towns at night, stopping to speak to stranded countrymen who are often intoxicated or otherwise distressed.
They then offer them a lift home, or to emergency accommodation
In July 2013 the WA Aboriginal affairs minister ordered a review of the service, with a view to extending it.
Meanwhile the Commonwealth Attorney General, who part-funded the service in Broome and Perth, decided to cut funding for the patrols by 37 and 20 per cent respectively.
Grave victim wants more theft alerts 11/10/08
This is a 2008 story I did for POST newspapers about Karakatta Cemetery’s security.
Click on this image to read the story
Thieves were targeting visitors’ cars. Warning signage was very poor.
The story contains an interview with a Dunsborough woman whose car was rifled as she visited her grandmother’s grave with her children.
Aboriginal law men slam ‘neglect’ by police 5/3/2009
TEXT AND PHOTO BY GEOFF VIVIAN
from WA Today
Relations between Aborigines and police in the North West have dived, say several former police officers.
Remote community residents are being neglected, those residents are running into more problems when they visit the towns, and more alcohol is coming into “dry” communities.
WAtoday.com.au spoke to several Aboriginal people who resigned from the force after police commissioner Karl O’Callaghan moved to encourage Aboriginal Police Liaison Officers (APLO) to become sworn officers on general policing duties.
WAToday [read this story]
Aboriginal store ripoff widespread 30/11/2008
STORY BY GEOFF VIVIAN
from WA Today
Remote Aboriginal community stores are being ripped off throughout the Kimberley, prominent indigenous residents say.
The stores have become prime targets for unscrupulous store managers, with those doing it almost always escaping prosecution.
“They haven’t even been asked to pay the money back,” retired Aboriginal policeman Gordon Marshall said.