Police Powers and Responsibilities

Superintendent Craig Jackson

Hunter Valley Local Area Command

NSW LEGISLATION

POLICE ACT 1990

Section 6 - Mission and functions of the Police Force

“police services” includes:

(a) services by way of prevention and detection of crime,

(b) the protection of persons from injury or death, and property from damage, whether arising from criminal acts or in any other way,

(c) the provision of essential services in emergencies.

NSW LEGISLATION

STATE EMERGENCY & RESCUE MANAGEMENT ACT 1989

Definition of Emergency

“ means an emergency due to an actual or imminent occurrence (such as fire, flood, storm, earthquake, explosion, terrorist act, accident, epidemic or warlike action) which:

(a) endangers, or threatens to endanger, the safety or health of persons or animals in the State, or

(b) destroys or damages, or threatens to destroy or damage, property in the State, being an emergency which requires a significant and co-ordinated response.

(any reference to “property” includes “the environment”)

Combat Agencies in NSW

EMERGENCY RESPONSIBLE AGENCY

ANIMAL, PLANT DISEASE, RODENT OR INSECT PLAGUE

DEPARTMENT OF PRIMARY INDUSTRIES

FIRE (WITHIN RURAL FIRE DISTRICT) RURAL FIRE SERVICE

FIRE (WITHIN A FIRE DISTRICT) NSW FIRE BRIGADES

FOOD INDUSTRY NSW FOOD AUTHORITY

FLOOD STATE EMERGENCY SERVICE

HAZARDOUS MATERIAL. ON LAND. INLAND WATERS. STATE WATERS

. NSW FIRE BRIGADES

. NSW FIRE BRIGADES

. RELEVANT PORT AUTHORITY

LAW ENFORCEMENT DURING A DECLARATION NSW POLICE FORCE

MARINE OIL & CHEMICAL SPILLS RELEVANT PORT AUTHORITY

PANDEMIC NSW HEALTH

SEARCH AND RESCUE NSW POLICE FORCE

STORM AND TEMPEST STATE EMERGENCY SERVICE

TSUNAMI STATE EMERGENCY SERVICE

Obligation to Combat Agencies & Emergency Services

All of the following Acts require NSW police officers to recognise the authority of officers operating under their respective legislation and to provide them with every assistance necessary to enable them to fulfil their responsibilities :

• Fire Brigades Act

• State Emergency Service Act

• Ambulance Service Act

• Rural Fires Act

Definitions

Danger Area means the area specified by a senior police officer as the area in which an emergency is causing or threatening to cause injury or death.

Premises includes land, place, building, vehicle, vessel or aircraft, or any part of premises.

Senior Police Officer means a police officer of or above the rank of Sergeant.

Summary of Powers

Section 60 - Power to Evacuate

Section 61 - Power to take Safety Measures

• Can only use powers if authorised by a senior police officer

• Reasonable use of force may be used as reasonably necessary to ensure compliance

• Can only use powers if authorised by a senior police officer

• Use of force to gain entry into a premises under this section requires written authorisation by a senior police officer

Section 60L - Power of police to evacuate or take other steps

concerning person

(1) A senior police officer may, if satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for doing so for the purpose of protecting persons from injury or death threatened by an actual or imminent emergency, direct or authorise another police officer to direct, a person to do any or all of the following :

a) to leave any particular premises and to move outside a danger area,

b) to take any children or adults present in any particular premises who are in the person’s care and to move them outside the danger area,

c) not to enter the danger area.

Other Powers under this Section

Section 1A gives Police powers to contain, quarantine or decontaminate persons exposed to chemical, biological or radiological contamination, including the reasonable use of force to do so.

Use of Force to Evacuate

(2) If a person does not comply with the direction given under this section, a police officer may do all things as are reasonably necessary to ensure compliance with it, using force as is reasonably necessary in the circumstances.

(4) Neither this section nor Section 6 of the Police Act 1990 imposes a duty on a police officer to use force to ensure compliance with a direction under this section.

Decision to Evacuate

• A senior police officer may direct an evacuation on their own initiative or they may be requested to do so by a senior officer from a combat agency.

• The decision to evacuate should be given careful consideration.

• If the decision is made to early, the evacuated community have been exposed to unnecessary risk, inconvenience and cost.

• If the decision to made too late, the affected community will be forced to evacuate under high risk conditions or remain in place & accept the full effects of the hazard.

Section 61 - Power of police to take other safety measures

(1) A senior police officer may, if satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for doing so for the purpose of protecting persons from injury or death threatened by an actual or imminent emergency, direct or authorise another police officer to direct, a person to do any or all of the following :

a) the closure of traffic of any street, road, lane, thoroughfare or footpath or place open to or used by the public, in a danger area or any part of the danger area including (a1) the removal of vehicles in a danger area or any part of the danger area,

b) the closure of any public or private place in a danger area or any part of the danger area,

c) the pulling down, destruction or shoring up of any wall or premises that have been damaged or rendered insecure in a danger area or any part of a danger area,

d) the shutting off or disconnecting of the supply of any water, gas, liquid, solid, grain, powder or other substance in or from any main, pipeline, container or storage facility in a danger area or any part of a danger area,

e) the shutting off or disconnecting of the supply of gas or electricity to any premises in a danger area or any part of a danger area,

f) the taking possession of, and removal or destruction of any material or thing in a person danger area that may be dangerous to life or property or that may interfere with the response of emergency services to that emergency,

(g the protection or isolation of any material or thing in a danger area by preventing a person from removing or otherwise interfering with the material or thing.

Section 61D - Use of Force

Reasonable force may be used for the purpose of gaining entry into a premises to comply with a direction under Section 61 but only if the senior police officer :• has authorised in writing the use of force in the

particular case,• has specified in writing the circumstances that

are required to exist before force may be used and the particular case falls within those circumstances.

If a police officer authorised to enter a premises uses force to do so, the police officer must, as soon as possible, inform the senior police officer who directed him or her to exercise the function under section 61.

Section 61B - Notice of Entry

Section 61C - Care to be taken

Local Emergency Operations Controller

• LEOCON is a Police Officer who has the skills, knowledge and experience in emergency management and is appointed to the position.

• LEOCON is always a Police Officer and is generally the most senior in the area.

• Responsibilities include; 1. Control the response to emergencies 2. Co-ordinate resources and agencies in support of a combat agency managed emergency.

Coroners Act 2009 No 41

• Sect. 51 – Coroner to give police officers directions concerning investigations to be carried out for the purposes of coronial proceedings.

• Sect. 30 – Inquiries concerning fires and explosions.

• • Sect 6 – Reportable Death – (1)(a) died a violent or unnatural death(c) Died under suspicious or unusual circumstances.

If an incident of emergency requires the co-ordination of a multi-agency response, police officers may be required to

perform the role of “Controller”

NSWPF - ICCS

Incident Management Team

Command/Control

Support staff

Planning OpsAdmin & Logistics

Intelligence InvestigationsPublic

Information