Ep 05 - Hero Dog & Bikie Wars Part 3

The fifth episode of Operation Podcast. A brand new official WA Police Force Podcast.

On this week’s show:

- Commander Gordon Fairman is back with exclusive details on Gang Crime operations in the wake of the Kwinana Motorplex assassination.

- A citizen's arrest performed by a four-legged concerned citizen.

- The Super-Mum from Donnybrook Police Station calls in!

- The Commissioner joins the show once again.

- Police Media's Julian Vicentini reports live from Gang Response Team warrant's in Perth's North!

Transcript

SPEAKER_08 0:00

This podcast discusses real-life crimes and law enforcement matters. It may include detailed descriptions of criminal activity, traumatic incidents, and other content that could be confronting or distressing, particularly for victim survivors. Listen and discretion is advised. If you find any of these topics upsetting, please consider whether this content is right for you and seek support if needed.

SPEAKER_06 0:29

Welcome back to Operation Podcast, your official weekly listen for months, the Western Australia Police Force Podscot.

SPEAKER_10 0:35

We're your hosts, I'm Maya Greev.

SPEAKER_06 0:37

I'm Sergeant Nate Gilmore. And I'm Joey Cattenzaro. And coming up this week, a Mikey funeral after a senseless murder. As the betrayal from within the gang begins, we take you behind the scenes of a massive police operation to maintain community safety.

SPEAKER_10 0:50

Speaking of Mikeys, police media will join us live from the scene of a recent raid.

SPEAKER_07 0:56

We speak to the real-life police super mum constable Kelly Buckley. She opens up on how she balances raising a surprising number of kids with the demands of frontline police work. How many kids, Nate? Oh, you'll have to keep listening and find out.

SPEAKER_10 1:08

The commissioner is on the pod to answer your questions.

SPEAKER_06 1:11

And citizens arrest, sort of, how a pet dog who is in no way connected with police assisted in taking down a criminal on the run right here in WA.

SPEAKER_07 1:20

Wait, Joey, are we recruiting average pet dogs for the canon division?

SPEAKER_10 1:25

Maybe we should.

SPEAKER_07 1:26

Maybe we should.

SPEAKER_06 1:27

Also stay tuned. Later in the episode, we'll be bringing you this week's History Fact, a recently discovered link between our police force and Australia's most infamous Bush Ranger.

SPEAKER_10 1:36

Ned Kelly.

SPEAKER_06 1:37

The suspense is real. You ready, guys? I'm ready. I'm ready too. Good. Excellent. This is Operation Podcast. Welcome back to Operation Podcast. For the past couple of weeks, we've been picking apart Operation Revello. That is the police operation that was stood up in the wake of the murder of Rebels Bikey boss Nick Martin. As I'm as I've said previously, and I and I want to say every week, remember that this was a real person who was a son, a brother, a husband, a friend to many, and he was murdered, and that is unacceptable. We're pulling this story apart because we want to try to discourage other people from following and going into this life of crime. And also to deter other people from violent acts. Hopefully they get a sense that what they do has a real-world effect and it hurts family members as well as the person they're targeting. So the past couple of weeks, we've had Assistant Commissioner Tony Longhorn on. He's set the scene with the petty, spiky politics and rivalries and tensions that have led to a shooting, a fatal shooting, a murder of Nick Martin at the Quinana Motorplex in December 2020. And then Commander Gordon Fairman came on and talked to us about the initial response that night, the chaos, and how the investigation split into two different streams. One of them is a homicide investigation. They're looking for a shooter and ultimately whoever paid the shooter. More on that in the weeks to come. Commander Fairman also talked to us about the fact that there was a need to suppress bikey activity and a show of force, if you will, a lawful show of force, to basically look for evidence, but also stop the gangs potentially from retaliating, from people trying to fill a power vacuum from the thing that people always fear, a bikey war where lives are lost, and in particular, innocent bystanders in the community get caught in the crossfire. I'm joined once again by Commander Gordon Fairman. Gordon, thanks very much for coming back on.

SPEAKER_01 3:46

No worries.

SPEAKER_06 3:47

Gordon, what I wanted to talk to you about now is the day of Nick Martin's funeral. That was Wednesday. It was December 23, 2020. And it was, admittedly, quite a spectacle. It was also a big police operation, and it was pretty significant in a lot of ways. What was your role on the day? I was the operational commander for the just so people at home are aware, if if you cast your mind back, these big gatherings of bikes, patched with their gang colours and insignia, riding together, sometimes hundreds of them. Um in this case, I think there was hundreds, I think, in attendance. This used to be a common sight, it's not anymore, and we'll get to that in just a little bit. But at the time, you're the commander who you're in charge of this, I guess, an operation what to keep the public safe and and and maybe even if there's, I don't know, are you anticipating there's a possible attack on the day?

SPEAKER_01 4:50

Absolutely, all of those things, but effectively it was to um just ensure the community and the family safety during the funeral event.

SPEAKER_06 4:57

Okay, all right. So that's you know, whittling it down to a nutshell. Were you prepared that maybe if somebody wanted to, I don't know, have a run at the wet the rebels in a different gang, a rival, a rival criminal gang, wanted to make a statement? Could there have been an attack? Were you prepared for that?

SPEAKER_01 5:16

Absolutely, yeah. That's certainly one of the contingencies that we were looking at that there would be more violence furthered associated with the murder of Nick Martin, but that there could also be violence that was not associated with that, where it could have been opportunistic.

SPEAKER_06 5:32

Okay. What sort of preparations do we have in place? I I remember I was there as a crime reporter at the time, and you know, just to set the scene, uh Pinaro Center Cemetery uh was where Nick Martin's family, friends, and and loved ones said goodbye to him. Uh in the lead up to that, there was a procession of, I want to say at least a hundred, at least a hundred uh outlaw motorcycle gang members or their associates or friends who were on motorbikes and they were in a huge, big long procession. Uh, the coffin was covered in, I believe it was $100 bills. It was a real spectacle. It was very loud, it was very intimidating. All of the rebels' colours were on show.

SPEAKER_01 6:16

In fact, I believe there were some other gangs, like the Mongols, there was a number of other clubs had representatives there as well. And there was some a large number of rebels members traveled from other jurisdictions to come to the funeral as well. And in effect, our operation was to secure um all of the locations that those people were going to be at to provide perimeter security should anyone commit an offense, but also to provide um security for the community as well. With a, you know, you've got a grouping of a large number of outlaw motorcycle gang members interacting with the community at speed on a freeway or on a road can be a recipe for bad things to happen. So it was around managing the the funeral home, uh, managing the procession, um, then managing Pinaroo and then the dispersal afterwards.

SPEAKER_06 7:03

An honest question. Some of these, some of the uh members of these criminal gangs have a proven criminal record, a proven track record for extreme violence. Emotions are running high. Were you worried that that something might happen just by virtue of the fact that this was a funeral, there was a lot of a lot of anguish?

SPEAKER_01 7:23

It's a tinder box, absolute tinderbox. Um, it's fraught for a whole lot of reasons. And you know, again, there are a lot of people in attendance that day that we didn't know, um, didn't know well, didn't have a relationship with, and we didn't understand any of the motivation for the murder at that point. There's no offender in custody at that point, so yeah, it's you're talking about a whole lot of risks that are being managed at that point to the best of our ability.

SPEAKER_06 7:52

Is it fair to say say that also your gang crime team would have gone through a couple of the doors of the people who are at that that funeral? Would they be a little bit upset by having been visited by police? Absolutely. Yeah, okay, all right. Um, we're just gonna have a bit of a listen, if you will. And this this might paint the picture um of of of how loud and intimidating and just the feel of this this bikey funeral procession. Okay, that it is intimidating, it's it's just as I remembered it. Um the helicopter was above the procession. Yep, yeah, and I I do feel like my cameraman had a shot of potentially someone hanging out the side of it.

SPEAKER_01 8:41

Yeah, absolutely. I've seen the footage.

SPEAKER_06 8:43

Okay. Was like are we talking overwatch sniper kind of style?

SPEAKER_01 8:48

Yeah, potentially if you can picture every contingency at that point is in place.

SPEAKER_06 8:52

So wow, okay. Now you mentioned that you don't know everybody at these sorts of bikey funerals. Is there also an opportunity for police? And yeah, we we talk about policing, and there's something like 70 different jobs in policing. Is there also an opportunity for intelligence gathering that might keep the community safe and help us at a future date?

SPEAKER_01 9:12

It's an awesome intelligence opportunity at that point. Um, not just for the people that are in attendance, but sometimes the people that aren't in attendance tells you a story as well. Um, so what's the old line? The absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. Um, so there's a lot going on there at that point. Um, we're looking at vehicles that are being used, we're looking at people that are together, people who aren't together, um, making some assessments around the validity of relationships and that sort of thing. And that forms part of our database in relation to what we're going to be doing in the future as well. But yeah, it's an excellent intelligence opportunity.

SPEAKER_06 9:49

And so in that that particular period of time as well, after you've got, you know, potentially we we believe he was still or or had recently been the boss of the biggest uh Oatland motorcycle gang in Western Australia, when you've got something like that happen and Nick Martins died, I imagine there is a bit of a let's go with power vacuum. We, you know, Tony Longhorn sort of he was really good at um explaining the lack of loyalty and uh the opportunistic nature of some of the individuals within in these these criminal gangs. Are you kind of looking at this and and trying to figure out who who's replacing Nick? Is the are the rebels imploding? Is there any evidence from what we can see that maybe there is a beef there that can give you a lead on a suspect?

SPEAKER_01 10:38

Yeah, all of those things. So we're looking at it definitely from a suppression point of view about what's going to be happening in the future. And and this is not the first time we've seen a leadership transition in an outlaw motorcycle gang. Um, it's you know, it's certainly an unusual way for it to happen, but we've seen um bikey bosses go into prison for 30 years before, and we know that they're gonna be replaced. There is a succession that happens. Um, there's usually rivalries, uh, there's jockeying for position, um, there's factions, it's politics.

SPEAKER_06 11:09

Okay. Now we we talk about deterrence and we talk about deterring people from entering, I guess, this life. But a lot of those people who are at the funeral, would you say that there's a fair number of them who have either been to prison or could even currently be in prison?

SPEAKER_01 11:27

Yes. The the largest chapter of any bikey gang in Western Australia at the moment is in prison. Uh, there are more members in prison at the moment than there is membership in any of the gangs in Western Australia. The Casarina chapter. It's absolutely it's a it's part of the life. Um, it's part of the process.

SPEAKER_06 11:46

Do you think that there's you know you've sat down with a a lot of bikeys over the years. Do you think that everybody thinks they're going to be different? No. Do you think they accept that they're they're going to do prison time and they still still stay in a game?

SPEAKER_01 12:01

I absolutely accept it. The 1%'s there for a reason. Um, it's it's not a uh it's not people saying that this is not the life that I'm involved in. It's more an acknowledgement of this is the life that I'm involved in. No one seems to want to go to jail, but there's there's certainly a recognition and an acknowledgement that that specter is always there.

SPEAKER_06 12:22

Were were all the heads of the other gangs there that day? No. Okay. Some were noticeably absent? Yes. Yeah. We we had heard that there'd been a obviously a big dust up between uh Nick Martin and Hell Hells Angels, uh sergeant at arms and enforcer Dane Brackovich. I assume he wasn't there? No, he wasn't. Okay, yeah. Fair enough. Right. I want to ask quickly about because that would have been a risk. That would have been a huge risk. That would have been a I imagine that might have been um something that would have raised your blood pressure significantly on the day, Gulda.

SPEAKER_01 12:55

Yeah, those are the sorts of things. And if you can imagine, again, planning for any major event, and you know, this this is a major event. This is um one of the things that we started contingency planning for the first day. Um, so we know that this is gonna be happening in one form or another, and providing safety and security to the family of the victim is is utmost. But you just know that you're gonna be doing it in a really colourful environment and a colourful and dynamic environment.

SPEAKER_06 13:23

It certainly was that. I gotta ask, we talked about this lack of loyalty when the chips are down, and I know this for a fact because I was a reporter at the time, and I remember this happening, and in fact, I I I sourced some CCTV and did some interviews and broke this story that during the funeral for Nick Martin's funeral, that his partner, Amanda Martin, um, was robbed by someone with suspected outlaw motorcycle gang links. They're literally burying their boss and her partner, and someone went and stole a bucket of money off her. Well, how does that, I mean, does that sort of paint a picture about the the just the the fickle nature, the lack of loyalty sometimes?

SPEAKER_01 14:08

Yeah, I think that story in itself probably sums up quite a a lot about the nature of some of the people that we're dealing with. Uh, but again, you're talking about a broad spectrum subset of the the community, and a lot of people that are in the OMCG world value loyalty very, very highly. Um, some of them don't. I see. Um, and some are opportunistic and some are on the pipe, and as a result of making really bad choices because of drug use and dumb things happen.

SPEAKER_06 14:39

I I guess though, if you let's just say you are one of those those OMCG members who do who does value loyalty. I mean, you are surrounded, you've got to be aware, you're surrounded with people who are potentially, if not literally, going to stab you in the back. Yeah? Yeah, okay. Uh all the front. Yeah. Now, I my understanding is she also had some tattoo parlors that were fire bombed. Um was there any anything in the in the pol the petty bikey politics side of things that was motivating this, I guess, um, I guess almost implosion of the rebels, if you will.

SPEAKER_01 15:19

Two things um were dominating the world at the time, I think, were power and money. Yep. Um, but they are the two things that will be dominating that world today and tomorrow as well. And that's what it comes down to. Um, for some people, it's more about power, for some people it's about money, for some, it's about both. They're not necessarily linked. Um, you can make a lot of money without being overtly powerful. Um, sometimes being powerful actually restricts your ability to make money. And so you you see a balance um in that sort of subset. And that sort of became too ahead on that day for the funeral, just around the management of the risk of all of those people. Um, all of the not only OMCG figures that are there, but our traditional Northbridge identities, a whole lot of colourful people from all over Perth are coming to pay their respects. And we're trying to manage a funeral procession which is larger than anything that we've sort of seen for a very long time as well, and make sure that everybody there gets to the cemetery safely.

SPEAKER_06 16:17

And of course, uh, you know, make sure that I guess that those close family members and and friends, some of whom do not have any uh any legal links at all or background, can can just grieve.

SPEAKER_01 16:30

Yeah, 100% safely. And and that's um, you know, it's not lost on me on the day that I'm actually at a funeral. Yeah. Um, and and it was a solemn event and it was visibly upsetting a lot of people that were there as it should do. Yeah. Um, it just that the day had these other trappings with it that made it, you know, crazy.

SPEAKER_06 16:54

Gordon, correct me if I'm wrong. Just to give an example of that police, well, they'll protect anyone in our community where they can. Was there a medical episode at the at the funeral? And there was. Did you respond to that medical episode? Can you tell us about that?

SPEAKER_01 17:08

We have one-on-one time um with people from across the club. At this instance here, I'd met with members of the family, I've met with members of the club trying to work out what the best way was to provide the opportunity for a respectful funeral. So that had maybe strengthened some of the relationships on the way as well, um, which sort of assisted in some ways. Uh, but again, yeah, there is no love lost. But standing the incident, I think, that you're referring to.

SPEAKER_06 17:36

Well, a medical episode is what I'd heard. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 17:38

Yeah. Um, so yeah, I was uh standing on the the outside of the um ceremony at the cemetery because we'd had an understanding with the family that we wouldn't um push in to the the ceremony to invade people's space, just to provide an outer perimeter. And because of the number of people that were there, um we're standing alongside a number of um OMCG who either by status or by relationship with Nick didn't feel that it was appropriate or possible for them to go to the graveside. Um so there was a smattering, and I'll standing next to a bloke who was probably about 19 foot tall. And it was a hot day. Um, and yeah, there was a medical episode and he required some assistance. So um I performed a little bit of a resuscitation on him, and and the ambulance was able to come forward and look after him. Um you know, that's one of those instances where all of a sudden you just become people again, don't you?

SPEAKER_06 18:33

Yeah. So, and just let me get this straight though, the head of gang crime saved a bike's life.

SPEAKER_01 18:38

I don't know if I saved his life or not. Um, I think um there's a lot of there's a lot of other things going on there, but certainly, yeah, I was I was doing some pretty heavy first aid on him while we were waiting for the ambulance to come forward.

SPEAKER_06 18:49

Okay. And and what was the response then from, I mean, you know, I guess the the assembled uh well criminal fraternity.

SPEAKER_01 18:58

Yeah, the the you know, it's good at that point there because again, you could you can drop people back to a baseline when things like that happen. Um, and it maybe blows away some of the animosity. And um, you know, so at that point there, I'm sort of the the the big leather-clad crowd in front of me parted and I'm sort of moved into a different position a little bit closer. But again, I'm I'm I'm not there to intrude. This was an event for family and friends of a man who had been murdered. And you're trying at that point to almost hide a couple of hundred uniformed police officers, um, media crews, helicopters, um, gawking members of the public. You're trying to, you know, not have that take away from, you know, a family event that's there. But I mean, again, people from the family and from the club acknowledge the fact that this is a spectacle for a reason. I mean, you know, any sane person is gonna see if you're gonna ride a couple of hundred bikes down the road um sounding like that in full colours, people are gonna come out and watch. Okay, you know, and do we want people watching a funeral? No. But then if you don't want to watch him, don't do it that way. So there was a balance in there about how you do that.

SPEAKER_06 20:08

And this well, this brings me to the very last thing that I wanted to ask you about today, Gordo. And it's something I prefaced in the beginning. You don't see that anymore. You don't see these large groups of outlaw motorcycle gangs with their colours. In fact, you don't see their colours or their insignia pretty much anywhere. Why is that?

SPEAKER_01 20:27

Can you explain that for listeners? Absolutely. So this incident took place just prior to the introduction of the unlawful consorting legislation that we have in place now, which has created an offense for New Laws, basically. Absolutely. It's created the an offense for the wearing of prohibited insignia. And so there are a number of um outlaw motorcycle gangs have been designated as identified organizations. And within the legislation, you are unable to display an insignia of an identified organization, and that extends to tattoos, as we've seen in the media a lot. Uh, in relation to people being charged with that, you can't wander around with Hell's Angels or Mongols tattooed on your forehead. Um, that needs to be covered up. But the most obvious thing, and the first thing that it did was it stopped the wearing of obvert colours by members of bikey gangs.

SPEAKER_06 21:15

Band-aids, we've seen bikees wearing makeup, all sorts of things to get around this where they've had tattoos that would have been visible. Otherwise, they get charged, and there are consequences, legal consequences. Uh, what about anti-consorting? So uh that's another new law. What is that, what effect does that have on those big groups of bikes and and and maybe why we don't see them anymore?

SPEAKER_01 21:34

So there's there's two layers in the consorting legislation. At the top level, there's an unlawful consulting notice, and that can be served on an individual who is a member of an identified organization, and it can list the number of other members and prevent them from having contact with each other. That is the nuclear option. But below that, there's a dispersal notice. Now, a dispersal notice can be issued to any two members of identified organizations who are found in a public place. In country with each other.

SPEAKER_06 22:01

A firearm prohibition order. That's another one that was that's pretty new. Yes. And if somebody has a firearm prohibition order, there's some extra powers that come with that as well as not being able to own a firearm, isn't there?

SPEAKER_01 22:13

Yes, yeah. So uh an FPO or a firearms prohibition order is not something that's reserved for um OMCG, although you can be an OMCG member and get an FBO served on you as well. Um but the FPO provides police with the ability to enter into premises and search for firearms.

SPEAKER_06 22:29

Any premises, pretty much. Yes. That that person happens to be in. Yes. So if you're in a bikey gang, you don't necessarily want someone who's got an FBO over for a drink because, well, police could come knocking at any time and search your house.

SPEAKER_01 22:42

Yeah, absolutely. And it prevents someone who's got an FBO served on them from going to any premises where there is a licensed firearms holder or where firearms are going to be kept as well.

SPEAKER_06 22:49

Or alcohol? No. Okay, but that's often if you've come out of prison and there's alcohol or drug-related charges, or even just violent charges, sometimes you might find you're not allowed to go to a licensed premises.

SPEAKER_01 23:00

Yep, absolutely. So prohibition prohibition notices under the Liquor Enforcement Act can be issued as well. So there's a range of um powers and authorizations that can be applied to a person who's shown that they're um not suitable to be provided with that ability to enter into licensed premises or to have a firearms license.

SPEAKER_06 23:18

So you can't see your friends, you can't see your workmates. Must be difficult to make any money. People literally aren't going to want you around because you're going to bring it to police attention everywhere you go. You can't potentially, in some of these instances, drink. Sounds like a pretty grim life.

SPEAKER_01 23:32

Yeah, you're really selling it, aren't you?

SPEAKER_06 23:34

Yeah, yeah. I mean, this is the reality, right?

SPEAKER_01 23:36

I think that's one of the myths that people have as well that this is uh some somehow a way into riches. It's not. Um, the overwhelming majority, the 99%, maybe that's why they wear a 1% patch, but the 99% of outlaw motorcycle gang members are not making any money from this. In fact, it's uh a burden on them to pay dues to a club and the expectations in relation to that. So, yeah, it's it's not a great sell. We run um an exit operation at Gang Crime as well, where we um meet with and and debrief members who are leaving. And there's some overwhelming messages that come from people who are exiting the gangs. There's a lot of other members that are in the process of wanting to get out. Uh, extracting themselves is is not always that easy either, depending on the relationships that they've formed on the way through. Um, it's not a lifestyle that's got a lot going for it, to be fair.

SPEAKER_06 24:26

Last question. Uh uh Is it fair to say then that in in many ways Nick Martin's funeral was really a funeral for the outlaw motorcycle gangs as we know it?

SPEAKER_01 24:39

Yeah, there's some um there's certainly some timing and some irony in that as well. And you know, absolutely the last time we saw a show out like that, um, I think the nature of uh the crime, I think the emotions and the politics that were visible in the OMCG community in Perth at the time and the impending legislation all kind of uh pivoted on this sort of one big uh uh event that was going to happen. So yeah, it was a it was a really challenging and uh sad day uh for a whole lot of reasons. Gordon, thanks very much for coming on. No worries, thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_06 25:17

This is Operation Podcast.

SPEAKER_07 25:21

You're listening to Operation Podcast. He's a busy man with a packed schedule, yet somehow he's carved out time to come and see us. Here's your Commissioner Cole Blanche. Sir, thanks for joining us.

SPEAKER_04 25:32

My pleasure, always great to be here.

SPEAKER_07 25:34

So we're gonna dive into the inbox. Uh, some burning questions for you, sir. When was the last time you went on patrol? And do you remember that job? That's from Rick, aged 67.

SPEAKER_04 25:44

Uh, the last time I went on patrol was in Broome. Um, it was the wet season, so it was very hot. I thought I would uh put myself to the test of uh what at the police officers up there do day in and day out. Um it was great, it was fantastic.

SPEAKER_06 25:58

Was this this is quite recently then?

SPEAKER_04 26:00

It was, and in fact, um working a shift in Broome is is amazing, you know, the experience and the location, but it's hard policing, it really is. And uh and you know, I really do have a strong respect for police officers that do modern policing. You know, you're wearing a lot of kit, uh, you've got a lot of safety equipment, wearing your vest, you've got a body worn video running all the time. Uh it's an extremely different job to when I was a constable with essentially none of those things. So I do like to get out there when I can. Uh I like to ask questions of the constables and give them, I always ask them the same question: what's your wish list? If you were commissioner for a week, what would you change? And uh it really helps me understand what are the the burning issues from the front line.

SPEAKER_06 26:52

Fair enough. Thanks, boss. Um, were you surprised? Or did it take any any re-familiarization for you when when given that you've been around for a little while, boss? Um no one handed you like a musket, a standard issue musket?

SPEAKER_04 27:08

I am acutely aware policing in 2026 on the front line. I am the probationer commissioner.

SPEAKER_06 27:18

That's good. You trust, you always say that, you trust your people.

SPEAKER_04 27:20

And they're excellent. They are super professional. It's amazing to actually work with them.

SPEAKER_06 27:25

Okay, this next question is Is it fun speeding when you're chasing someone speeding? It's from an eight-year-old student in Ellenbrook.

SPEAKER_04 27:36

It's a really good question. In fact, um, a lot of people might join the police force thinking, well, I get to drive fast cars, I guess to chase bad guys, and I might have been one of those people that joined for some of those reasons. But the reality is when you're in a car and you are in a police chase, you've got a thousand things growing through your mind. And the first one of those is the safety of the community, the safety of yourself and your partner, and ultimately the safety of the person you're chasing. And uh the rule, the law's pretty clear about what you can and can't do in those situations, and you need approval to drive faster. Um, you've always got to be exercising extreme care and attention to the road. Um, you've got a strategy to put in place to stop the offender. So it's it's really a very busy workplace during that period. Now, at the end of it, you might go, oh, if you get a good result, you know, that the value comes at the end. But during a chase, you're probably thinking about safety and arresting someone.

SPEAKER_06 28:36

So maybe maybe safer to say to our young listener, satisfying more than fun.

SPEAKER_04 28:42

Value. It's satisfying and it creates an immense sense of value when you get a result without anyone being hurt. And you will often see police at the end of a chase be super relieved that no one's hurt, but a sense of satisfaction that they've taken a bad guy off the streets.

SPEAKER_10 28:58

Absolutely. And this one's from Cass and the crew in the WA Police Corp Commons team. What is your favorite cop show and how accurate is it?

SPEAKER_04 29:08

Uh I am a fan or was a fan, it's now finished, of Blue Bloods. And uh Blue Bloods is a story from NYPD in the US. And uh I think Tom Selleck is a police commissioner. His father was the former police commissioner, and his uh two sons, and I think even his daughter-in-law are uh uniformed police officers and detectives. So it's about a police family. Um, most people know my son's also a police officer, so we didn't mind. It's probably the only police show that I could really watch, and and I and I didn't mind. I don't think any police show is terribly accurate. No one wants to see someone doing paperwork for hours on end and and uh being at a job for multiple hours or waiting at a hospital or doing some jobs that are really tough out there, but I just enjoyed it.

SPEAKER_06 29:55

I I I would say conversely, on the flip side of that, though, boss, some of the things that happen in this job, like in terms of the amazing, exhilarating, but you know, pretty crazy things, you can't make them up. I've I've never seen them on TV. I'm always surprised. I mean, is that is that another selling point? People think about joining up.

SPEAKER_04 30:14

Pilots often describe their job as being hours and hours of mundane tasks uh followed by moments of absolute sheer terror if something goes wrong in the cockpit. Uh, policing's not dissimilar to that. You know, you might be doing a mundane, mundane job, albeit important job, every day. You might be driving around and patrol. Next minute you're out running full speed over fences and arresting some pretty bad individuals. And it's that sort of not just sheer terror, but sense of satisfaction, sense of fun, camaraderie in particular when you're working with teams. All of that comes in spades, and some people have it a lot more than others. Um, but I think that's the privilege of this job. It's so wide and varied in its experiences that it's just it's a wonder to do.

SPEAKER_07 30:55

Commissioner Blanche, thank you again for your time to take uh out of the busy schedule that you uh that you have. Doing paperwork. Yeah. Um we'll check in with you again next week.

SPEAKER_04 31:06

My pleasure.

SPEAKER_07 31:07

Okay, coming up next, we're gonna check in with Claire with the news headlines an operational podcast.

SPEAKER_06 31:14

And joining us now from Police Media Unit is Claire Siganta with an update on what's been making news headlines in policing this week.

SPEAKER_08 31:22

Well, thanks for having me, Joey. Guys, can you have hazard a guess at what this sound is?

SPEAKER_06 31:38

Is it me putting my cutlery away after I've let my washing up like build up in the washing up drip drawer tray for a while and I'm throwing it all into the drawer?

SPEAKER_07 31:47

Close. Okay. Close. I reckon it's a good citizen putting their shopping trolley back in the bay.

SPEAKER_10 31:54

And I was gonna say the very start of it sounds like the start of the Michael Jackson hit song thriller.

SPEAKER_03 32:00

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_08 32:01

All very, very good guesses. But what I can say, you're all incorrect, actually. Uh, it's it's actually an excavator crushing about 50 e-ridables. So e-scooters, e-bikes, it's all part of Operation Moorhead.

SPEAKER_06 32:15

I mean, that that's a sad sound for some, but music to the ears of others, I think. Um, I know the commissioner has been talking about this recently. He was asked recently why have we only issued 15 fines to people riding e-scooters in a in a manner that's illegal or dangerous? And that sound is the answer because we don't find people. If your e-scooter can go over a certain speed, it is an illegal device. If you're caught doing it, we don't find you. We take it and we crush it and your hopes and dreams with it.

SPEAKER_08 32:50

That's exactly right. So that's that's been really big in the news headlines this week. In some other news, we've had a really sad situation down in Spencer Park in Albany. Uh, a 69-year-old woman was sadly found deceased in her home on February 8th. A 50-year-old man found really seriously injured in the same home. He's actually since passed away. Um, and homicide detectives are really keen for any information that the community might have to help solve this case.

SPEAKER_06 33:18

Okay. So um, if anyone's got an information, they who do they call?

SPEAKER_07 33:22

You can make an online report at Crimestoppers WA.com.au, or you can call the number 1-800-33000, and you can be anonymous. So we need all the pieces of information we can to help solve this case, and it's a community effort. Thanks, Nate.

SPEAKER_08 33:37

And meanwhile, in the court system, this week is a pretty big trial. It's an alleged sexual assault, historic sexual assault of a of a girl who was nine or ten at the time. An 80-year-old man has been charged with some really serious offences. So that trial begins this week in court as well.

SPEAKER_06 33:54

Okay, one for us to keep an eye on. And obviously, um a lot of work's gone into that one by the I think it's the sex crimes division. Um, so obviously all allegations still has to go through the court, but we'll we'll keep you posted on that one. Operation podcast.

SPEAKER_10 34:15

Sometimes policing doesn't go exactly how you plan it, and sometimes backup arrives from places you don't expect. Officers in Rockingham were responding to reports of a man with a weapon near the police station when things took a very unexpected turn. Let's have a listen to this audio, guys.

SPEAKER_02 34:38

Oh man. Oh, you always put the canon on me.

SPEAKER_06 34:50

Okay, so did he just say you always put the canine onto me? Is that canine unit?

SPEAKER_10 34:55

Joe, let's have a release into that audio. That's a good run.

SPEAKER_06 35:13

Okay, okay, okay. So he's saying the dogs, so canine unit.

SPEAKER_10 35:17

Well, that wasn't actually the case. As the officers were moving in, a dog suddenly appeared and charged this man. Not a police canine dog, though, just a concerned pet citizen. What? Citizens arrest? So the man obviously made the decision to jump down and surrender up because he thought it was the canine unit. He thought it was the canine unit.

SPEAKER_06 35:42

Just quickly, this guy, correct me if I'm wrong, he he's asking the police officer what he had done wrong. I think we will allege he had uh a knife, a bladed weapon on him.

SPEAKER_10 35:52

Yes, he had a weapon on him in public.

SPEAKER_06 35:54

Okay, alright. So do we know who this dog belongs to? Do we know anything about this hero dog?

SPEAKER_10 36:00

So we do have a lead on whose dog this might be, and you may recognise her voice.

SPEAKER_02 36:08

There's a dog that started chasing it as well. Like an actual dog. Uh, is that the hungry giant? Yeah, he's right there.

SPEAKER_10 36:32

But that is all we have. So we don't have a name for the owner of this dog. We don't even have a name for the dog. So if you do know whose dog this is or the name of the dog, please let us know. We'd love to know.

SPEAKER_06 36:46

Yes, because we think he'd be a great police officer.

SPEAKER_07 36:52

No, Joey. He can join the poor patrol.

SPEAKER_06 36:55

What a good boy or girl. And yeah, can you please help us find the hero dog?

SPEAKER_07 37:02

Um if you know who it is, send us an email, operation.podcast at police.wa.gov.au.

SPEAKER_06 37:09

Can we even say, like, just looking at the dog? Um, so please go to our socials, as Maya said. Do we know what sort of breed it might be?

SPEAKER_10 37:16

I think it was a labrador or some sort of larger breed.

SPEAKER_07 37:21

Be concerning if it was a chihuahua.

SPEAKER_10 37:25

Could you imagine? Our new police force dogs.

SPEAKER_06 37:28

Again, have a look at the socials, see if you know who the dog belongs to. If you know the dog, if you spot the dog, we want to hear from you. We definitely want to say thank you very much and shake their paw and maybe give them a treat.

SPEAKER_10 37:41

Operation Podcast.

SPEAKER_00 37:42

All units, the WA police force is looking for people who are big on community and solving true crime, not just watching it, you know. Ordinary people up for doing extraordinary things.

SPEAKER_05 37:52

Sound like you? Search Let's Join Forces.

SPEAKER_07 37:55

You're listening to Operation Podcast. Well, today on the podcast, we're joined by someone who could probably run an entire station on her own. Because at home, she practically does. Donnie Brook Police Station's Constable Kelly Buckley is not only a dedicated frontline officer, she's also a super mum. Kelly, thanks for joining us. Tell us, how many kids do you have?

SPEAKER_11 38:17

I have six kids.

SPEAKER_07 38:19

Wow.

SPEAKER_06 38:20

Six kids, and you're a police officer.

SPEAKER_11 38:23

Yes.

SPEAKER_06 38:24

How old are they?

SPEAKER_11 38:25

My oldest has just turned 10. I have an eight-year-old, a seven-year-old, a three-year-old, a two-year-old, and an almost one-year-old.

SPEAKER_06 38:34

Wow. That's incredible. How how do you go juggling being a mum to six kids and also being a police officer?

SPEAKER_11 38:45

Well, as they say, teamwork makes a dream work. Um I am lucky enough to have an amazing supportive partner who's also in the job, uh, Johnny Brook Station. Um, he's made it possible for me to go back to work, obviously with the help of a flexible work team and support of our station. Uh, we were able to split my partner Johnny's full-time position into two part-time positions, um, which made it possible for me to go back to work um and also to keep our kids out of daycare.

SPEAKER_06 39:15

So Yeah, I was about to say, yeah, what with six kids at home, which is which is more challenging? Locking up bad guys or or trying to uh parent six children.

SPEAKER_11 39:27

Yeah, I I I often say I come to work for a break. Um it is it is very hectic at home with all the kids. Um it definitely can be very stressful. Um so yeah, going to work is a nice it's a nice breaker sort of to be away from home as well, but also it's nice to be home as well, being raising the kids and and not having someone else raise our kids essentially.

SPEAKER_06 39:52

Does it does it actually help that as a police officer you uh with your parenting style, does it help that as a police officer you you do actually do have training at the academy in crowd control?

SPEAKER_11 40:02

Yes, I do think that definitely helps. We run a tight ship, um they don't get away with very much.

SPEAKER_06 40:09

I can imagine Fantastic. Uh do you ever do the, you know, the what it is, you uh you have the right to remain silent. Um anything you do or say maybe held against you at bedtime.

SPEAKER_11 40:20

Um I've often thought about actually um doing a mock police order book to keep the kids away from each other at some sometimes.

SPEAKER_06 40:29

Wow. Wow. And and the flexible working arrangements you mentioned, I I mean, that might be interesting to some listeners who are considering joining our police force. They are they do exist, don't they?

SPEAKER_11 40:40

They do, and they are amazing. I I didn't think I would be able to come back to work after having I had two years off when I had between number four and five. Um, and I just didn't think I just thought it's gonna be impossible for me to come back. Do I even remember what I'm doing? Um, but after speaking to them and sort of them they had a really positive spin on it all. Um, and just yeah, they made it to seem less daunting and and gave us options and things that we hadn't thought of that were even options they sort of put out there, which yeah, made the experience a lot a lot better for me to come back.

SPEAKER_07 41:14

Speaking of daunting, uh how how has it been policing in the country compared to the city? Is it harder to raise a family in a remote location like uh Donny Brooke?

SPEAKER_11 41:24

Well, I actually love regional WA. I think from a policing perspective and a family perspective is actually better. Um the only thing we obviously don't have is any family support down here. Um, but as from a from a policing and family perspective, I think working in regional WA is is quite special. Um it's yeah, it's more flexible with work, um, being part of a community as well. We're quite heavy into the community here with our kids doing sports clubs and I quite often go to the school and do sports clubs, they're the whole they're the whole team, Kelly. No, no, we well, we can do it. We've got the basketball team. I don't know if we've quite got enough for a football team, but we've got the basketball team.

SPEAKER_10 42:06

Absolutely, Kelly. And um, you know, there are definitely other mums out there, other dads out there who are thinking of joining the police force. What would be your advice to them to join the police force or pursue a job in the police force as well as raising a family?

SPEAKER_11 42:21

Yeah, so I joined personally, I joined the police force after having I had three kids first and then I joined. So that was quite challenging going full time straight into the academy and having my kids in daycare. Um but I we obviously we managed to to do that, and then I went on to have obviously um three more kids. I think it's really it's really hard to join as after having kids and just you know knowing if it's the right thing to do. It can be quite daunting. You obviously want to be home raising the children as well. Um but I'm actually really proud that I've managed to do that and that we've managed to keep our careers there and we're really positive role models for our kids. Um, they absolutely love the fact that we are police officers, um, and and they often say to us that they want to be police officers when they grow up and be like mum and dad. So that's quite encouraging, and that's really I think it's really positive.

SPEAKER_06 43:16

Well, it's it's extremely, extremely positive, and we are really proud of you too. We we think you're a super mum and a super police officer by the sound of things. Uh and and look, because you rock, normally one of our segments will give will give the the person we're speaking with the option of choosing a song that they can I don't know that we can finish the segment on. We don't have many options today because the pipe band are busy. And so a really nice bloke by the name of Anthony is gonna come up and play guitar. He's from the corporate comms department. And and look, this may seem like a tenuous link, but because you rock, would you be happy with I love rock and I love rock and roll by Joan Jett. Joan Jett.

SPEAKER_11 43:59

Perfect.

SPEAKER_06 44:00

Excellent. For for you and all the mums who rock, especially police mums, it is Operation Podcast.

SPEAKER_05 44:25

Today I'm bringing Operation Podcast right into the thick of the action for National Task Force Morpheus targeting outlaw motorcycle gangs nationwide and specifically in Western Australia, it's definitely heaps to see here. I'm standing outside a residence in the northern suburbs of Perth where six or seven gang crime officers were walking to the front door ready to bust it down to conduct a search warrant when coincidentally their suspect was sitting on the driveway and straight away was put in handcuffs. It was quite thrilling to see, and to see six or seven gang crime officers and local detectives and even the canine unit working in unison to get this arrest done and then can continue their search warrant was definitely a sight to see. And just before that, it's back-to-back search warrants because just before that we came from another residence about 20 metres away, where again search warrants were being conducted, searching for any type of illicit activity, and these warrants are happening nationwide. Definitely heaps here happening in Perth.

SPEAKER_06 45:48

Ouch.

SPEAKER_07 45:49

Ouch. Look, if you can see yourself tackling people, you might be a footy player, play rugby, any of those kind of uh contact sports. We'd love to hear from you. Go to www.let's joinforces.wa.gov.au.

SPEAKER_06 46:02

Amazing. Um, Nate, I want to say quickly, very special thanks to you. You are a reasonably new dad. I know that you don't have six children, but you do have a child, and you're a little bit tired today, aren't you?

SPEAKER_07 46:13

I'm struggling, yeah. Yeah. But uh I think hats off to Kelly. She's absolutely taken the cake with six kids and working part-time with the WA police force. That's uh that's an amazing achievement.

SPEAKER_06 46:25

Indeed, it is. Um, before we go, speaking of Kelly, sort of, this is our segue. History fact of the week. We recently discovered, and I did flag this last week, we recently discovered that the infamous Victorian Bush Ranger Ned Kelly had a half-brother named uh Jack Kelly. And he took a very different path in life. In fact, he actually joined the Western Australia Police Force. Jack Jack had been uh earning an honest living as a noted horseman and horsebaker, and was so good in the saddle that he and his wife Violet actually travelled Australia and much of the world performing with the biggest circuses of the day. But in 1906, after they stopped in Western Australia, they fell in love with the place, can't blame them, and decided to settle here. That's when Commissioner Frederick Hare hired Jack to improve horsebacking and riding instruction in the WA mounted police section. Now, Jack Kelly, regimental number 880, became a probationary constable in the WA police force on March 12, 1906, and a second-class constable on August 1st of the same year. And according to one account, uh the interviewing officer who inducted him into the force had this to say.

SPEAKER_10 47:41

Thank you.

SPEAKER_06 47:42

That wasn't what they had to say, that was my sneezing. I just want to say.

SPEAKER_10 47:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 47:51

Yeah. But anyway, after he's he sneezed, he said this we are not interested in your brother's deeds. We understand that you are in no way responsible for them, and that you have led a blameless life. You are also reputed to be an outstanding horseman. You will be judged solely on your own behavior and your own work. I think that's pretty nice.

SPEAKER_07 48:13

For our international listeners, Jack's brother Ned Kelly led a group of bush rangers, or cowboys, if you will, or outlaws, if you're in the in the US and you're listening from there, who became notorious for conducting robberies in homemade metal armour that protected them from musket shots. And uh the the famous Ned Kelly helmet uh is very uh very recognizable around Australia. Sure is.

SPEAKER_10 48:36

Um, except they didn't have any armor on their legs, and that's how they ended up getting caught by shooting them in the legs.

SPEAKER_06 48:42

That's that's 100% correct. Yep. The the the the Kelly Gang's final stand took place in the Victoria in Victoria at the Glen Rowan Hotel. Uh and get this, there's another link between that shootout, the Kelly Gang shootout, and our police force here in Western Australia.

SPEAKER_10 48:58

Are you serious?

SPEAKER_06 48:58

Yep, I am. The Glen Rowan Inn was run single-handedly by mother of six Ann Jones, not to be mistaken with our uh current mother of six running uh Donny Brooke. Uh the Kelly gang took Anne and her six children hostage when police surrounded the hotel and demanded their surrender. Sadly, during that siege, one of the children was shot in the back and later died in hospital. Another child, the little girl, was grazed on the forehead by a bullet, but luckily survived. And you might be asking yourself right now, what is the connection?

SPEAKER_07 49:28

What is the connection, Joey?

SPEAKER_06 49:29

Well, another of the kids held hostage during that siege was a young fellow named Jeremiah. And in 1901, at age 26, Jeremiah joined the WA police force. He received several awards for his bravery and his commitment to duty throughout his 31-year career. In fact, in 1901, he rescued a drowning man in shark-infested waters at Albany, or just waters. Uh, and in 1905, he saved a young girl in Piccadilly from death at the hands of her deranged father.

SPEAKER_10 49:56

But what happened to Jack Kelly?

SPEAKER_06 49:59

He and his wife eventually went back to the circus and travelled the world, never to return. And on that note, we too must depart.

SPEAKER_07 50:07

Actually, sorry to correct you, Joey, but Anne Jones had 11 children. She just only had six at the hotel on that fateful day.

SPEAKER_06 50:14

Okay, sorry guys. My apologies.

SPEAKER_10 50:16

And do you know how long women have been in the WA police force for?

SPEAKER_06 50:21

I don't know.

SPEAKER_10 50:22

Well, you'll find out next week on Operation Podcast.

SPEAKER_06 50:25

Okay, thanks very much for listening. And taking us out once again is I Love Rock and Roll by Joan Jett. Joan Jett! Thanks very much to all the mums out there, Operation Podcast.

SPEAKER_09 51:21

Sound editing by Joe and Danny, cover song by the WA Police Pipe Band, and Cheesy Podcast Theme Music by Joey Catanzaro. By the way, why just listen to a podcast about policing when you could actually be doing it? Let's join forces.wa.gov.au