Ep 22 - Taxidermy Raccoon Stolen !

Episode 22 of WA Police Confidential! The official WA Police Force Podcast.

On this week’s show:

- Inspector Gary Butler discusses the rise in motorcycle thefts in WA.

-We uncover a home burglary incident involving the taxidermy of two rare and endangered species of animals valued over $5000.

- Assistant Commander Peter Foley guides us through International Student Extortion scams.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 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. Listener 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_03 0:36

And I'm Maya Greve. And this week we are going to unravel a new scam that's being used here in WA.

SPEAKER_05 0:42

And answer this question in the process. What should you do if you're being blackmailed?

SPEAKER_03 0:47

Motorcycle theft is on the rise. There's a new way to stop your bike from being stolen. We'll tell you all about it.

SPEAKER_05 0:53

And we have some pretty wild and wonderful creatures that live here in Western Australia, but what we do not have is raccoons.

SPEAKER_03 1:01

Which is why it's really weird that we're going to reveal a raccoon-related crime.

SPEAKER_05 1:06

Is it raccoon or raccoon? We'll find out, hopefully. We'll find out. Okay. Are you ready for this, Maya?

SPEAKER_03 1:12

Ready.

SPEAKER_05 1:12

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 1:13

WA Please Confidential. Welcome back to the Confidential. We are now joined by Inspector Gary Butler here to talk to us about an increase in burglaries this year which involve motorcycles. Thank you for joining us, Gary.

SPEAKER_07 1:29

You're very welcome.

SPEAKER_03 1:31

So, what I guess would be kind of your main concern about these motorcycles being stolen?

SPEAKER_07 1:38

Well, firstly, that they're uh you know the individuals are broken into people's uh uh personal properties. But um my my great message is we need to secure our backyards, even if your sheds unlocked, if you've got good secure uh fences and gates with with strong bolts, offenders can't lift a three or four hundred kilogram motorbike over a six-foot fence. So it's target hardening your premises. Um, and on social media, um be aware of the buyer. Um you need to be doing some research and needs to have three or five years of history because a lot of the offenders are using fake mobile, uh fake social media accounts to get access to your um address, or they they they would target, they'll ask you about your microwave or your fridge or your pair of shoes that you're selling, but they're targeting your motorbike.

SPEAKER_05 2:33

How do they know that you've got a bike? And also, Gary, I question one thing that you've said there. What about you said that you they can't lift a two, three hundred kilogram motorcycle over a six-foot fence. What if you're a middle-aged dad who used to lift weights 20 years ago and you've got something to prove in front of the kids or your mates? Absolutely. I mean, other than that, other than that category, uh, because you just you can't rule out the determination of a middle-aged man who used to lift weights 20 years ago.

SPEAKER_07 3:00

The the trick behind that is um it's still gonna take time. Yeah. So a lot of obviously not that much. A lot of our uh offenders looking for speed. Sorry, Joey.

SPEAKER_08 3:11

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 3:13

Absolutely. How do they know? How do they know that the the microwave? So they're going for your microwave, but they're not really going for microwave, they're going for the motorcycle.

SPEAKER_07 3:21

How do they know you've got a motorcycle? Correct. They're they're they're they're looking to buy your um your old TV cabinet, but they're actually targeting your motorbike. So and this is this this is the message. So they've they've done reconnaissance sort of thing, like they've they've checked you out. They they have viewed your profile online and they've established what they want to target, and they um sell the bait of purchasing your microwave or your pair of shoes. And they ask, can I come and see it? I want to see the microwave working. Then they organise a time, they never show up, and generally, either that night or within the next two days, your motorbike's stolen.

SPEAKER_05 4:01

Has it ever gone the other way where someone's someone's been selling a motorbike and someone's take stolen a microwave?

SPEAKER_03 4:08

Not that I'm aware of not yet, not that it's been uh not that it's been told. Um, so we were also talking a bit earlier about you know, no one's gonna be able to take this motorbike over a fence or stuff like that. Is when you guys go to investigate these things, how are you then kind of linking, oh, we found this motorbike, how do you know that oh it belongs to Joey if no one's reported it missing?

SPEAKER_07 4:34

Challenging. Yeah. So um motorbikes are the same as cars, they've got a VIN number. Um, what we're encouraging um owners, even if they're not selling their motorbike, um, is to record it on bike link. Uh bike link was started with uh high-belly push bikes being stolen from around the uh the city a number of years ago. And um it's real easy when you sell the bike, you transfer ownership, and those um that new owner can then update their details.

SPEAKER_05 5:06

Okay, that's useful.

SPEAKER_03 5:08

Um, so we have a bit of an example here. In earlier this year in February, there was a burglary of a 2023 Chevrolet Silverado and six motorcycles. Can you kind of tell us what happened there?

SPEAKER_07 5:22

Yeah, what I um what a great community story this one is. Um early hours of the morning, um again, the um owner had advertised a motorbike online. Um he was negotiating with a potential buyer, which we now know was a fake social media profile. Um, never gave the address out, which um is concerning from our point of view. Uh anyway, early in the morning, they uh six offenders rock up to the house, and lo and behold, there's the silver silver silverado preloaded with six motorbikes. They then steal the Silverado, not sure how, and drive off. So we had our um automatic number plate recognition give us an idea if they were heading uh south down Calamunda Road, and then the trail goes cold. Now the owner is a member of uh a different um social media groups uh involving motorcycles, enthusiasts went straight to social media, and then all of a sudden we get um information back uh that um members of the community cited uh three of the motorbikes going into an address in the early hours of the morning. Wow. And uh so uh Midland Detective's Raw, along with Armadale police, went to the house. That's rapid apprehensions work. Kicked the door and uh located uh four of the motorbikes there and then. It was only within it was up within four hours. Stickers had already been removed, were in the bin. They were actually really trying to de-identify the motorbike. Yeah. Um and then we uh then found the Silberata about a kilometre away uh in a old burnt out um home uh in the um in the garage. Classic criminal behaviour. Another motorbike found not far away uh from the the home on Orton Road. And um and then the sixth uh the fifth one was found two weeks later at another house in Thornley.

SPEAKER_08 7:22

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_07 7:22

Now the only reason we knew that was because they'd registered on bike link and they'd actually had their details with the bin number so we could return it to them. The sixth bike, unfortunately, is um still outstanding. Still outstanding.

SPEAKER_05 7:35

So look, I mean, if you know something, call Crime Stoppers. And this just speaks to that that age-old thing that the commission is always rolling out is that the community is our eyes and ears, they're our best asset. You, our listeners, are our best assets. So if you do know something, you can help us absolutely nail the end of this uh investigation.

SPEAKER_03 7:54

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_05 7:54

Who's stealing them? Do we do we uh look, is this sort of opportunistic? How organized is it?

SPEAKER_07 8:00

Look, I'm gonna go out and lemon say it's bloody organized. Okay. There there are uh um older adults in the community that are actually taking the time to do the research and then they're farming out jobs to um their associates who then steal the motorbikes, return it to a place, they change the identity of it, they sell it. Um that's the unknown. We don't know what happens, we don't recover enough of them. Um so that's our that's our uh gap in intelligence. Where do they go? I suggest that they get sold um uh to others who don't know that they're stolen and they just ride around and no one's the wiser.

SPEAKER_05 8:47

Could it or potentially maybe take an interstate or something if that's it?

SPEAKER_07 8:51

Possibly look the the the options are endless. You know, put them in a sea container, put them on a boat, they go overseas, but you know, uh it's a real gap in our intelligence. We don't we don't know.

SPEAKER_05 9:01

Okay, so uh uh effectively, as you said, it's about shutting down their options of getting the bike out of the yard or wherever it's being kept. What are the practical tips?

SPEAKER_07 9:14

Practical tips, if you have the ability, get CCTV, get security lighting. Um these these individuals operate in the in darkness, they wear black clothing. Um great deterrent, dog. Um probably the best uh burglar prevention ever, is a is a good dog.

SPEAKER_05 9:33

You you obviously never owned a 10-year-old racing greyhound named Maggie, Gary, because uh she definitely is not much of a deterrent. If she even woke up, she'd give you a cuddle. Good point.

SPEAKER_07 9:45

I've got a 12-year-old um uh dog, a little uh shit poo.

SPEAKER_05 9:51

Oh, yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_07 9:52

Those are those are two cross poodle, those are killers, and um he's brave until he confronts people, but he barks. So, but that's probably the messaging. We only want dogs to bark. Um so um, and then more importantly, um know your seller. Um be suspicious, especially if you've got a number of items online uh for sale and one of them is a motorbike. The other thing is um we're finding that people who are not giving their address out are still getting their motorbike solen even though they're selling online.

SPEAKER_05 10:28

How?

SPEAKER_07 10:30

We believe it's from the uh the actual image online. And you can actually get the geo. Yeah. So again, um this is why I'm saying that um these criminals are organized. These criminals are sophisticated, and it's an easy item to steal if members of the public and owners do not do strong crime prevention.

SPEAKER_03 10:56

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_05 10:58

Well, yeah, and um stats-wise, we've seen an ins increase, yeah, in these sorts of thefts. That's why we're here today.

SPEAKER_07 11:06

Look, overall burglaries down. Yes. Overall, burglaries down across West Australia. We are we are locking up more offenders than we've ever locked up. So so that's the first point. This is this is not a crime problem. This is a specific crime type that we are concerned about, and we would like um owners and members of the community to be aware that you can actually prevent crime by doing simple steps, you can um safeguard your property.

SPEAKER_03 11:37

What should people kind of be looking out for on Facebook or on these um sellers' sites um to find a fake profile?

SPEAKER_07 11:46

History. What's the history? If I've only joined in January this year, chances are that's not real. If I've only joined a couple of weeks ago, chances are it's not real. So um I would be encouraging um sellers and owners to be looking at three to five years of minimum social media history. Otherwise, don't play.

SPEAKER_05 12:08

Now, the reward too bad if you're trying to sell a microwave your first time on Facebook. I'm just just saying that.

SPEAKER_07 12:14

Well, the reward of getting the cash to sell the item, that's what people are thinking about. We just want to encourage them to be a little bit more suspicious. If that's the case, go down to the local shopping centre in a car park where there's CCTV security around and do the deal there. So we're not saying don't sell online. We're saying that in nine times out of ten it's very safe to sell online, but don't do it at your house and don't provide your address. I love a bargain.

SPEAKER_03 12:46

I love a bargain as well. I love a bargain.

SPEAKER_05 12:48

Well, we're about to we're talking about um something very different uh coming up next week, Gary, who's gonna stick with us. Um you said it in the intro, uh, my raccoon-related crime.

SPEAKER_03 13:03

Absolutely. You'll hear all about it. This is WA Plus Confidential.

SPEAKER_05 13:16

Welcome back to Confidential. Gary Butler is still with us kindly. Thanks, Gary, uh, to talk about an unusual theft. And look, people will sadly steal anything. Actually, my had my car broken into the other day. So quick shout out to uh the the officers uh who attended and and also forensics, thank you very much. They were great, and the police assistance centre when I when I lodged the report, everyone was really cool. Um anything, if it's not nailed down, there's a chance that someone's gonna steal it. Including, in this case, Gary, could just tell us just like what is it was taken?

SPEAKER_07 13:56

A taxidermy, rare and endangered species of animals, a five thousand dollar beige raccoon with black markings, and a grey walley, a rat type animal believed now extinct.

SPEAKER_05 14:10

Now, okay, just to just to clarify, these things were not taken from my car, uh they were taken from a different location. Uh out was it was it out Midland where was it going? Uh out in Henley Brook. Henley Brook, okay. Um where clearly there is someone with a with a enthusiasm for A love of raccoons. A love of raccoons, a love of raccoons. Okay, okay. And look, hey, yeah, you know, we all have our interests um and some people's interests. Well, they call them trash pandas, don't they?

unknown 14:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 14:39

In America. And I guess one man's trash panda is another man's treasure panda. And that's totally fine. Uh can you tell us the circumstances of the raccoon uh racett?

SPEAKER_07 14:52

We we're saying it's the unusual case of the stuffed raccoon. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 14:56

I like it.

SPEAKER_05 14:57

Yeah, okay. So how did how did you crack? What was the circumstances and how did you crack this case?

SPEAKER_07 15:03

So between the 26th and 29th of June uh this year, um offenders have smashed a study window and stole the two taxidermy um items. And uh the victims have come home reported it. They love this raccoon. It was like their prize and joy.

SPEAKER_03 15:21

A $5,000 raccoon, you would be fair.

SPEAKER_07 15:25

And yeah, getting your window smashed is always a massive hassle. So they go to social media the day they reported the burglary, and there it is, on marketplace for sale.

SPEAKER_03 15:34

How much were they selling it for? Do we know? Are we allowed to?

SPEAKER_05 15:38

I'm not sure.

SPEAKER_03 15:39

Not sure? Okay.

SPEAKER_05 15:40

$150. What again? I like a bargain, and I I'm not I'm not even gonna pretend that I was goo I was searching for rare raccoons on marketplace, but but I did get tell told that it was $150. Which, you know, as we know, was a steal for a stolen raccoon. Correct.

SPEAKER_07 15:56

Had they known that it was worth $5,000. Rookie arrow missed opportunity. Yeah. So uh police literally went and knocked on the door. Um, we arrested the uh the individual concerned, and they gave us this story that they were walking uh down a bush track and they came across a rubbish rubbish pile, and there was Reggie the raccoon.

SPEAKER_05 16:20

Okay, so so um the raccoon has hopefully been reunited with its definitely been reunited with the owners.

SPEAKER_03 16:30

And the oily as well?

SPEAKER_07 16:31

The oily is still missing. Oh the rubbish tip was well the rubbish area was searched. Um there's been no sightings of it on marketplace, and uh yeah, the uh the case continues.

SPEAKER_05 16:45

And look, just for those who aren't aware, it it's actually it's a it's a really cute looking uh marsupule. Apparently kind of related to the kangaroo, looks a little bit like a mouse, native kind of mouse. Um it's priceless because they are sadly believed to be extinct. Like there literally is no price tag on this. So um maybe if you come across um a small cute boily um and taxidermied, not real. Helping it back to its owners, I guess. Um I would like to commend you and the team for getting the raccoon back to its owners.

SPEAKER_03 17:25

Can I just confirm its name was Reggie? No, I made that up. Oh I was just trying to make it more personable. No, no, I like it, I like it.

SPEAKER_07 17:33

But we'll get back to you just to confirm if it did have a name.

SPEAKER_05 17:36

Taxi Dream, by the way, is um stuffed. If anyone isn't a aware. I had to, I I Googled it just to make sure um that I was on the money. Um as you know, uh Gary, we we often have our fantastic WA police bite band play a song in honor of those who have solved a crime. This is definitely gonna be the the crime of the week uh for us, I I believe. Now there aren't a lot of songs about raccoons as it turns out. Um and uh the ones that specifically mention a raccoon are pretty obscure, so I'm gonna go through a bit of a process to get to a an appropriate song. As we know, after looking at Google, raccoons have kind of freaky, freakishly human hands, and they're very sensitive. So I think that's the link. We're gonna go hands, and I think it's if you're happy and you know it, clap your hands.

SPEAKER_03 18:36

Perfect.

SPEAKER_05 18:37

Just like a couple of owners who've got their beloved raccoon Reggie back.

SPEAKER_03 18:43

This is WA Please Confidential.

SPEAKER_05 18:50

Welcome back to Confidential. We're joined now by Commander Peter Foley uh from the financial and cybercrimes division, who do an incredible job uh behind the scenes in an in an area which is really a I guess a growth area for crime because it's you know it's yeah, it's so difficult to police and so complex. Um Pete, in particular, you're here today to talk about a new scam, if you will, or a new version of a scam that's targeting, I think, Asian students, foreign Asian students that are coming here to uh to to Perth, to WA. Can you kind of give us an idea about what it is and how it works?

SPEAKER_06 19:29

Yeah, good morning, Joe. Um we've had a number of alliterations this over the years, and the current we're facing now is what we'll call a Chinese authority impersonation scam. Okay. So unfortunately, these these scams, these organized crime groups will prey on young um students, both male and female. Um these these students are from Asian countries and they're here for semesters at our various campuses and and tertiary institutions. So these they will isolate these young students um and get them in a position where they feel vulnerable and they don't know where to who to trust and where not to. And unfortunately it it it comes at a financial loss to these kids. Um particularly around and their their values and their Asian communities around honour and trust. And these scams prey on their good values and not to bring disrespect and shame to their families.

SPEAKER_05 20:16

So, what would they actually do, these criminal networks, to sort of to leverage on that honour and trust and make them concerned and then you know potentially they or their parents or their family has to pay them?

SPEAKER_06 20:27

So what they'll do, they'll contact these students directly and they'll portray to be a Chinese authority or a Chinese law enforcement authority and say you're under investigation for scams or you've been involved in scams and money laundering. And what they'll do, they'll get these these young students to pay um a fee to these people to make this investigation go away. So what they don't want to do is bring the awareness to their parents or their family back in China that they're on investigation. And what we have seen in Perth at recent times where these students will be brought out into public, they'll have a meeting with a third party who portrays themselves to be an interpol officer, normally dressed in really dark clothing, um, and they'll get them to sign forms, investigation forms, and what we would, in our language statements, material facts and a like, alleging their badness. And these students will adopt them with a view to hopefully go away, and they'll pay a fee and with a view to this investigation going away. Unfortunately, we've had a case recently where a young male student has paid $140,000 to get rid of this.

SPEAKER_05 21:27

So even though they've done nothing wrong, they're doing it.

SPEAKER_06 21:30

They've done nothing wrong. They're they're isolated away from families, they're isolated away from friendships, they don't know who to turn to. Um I can say this nicely, they may not trust law enforcement agencies in their home countries. They don't know how to turn to the police and they haven't got the confidence to turn to the police and seek protection.

SPEAKER_03 21:46

Obviously, you know, now that they're in Australia, what is your best advice for them coming into a police station and letting you guys know about this? Because if if they're not aware of the scam and this happens, And they're not sure who to talk to, how can they best get in contact with you guys?

SPEAKER_06 22:03

So what they do is they'll push them to alternate um messaging platforms. WA police don't do that. We don't push them to we'll go straight on the phone. We WA police and Australian law enforcement will never demand money from victims of crime. We'll never demand money from anyone to make things go away. We can be trusted, we are to be trusted, and that's our point of difference. And we want these people to come forward and trust us. Come to police stations and report it. Speak to your friends, speak to your friends on campus, speak to councils on campus. Go to someone you trust who you can seek some confidence in to break the cycle and stop that. Individual isolation and trust police and come forward.

SPEAKER_05 22:44

And is there ever a situation where we'd have uh interpolation foreign national police agencies, law enforcement agents here in WA operating out happen, right? This is this is the dub, this is the West Australian police force has the jurisdictional right to police and no one else.

SPEAKER_06 23:05

We represent law enforcement in this state.

SPEAKER_05 23:07

Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Now look, this is terrible. The stakes are pretty high though, uh, because these scams, they do, as you I think pointed out a bit earlier before we started recording, they do evolve. And right now it's Asian students who've come here to study, but it could be it could be anybody tomorrow that they you know they they flip the narrative, and next thing you know, it's you know, it's it's kids in the in the eastern suburbs, western suburbs, from any background. Um what what do you do? What what sort of advice would you have for for young people in general or people who are on the you know, young people who are who are maybe finding themselves in a situation where they're being blackmailed?

SPEAKER_06 23:50

I think there's a couple of angles we can take on this the individual. Yep. And the individual has that confidence to come forward. Either it's it's on campus to student counsellors, you know, other students you prefer. But it's also within your friend network, if you see someone getting isolated and withdrawn, you have to approach them and and work out what's going on in their lives, particularly if they're just associating themselves with their friend group, is to is to understand the whys and gather them up really quickly and bring that strength of friendship back again.

SPEAKER_05 24:17

I mean, being able to to know that you can trust police is a big one, I would think. Absolutely. So and and also the the the threat of blackmail, I mean, it's maybe never as bad as you think, even though I can understand if you're putting yourself in the young, vulnerable person's shoes how it might feel like it's a world-ending thing to have something you know personal revealed about you and yourself. It's not the end of the world.

SPEAKER_06 24:43

No, it's not. I think these young children they come out from predominantly wealthy families in Asian countries, and they know they're on a very honoured position, and they don't want that disrespect to go back to their families. They want to honour their commitment, their families have financially placed them to have them educated in Western Australia. They come to very good educational facilities to get great standards. And I think they have the confidence in our West Australian setup, confidence in the police is to come forward, and and and these will not happen. We will not push people to pay payments, we will not push people to cryptocurrency, we will not push people to alternate plat communication platforms. It just doesn't happen.

SPEAKER_05 25:18

And and so say, let's say uh someone's in this situation, they come to you. Is there a good chance that you could make an arrest in this space?

SPEAKER_06 25:27

It's it's challenging. Um it's very hidden. And if you as soon as you turn a crypto, it becomes interesting for us. So on the back of three recent reports in Perth, we've had a number of two young ladies and and one young gentleman have been impacted on this in this scam. And unfortunately, one of the victims has turned into an actor for the a second victim. They will flip them from victims to or participants or offenders. And this is quite this happens a lot in scams where victims of crime will turn into money mules. They'll open up accounts and they'll facilitate the payments of proceeds of crime onto third parties. So this is what happens as well, and this is probably a threat threat position we want to get out. And you know, you have a bank account for yourself, use and honour it, don't open bank accounts for other people at other people's request. You will be you've in in short, you're money laundering and you're dealing with the proceeds of crime.

SPEAKER_03 26:20

How are we kind of investigating? Where are we at the investigation kind of process for now?

SPEAKER_06 26:25

We've we've had a look. So the financial crime squad is dealing with the three victims as we speak now. We're doing um further investigation. That is live, so I won't go into that. But our cybercrime unit grabbed this holistically and looked at our national position. We isolated about 1,400 reports nationally. Um we worked with our partners at Ostrack and the Fintel Alliance and had a look at a sliver of these transactions, and the small ones we isolated from WA just at a quick snapshot was worth $2.8 million.

SPEAKER_03 26:51

Yeah, wow.

SPEAKER_06 26:52

So it's not just a little bit of money that's no, it's lots of money floating around, and and we can see the movement of this funds offshore really quickly. And then we'll turn to you know, part of our cybercrime network with the joint police cyber coordination centre in Sydney. We're now working with the JPC3 in Sydney. Finto Alliance, the banks, is to track these financial transactions and see where we can work out what the organised crime network looks like.

SPEAKER_05 27:14

It's money that could be spent in the Australian economy. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 27:16

Well, they should be enjoying themselves here and in and going home from Perth with a favourable memory, not a not a broken one.

SPEAKER_05 27:22

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 27:23

So best advice from you, come forward with anything that might look a bit suspicious and not be kind of worried about it.

SPEAKER_06 27:30

Come forward to the police. Nothing, how small, how big or small, will receive all your concerns, all your complaints. Please have faith in WA police to report, report early and and seek our protection.

SPEAKER_05 27:42

And and look, that must be pretty potentially pretty satisfying as well. If you are being targeted by a fake police officer for the real the real deal to step in and uh show them how it's actually done and arrest those guys. That'd be cool. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_06 27:57

We we're here. We're here to look after them. We want them, the students to have a great time.

SPEAKER_05 28:02

Thank you very much for joining us, mate. Thank you.

SPEAKER_03 28:04

This is WA Police Confidential.

SPEAKER_00 28:08

All units. The WA Police Force is looking for people. All kinds of people. People in the tech, in the commodity, into four-wheel driving, dog people, and horse people, people who like motorbikes, pushbikes, planes, helicopters, and boats. People who are big on community, helping others and solving true karma, not just watching it, you know. Ordinary people who are up for doing extraordinary things.

SPEAKER_02 28:31

If you could be one of these people, you've found your people. Search, let's join forces.

SPEAKER_03 28:37

Welcome back to the confidential We're joined with Claire Sienta. She's gonna give us a little bit of a news rundown. Claire, what have we got?

SPEAKER_01 28:43

Well, detectives were pretty busy actually over the last couple of nights. They've f they've charged a 39-year-old man with some pretty serious offences. An alleged evade police incident went from um it started in on the Quinana Freeway, went all the way through to Burns Beach, Jundalup, and Wengara, and actually terminate was terminated by police um because of the dangerous matter of driving um of the alleged driver.

SPEAKER_05 29:09

When we say terminated, we mean they sort of stopped following the police pursuit, right?

SPEAKER_01 29:14

Yeah, they did initially made that decision. Yes, they brought the terminator in and stopped that um stopped that debate. Imagine. Um and then yeah, a little bit later, 9.20 that evening, um, the vehicle was actually located, spotted near Perth Airport, where that driver was taken into custody. So he's been charged with some pretty serious driving offences, and he's appearing in court this week. So um a great work to the Rapid Apprehension Squad in that matter.

SPEAKER_05 29:43

Hopefully he won't be back.

SPEAKER_01 29:45

Yes, hopefully not.

SPEAKER_05 29:47

Okay, what else you got?

SPEAKER_01 29:48

Um in Mandra, down in Mandra, Mandra police are seeking the public's assistance. Um happened on Friday, the 26th of June, around 10 o'clock. A male was actually assaulted by an unknown man outside of public toilet block on Dolphin Drive. So if you were around that area, if you've seen anything, 10 pm Friday, 26th of June, get in touch. We're looking for any any information that may be able to assist.

SPEAKER_05 30:15

Okay, thank you. We'll um yeah, hopefully get to the bottom of that one. It's not never nice.

SPEAKER_01 30:20

Yeah, absolutely. That unknown male is described as being of solid build with uh fair skin and red hair. So if that triggers anyone's memory, please get in touch. And what else have we got? This weekend we're wishing our officers the very best of luck who are heading to Hillary's for the polar plunge. It's an annual charity event. It's happening on Saturday, the 11th of July, raising money for the Special Olympics. So um, good luck to those who are braving those icy conditions and taking the plunge for a good cause.

SPEAKER_05 30:52

They jump into their uniforms, don't they?

SPEAKER_01 30:54

They do. Well, they're actually running. They run into the water down at Hillary. So get down and support a good cause if you can.

SPEAKER_05 31:01

For our international listeners, it's a little chilly here by Western Australia standards. It's probably a balmy day in England by English standards, but we think it's freezing, so good luck to them. Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_01 31:11

I yes. Don't envy that, that's for sure.

SPEAKER_05 31:14

And and Claire, do you have an update? Because we have started the An Australian first year. It's a uh a trial of alive facial recognition, which we've talked about in the previous weeks. Go and have a listen if you haven't haven't already. Um do we have a bit of an update on how that's going into week two?

SPEAKER_01 31:31

We do, we do. So um as of I'll break down a few stats for you, Joey. Sure. Um so as of these are obviously relevant from Friday, the 3rd of July. We've scanned just shy of 200,000 faces.

SPEAKER_08 31:46

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 31:46

Um we've had 58 alerts and 26 arrests. Um, and on top of that, we've had 29 proactive engagements with registered sex offenders, um, and three people at risk have been engaged with. So they might be missing or they may have vulnerable conditions where police have gone to check on their welfare.

SPEAKER_05 32:06

Like dementia, that sort of thing.

SPEAKER_01 32:08

Exactly, exactly. Um and as part of that, we've had three what we're calling incorrect alerts. So that's about a 0.0015% of all the faces scanned, um, where police go and engage with that person and then identify.

SPEAKER_05 32:26

It turns out and uh actually this is kind of interesting. Um, I was chatting to uh to Steve uh Thompson the other day, who is sort of our live facial recognition guru, and he was saying um that this is the whole point with with having people involved and police officers involved, is that it's simply a suggestion, it's kind of like uh one police officer saying to another, Hey, do you reckon that's the guy? Do you reckon that's the person we want? That's what live facial recognition is doing. And then the police officers go and they engage with that person respectfully, as they always do, and maybe it's them, maybe it's not. And sometimes you've got to remember their face could be partially covered, all that sort of thing. Um it's you know, it's another tool in the tool chest for police, basically.

SPEAKER_01 33:11

And that's exactly why it's it's policing, it's just that kind of added layer of technology that taps police on the shoulder to go and engage. Um, every single alert has oversight. It doesn't mean that an alert equals an arrest. It's all um decided by a police officer who's obviously trained to talk to that person, engage and and make that assessment ultimately at the end of the day.

SPEAKER_05 33:34

So yeah, and some of the photos of the people who you know are wanted for crimes are really old or blurry, or you know, as I said, and lo and behold, he has is actually the person they wanted. So it's it is working. It is working, and it is a trial, and we hopefully will get better at it.

SPEAKER_01 33:52

And just last week you would have seen um a fair bit of coverage of the three arrests that happened straight like during the middle of a press conference. Um, you know, some people may have asked us whether that was planned. We can assure you it absolutely wasn't. It was just the tech working the way it's supposed to.

SPEAKER_05 34:08

No catch and release here. No, absolutely not.

SPEAKER_01 34:11

It's just catch. Yes, and arrest, and then obviously the courts. So well done to the guys out there on the road doing this every day.

SPEAKER_05 34:18

Thanks very much, Claire.

SPEAKER_01 34:20

No worries, thanks for having me. This is confidential.

SPEAKER_05 34:29

Thanks very much for listening to another episode of Confidential. Uh Maya, in the intro there was some speculation about how to pronounce raccoon or ra raccoon or raccoon raccoon.

SPEAKER_03 34:43

Raccoon.

SPEAKER_05 34:44

Um I don't know. Have you been watching the World Cup?

SPEAKER_03 34:46

I have been watching the World Cup.

SPEAKER_05 34:47

Yep, soccer, football, whatever you want to call it, the beautiful game. Uh I note that they often go to something called a V A R, which is the Video Assistant Referee. Okay. Can we do that in this instance for raccoon?

SPEAKER_03 35:01

No problem. I will now play a video assistant raccoon.

SPEAKER_05 35:06

V A R.

SPEAKER_03 35:08

Raccoon.

SPEAKER_05 35:10

Okay, you were right. I said raccoon, and you said raccoon, um correctly, as it turns out. Very good, Maya. I also um just want to quickly point something out about the raccoon, sorry. Do you the the wild thing is that when they broke in to steal the the stuffed raccoon and the stuffed oily. What they didn't take anything else.

SPEAKER_03 35:35

They only took the raccoon and the oily.

SPEAKER_05 35:38

They only took those two things. Isn't that weird?

SPEAKER_03 35:40

It is a bit strange.

SPEAKER_05 35:41

I think that's strange.

SPEAKER_03 35:42

Very strange.

SPEAKER_05 35:43

Uh now uh the that um that uh obviously uh leads us to the ending of our show almost, and we're gonna hit the WA police pipe end up again for a rendition of if you're happy and you know it, clap your hands, which we are. Which we are. Which is tenuously related to raccoons. Um but first our history fact of the week.

SPEAKER_03 36:06

Yes, so back when the WA police force began in the 1850s, there was very, very few transfer options. Joey, got any guesses on what they could be?

SPEAKER_05 36:16

Unicycle, um horse, horse, camel, camel.

SPEAKER_03 36:21

Anything, but you literally had to walk the beat.

SPEAKER_05 36:23

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 36:24

There was no other options. So imagine what a game changer cars and motorbikes were.

SPEAKER_05 36:29

Huge.

SPEAKER_03 36:30

So the first police car was introduced in 1910, but they were still really, really rare. Then the first two motorcycles were introduced in 1922. One motorcycle went to the traffic branch and the other went to a beat duty sergeant, so someone walking the beat, so they could move around Perth City and suburbs to check on constables who were also walking the beat. So they pretty much got to go around on their motorbike and check on people who had to walk all day.

SPEAKER_05 37:01

Our times have changed.

SPEAKER_03 37:03

There were no safety helmets though, and they were always required to wear a cap. So it was a common problem that those caps would fly off.

SPEAKER_05 37:11

I can I can't see how that's practical, but get going. Yep.

SPEAKER_03 37:14

Uh another challenge was what to do when a motorcycle officer had to make an arrest. It was okay if they had a sidecar, but as you can guess, motorcycles back then did not have one. Uh they'd actually have to get the suspect to ride pylon with them on the back. Uh, who knows? But we, you know, police cars became more available and they were no longer needed to have the motorbikes. So the motorcycle duties became more of a traffic policing role instead of on the beat and on the job.

SPEAKER_05 37:48

That's fascinating.

SPEAKER_03 37:50

These days, you know, you get a van or a car coming to an arrest and taking the suspect back to the station with ease.

SPEAKER_05 37:57

Different times, weren't they? Absolutely. Um, next week we look into the origin of PD numbers. Every police officer and staff member has one. But what does PD stand for? Find out next week on WA Police Confidential.

SPEAKER_01 38:44

Sound editing by Joe and Danny and Sam, 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