Govenment & Police Commissioner at odds over bottle shop stings

Every one to two years, boys and girls aged 15 and 16 are recruited by a State Government agency to try and buy cigarettes from retailers chosen at random from around the Perth metropolitan area.

In one operation conducted two years ago, almost a third of attempted purchases were successful.

The operations, run by the West Australian Department of Health since 1992 are designed to catch out tobacco retailers who are not complying with the law.

Now WA Police want similar powers to crack down on liquor outlets selling alcohol to minors but it appears the State Government has ruled it out.

This week the Police Commissioner Karl O'Callaghan used the results of a recent operation to highlight why his officers need the special powers.

Police cadets, nearly all of whom were aged 18 but who looked younger, were sent into 100 Perth city liquor outlets.

In 72 of the 100 cases, the cadets were able to purchase alcohol without having to show identification.

Disgrace

Commissioner O'Callaghan described the results as an 'absolute disgrace' and said it made a mockery of the industry's self imposed code to check the ID of anyone who looked under 25.

"We are trying to change the culture of determined drunkenness amongst our young people, we are trying to send different messages about alcohol consumption and to do that we need the industry to take its responsibility seriously and quite frankly its not," he said.

"I've said for a long time that I don't believe the industry can self regulate properly, we've asked for covert testing powers, we're not proposing we would use any juvenile, these would be police cadets, we employ them from 16 and they would be deployed under strict conditions and we would test purchase and if the liquor store failed, we would take action."

But while the State Government is happy to allow 15 and 16-year olds to be used in sting operations against tobacco retailers, the Premier has made it quite clear similar stings on alcohol retailers won't be happening under his watch.

"I think obviously police have a responsibility to regulate liquor laws and compliance to those," Mr Barnett said.

"But what the Government will not accept is entrapment, using people under 18 to go into venues ... and I've made it very clear to the Police Commissioner and in fact it would be illegal, so minors can not be used for entrapment purposes."

WA Police's request for covert test powers forms part of a submission to the Review of the Liquor Control Act currently underway.

Stunt

The powerful hotels lobby this week accused the Police Commissioner of concocting a media stunt.

Australian Hotels Association of WA chief executive Bradley Woods acknowledges the results show the industry needs lift its game with respect to checking ID but suggests the majority of juveniles get hold of alcohol through parents, friends or older siblings.

Standing next to him at a news conference to launch a gun amnesty this week, Police Minister Liza Harvey admitted the Commissioner and her didn't see eye to eye on the issue.

"We're not entertaining allowing children under the age of 18 to be engaged in covert surveillance and covert operations with police for the purchases of alcohol to try and catch suppliers, retailers for alcohol in supplying to minors, we're not going to do that, we've said we're not going to do that," she said.

However, like Mr Barnett, Mrs Harvey is unable to say why the Government supports similar covert operations to catch out tobacco retailers.

The Director of the McCusker Centre for Action on Alcohol and Youth, Mike Daube can't understand why the Government is so opposed to covert stings on alcohol retailers, but endorses similar operations on tobacco retailers.

"He may not be aware that those powers are being very well used by the Health Department already," said Professor Daube.

"My guess would be is that it was a very quick reaction and my hope would be that if he considers it more and when he's briefed he'll see that this is a really important measure to help the police do their job.

"It's virtually impossible without this kind of power to get evidence about illegal sales to minors, that's why so many in the drinks industry oppose it so strongly."

Meanwhile, it appears the Government and the state's top cop are once again at odds about how best to police this state.

But the Commissioner says he won't let it deter him from speaking out in the future.

"My job is to make recommendations to Government about policies, operations, budget and legislation that I think may or may not work and government can accept or reject those recommendations and they're quite entitled to do that and that's where we're at."

Source: ABC News, 2 August 2013