PSOs have existed since 1987 when the Police Regulation (Protective Services) Act 1987, introduced by the Cain Labor Government came into operation and they do a great job protecting the community.
Police Minister Lisa Neville has completely failed to provide legislative powers to allow PSOs to carry capsicum spray and in fact has sought broaden PSO powers in a current bill before the Victorian Parliament without recognising this error. Daniel Andrews must urgently amend this Bill to fix the mess Labor has created and protect frontline officers from liability for unlawfully using a prohibited weapon.
In Victoria, capsicum spray is a prohibited weapon and may only be used by those exempted under the Control of Weapons Act 1990, legislation also introduced by the Cain Labor Government, yet PSOs were only secretly gazetted for exemption this week by Police Minister Lisa Neville.
This failure to lawfully provide PSOs with the tools they follows similar legislative concerns over PSO arrest powers last year and are in addition to unusable anti-association orders and ongoing issues with Firearm Prohibition Orders, both which were introduced under the Andrews Labor Government.
It is little wonder why crime continues to spike and Victorians have the worst perception of safety of any state in the nation with such an incompetent Labor Government in Victoria.
