Police will be given the power to raid interstate and overseas gang members for guns and ammunition without a warrant, under sweeping reforms designed to address the borderless nature of organised crime.
Amendments introduced into the NSW parliament will permit officers to search houses, cars, boats and planes belonging to criminals already the subject of a Firearm Prohibition Order in another state, territory or as far away as New Zealand.
Partner states in Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania will be urged to do the same, a government official told The Australian.
“While NSW has been leading the country in instituting FPO legislation, our colleagues in other jurisdictions are now doing so in greater numbers,” NSW Police Minister David Elliott told parliament, explaining the need for mutual recognition.
“However, as NSW was the first jurisdiction to implement them, there is no provision in the NSW Firearms Act that provides for mutual recognition of interstate or New Zealand FPOs.”
Mr Elliott said later that whether or not these respective jurisdictions decided to mutually recognise NSW FPOs was “ultimately a matter for them”.
Currently, the NSW Police Force does not have the power to recognise the FPOs of neighbouring jurisdictions, meaning criminals are able to achieve some respite when they spend time in the state.
Criminals cross borders for many reasons, said Ryan Jeffcoat, a former NSW organised crime investigator who retired from policing 2018. In addition to shoring up supply lines, recruiting gang members and enforcing discipline, some criminals also flee their jurisdictions to seek safe haven in towns where they command less profile.
This is especially the case for outlaw motorcycle clubs, whose members hold annual general meetings and gatherings of their executive in jurisdictions where law enforcement is perceived to be less intrusive.
Mutual recognition of FPOs is aimed at making these efforts even more difficult.
“They bounce around from state to state, exploiting loopholes in furtherance of their criminality,” Mr Jeffcoat said, pointing to the challenges this poses for law enforcement officers.
Moving interstate had been known to be an easy way of thwarting surveillance, such as tracking monitors and telephone intercepts.
“Getting a surveillance device across borders is legislatively a bit of a nightmare, to take trackers across state lines,” he said.
Originating in South Australia, FPOs were first used widely by the NSW Police Force in 2013 and quickly proved effective, sharply raising the number of weapons seized and reducing their availability on the black market.
Prices of these weapons subsequently increased significantly. An unfired pistol can command sums of up to $10,000 on the black market, according to police sources. A semi-automatic weapon can attract even higher amounts.
FPOs also created an unintended psychological advantage, allowing officers to interrupt the daily lives of criminals with unscheduled and inconvenient raids on their properties, in full view of neighbours, often several times a day.
For those determined to remain affiliated with organised crime, holding onto weapons — for sale, for status or for safety — became almost untenable. As of September, the NSW Police Force has served more than 5300 FPOs on suspected criminals.
One NSW police official described the legislative amendments as “the first step in reciprocal arrangements between other states”, and necessary because of the long-acknowledged and cross-jurisdictional nature of organised crime.
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Source: The Australian