On Saturday 17 October 1964, 13-year-old Doreen Lambert travelled by bus from her home in Margate to friend’s house in Bald Hills. Doreen left her home at 8.20am but got off the bus one stop too early at 9.45am and missed the connection with her friend. After asking directions about a bus back to Redcliffe, she was last seen walking along Gympie Road, Bald Hills at about 12.50 and then just disappeared into thin air.
Museum Curator Lisa Jones will present ‘1964 Little Girl Lost: Doreen Jean Lambert‘. Lisa will outline Doreen’s movements, the prolonged police investigation and ultimately how Doreen’s remains were found by chance in 1966 and her killer brought to justice in 1968.
The one-and-a-half hour presentation will begin at 11am on Sunday, May 29 and will provide interesting and educational content suitable for a mature audience.
The Museum opens its doors to the public on the last Sunday of each month from 10am to 3pm from February to November in addition to the standard Monday to Thursday 9am to 4pm opening hours. Monthly Sunday openings feature guest speakers from across the historical and crime-solving spectrums.
PLEASE NOTE: The Police Museum will open Sunday, May 29 from 10am to 3pm, and is located on the ground floor of Police Headquarters, 200 Roma Street, Brisbane.
Portrait of Constable James Patrick Buckley, wearing khaki country police uniform, with sword, ammunition belt and broad brim hat with one side held up with a brass Lion’s head.
James Patrick Buckley of Toowoomba, was sworn in as Constable 2390 on 16 April 1919 at the age of 24 after three months training at the Petrie Terrace Police Depot. Prior to joining he held the position of labourer at the Ramsey Cheese Factory at Cambooya. At the time of entry James was listed as being 6 feet and 1 inch tall with blue eyes and brown hair.
Constable Buckley was transferred to Roma Street Police Station and then after two months was transferred to Forsayth Police Station where he spent three and a half years. During 1920 his Inspector said of him: “He is steady, well conducted and willing, suitable for town or bush duty … and … will make a good Policeman.” In March 1923 James was transferred to Cairns and in October that year to Gordonvale.
In March 1924 he met and married Dorothy Bente and then on 31 October of that year he resigned from the Queensland Police to go into business for himself.
We quite like the image of James Buckley which was donated to the Museum by his daughter Betty McKenzie in 2010.
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This information has been supplied by the Queensland Police Museum from the best resources available at the time of writing.
The Police Museum is open 9am to 4pm Monday to Thursday and 10am to 3pm on the last Sunday of the month (Feb-Nov) and is located on the Ground Floor of Police Headquarters at 200 Roma Street, Brisbane.
“From the Vault- A straightforward career” by the Queensland Police Service is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (BY) 2.5 Australia Licence. Permissions may be available beyond the scope of this licence. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/au/legalcode
Back Row: Eric Deveney, Eddie Otago, Col Cowley, Jack Otago, Roy Schultz, George Day, ‘Bluey’ Millar, Athol Hogan, Felix Creedy. Front Row: Terry Thomsen, Ivan Clerk, Jack Clark, Eddie Brosnan, Inspector Horace O’Brien (Patron and President), Alan Kirkwood (Manager), Merv Callaghan, Frank McNamara, Stan Edmonds
Sporting competitions have always been an important part of Queensland Police life, and none more so those representing Rugby League. In the 1940s Police teams regularly played games against regional teams in places such as Ipswich and Toowoomba, as well as against army teams. In 1946 the Queensland Police Club applied to field first, reserve and third grade Queensland Police Teams in the Brisbane Rugby League competition but their bid was refused.
In 1947, the very first Queensland Police Representative side was chosen to travel to Sydney to play the NSW police, this game stemming from a rivalry that had developed through the war years. The side was a true state representative squad with players coming from country, as well as city stations, and was captained by 1948 Kangaroo, Eddie Brosnan. Despite losing this match 42-18, the Queenslander’s could hold their heads high, as they were reportedly “grossly double crossed” by New South Wales who did not stick to accepted rules of selection. The NSW team having included four non-police players, all Sydney 1st Grader’s, one of which was an international player. The following years saw many exceptional police footballers playing in both country and city teams. However it was not until the late 1960’s that Queensland Police entered their own side in the B.R.L. competition. At one stage fielding two grades, but could only manage mixed results due to the unpredictable nature of police shifts and the transfer system.
Several Queensland Police officers have played Rugby League at State and National levels. The most well known of which is Malcolm Meninga, the current Queensland Origin Coach. Mal joined as a Police Cadet in 1976 and was sworn in as a Constable on February 15, 1980. He worked at the Traffic Branch, City Police Station and the Police Academy before resigning in September 1985 to follow his football career. Mal played 32 origin games, 13 of which while a serving police officer (between 1980 and 1985).
Other notable Queensland Police origin players were Constable Peter Jackson, sworn in August 1983 who played two games of the 1986 origin series before retiring from the Queensland Police in July 1986 to continue his football career.
Constable Paul Hauff was sworn in July of 1989 and was graded with the Brisbane Broncos in 1990. He made his State of Origin debut for Queensland in 1991 when Queensland beat NSW 2-1. Hauff then earned selection for Australia in the First Test against New Zealand at Olympic Park in Melbourne, when Australia was beaten by the Kiwis, 24-8. Sergeant Paul Hauff is still a serving Queensland police officer.
This information has been supplied by the Queensland Police Museum.
The Police Museum is open 9am to 4pm Monday to Thursday and 10am to 3pm on the last Sunday of the month (Feb-Nov) and is located on the ground floor of Police Headquarters at 200 Roma Street.
“FROM the VAULT – When the Maroons Wore Blue” by the Queensland Police Service is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (BY) 2.5 Australia Licence. Permissions may be available beyond the scope of this licence. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/au/legalcode
Matching fingerprints from a crime scene to an offender or using fingerprints to identify deceased persons such as disaster victims is a small part of Sergeant Tony Martinez’s role at the Queensland Fingerprint Bureau.
Sergeant Martinez is stationed at the Queensland Police Service Fingerprint Bureau and is the guest speaker for the Police Museum Sunday Lecture on 26 March.
Sergeant Martinez has attended serious crime scenes, conducted countless laboratory examinations for fingerprint evidence, and is actively involved in continually identifying offenders by analysing and identifying latent fingerprints collected from crime scenes. Sergeant Tony Martinez is a qualified Fingerprint Expert, a qualification that is awarded by the Australasian Forensic Science Assessment Body and is recognised worldwide.
During his presentation, Sergeant Martinez will outline that fingerprint identification has been around for more than 100 years and is a cornerstone to the forensic discipline. The use of fingerprint identification helps identify offenders and place them at crime scenes, identifies disaster victims, and is a valuable biometric tool in busy airports all over the World.
Sergeant Martinez will also discuss the recent advances in fingerprint identification technology and image transmission, which provides Queensland police officers with valuable information to help solve crimes. These advances, along with comparisons to past techniques will be discussed and examples will be given.
The one-and-a-half hour presentation will begin at 11am on Sunday, 26 March and will provide educational and up-to-date content suitable for all audiences.
The Museum opens its doors to the public on the last Sunday of each month from 10am to 3pm from February to November in addition to the standard Monday to Thursday 9am to 4pm opening hours. Monthly Sunday openings feature guest speakers from across the historical and crime-solving spectrums.
PLEASE NOTE: The Police Museum will open Sunday 26 March from 10am to 3pm, and is located on the ground floor of Police Headquarters, 200 Roma Street, Brisbane.
Constable Leo Glen Lucht (on right) at a car accident at intersection of Ipswich and Annerley Road on his first night on duty at Woolloongabba, 1953. (PM0140)
Prior to a formalised unit being formed, serious traffic accidents were investigated by Detectives from the Criminal Investigation Branch. On June 1, 1970 this practice was discontinued and the Traffic Accident Appreciation Squad (TAAS) was formed in the Brisbane Metropolitan Traffic District. The Squad consisted of uniformed personnel from the Traffic Branch along with experienced Detectives and its main function was to appreciate the circumstances surrounding all serious road accidents in the Metropolitan Traffic District and to collate all available information to determine evidence of negligence by any person. Squad members were also tasked to prepare necessary reports and correspondence about accidents for the Coroner. In the first year of the Squad’s existence 563 road accidents were investigated and reported upon.
In early 1979 the word “appreciation” in the Squad name was changed to “investigation”. The Squad’s aim was to investigate all accidents involving fatalities and all other accidents involving serious injuries where a suggestion of criminal negligence existed. In the early 1990s when the role of the Squad changed significantly, the name was changed to Accident Investigation Squad. Officers attached to the Squad had wide ranging expertise in traffic policing; investigative skills, tyre technology and mechanical, surveying and drafting experience. In April 2007 the name Forensic Crash Unit was adopted to highlight that road crashes and other incidents attended by the unit were rarely ‘accidents’.
Modern Forensic Crash Unit investigations do not rely solely on the recollections of witnesses or victims – but involve the application of physics to establish how a crash occurred and the use of Computer Aided Design programs, photogrammetry, laser scanning and total station surveying instruments to record physical evidence for use in collision analysis. The role of the unit is not confined solely to the investigation of serious traffic crashes but also includes the responsibility for the investigation of serious injury and fatal aircraft, railway and industrial incidents and electrocutions.
The Traffic Accident Appreciation Squad van, 1975
Two Traffic Accident Investigation Squad vans with lights deployed, at a mocked up crash site, c1980
Senior Constable John Ruller, of the Accident Investigation Squad at work with the radial measuring device he invented and developed which measured the tangibles of a road accident, c1989. Senior Constable Ruller won the inaugural Courier-Mail scholarship in 1990 for his invention and used his $10 000 to study traffic accident investigation at Chicago’s Northwestern University. John spent 23 years with the Squad and retired in 2005 as a Senior Collision Analyst.
This information has been supplied by the Queensland Police Museum from the best resources available at the time of writing.
The Police Museum is open 9am to 4pm Monday to Thursday and 10am to 3pm on the last Sunday of the month (Feb-Nov) and is located on the Ground Floor of Police Headquarters at 200 Roma Street, Brisbane.
“FROM the VAULT: Investigating Traffic Crashes” by the Queensland Police Service is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (BY) 2.5 Australia Licence. Permissions may be available beyond the scope of this licence. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/au/legalcode
Robert Christie was born in Forfar, Scotland in 1882. He joined the Queensland Police Force as Constable 1461 on July 26, 1911. On January 21, 1913, Christie married Elizabeth Mulvenna without the permission of the Police Commissioner and was required to resign in April 1914. However, on account of his past good work, was accepted for re-appointed that same month. Robert left the police in 1918 to enlist in the AIF, as many Police officers were given leave to do so. He survived the war and returned to Queensland to be re-appointed on November 6, 1919.
Across his twenty-nine years of service, Christie was transferred to Roma Street , Rosalie, West End, Coen; Cairns; Cooktown, Mossman and Fortitude Valley and Toowoomba police stations. Christie was promoted Acting Sergeant on July 18, 1929, a rank he would hold until his retirement in 1941.
Medal for Merit (Reverse)
During his career Robert Christine was awarded a Medal for Merit while stationed at Roma Street and two favourable records while stationed in South Brisbane and Coen respectively. In May 1913 Constable Christie was awarded a Medal for Merit for good police duty in stopping a runaway horse attached to a spring dray near Roma Street railway gates. The first Favourable Record was awarded on the September 11, 1916 for brave action in stopping a horse attached to an empty spring dray along Tribune Street, South Brisbane; and the second in April 1930 whilst stationed at Coen for the arrest of Michael O’Dwyer on a charge of Manslaughter.
Acting Sergeant Robert Christie retired on February 20, 1941 after 29 years of service.
However his lucky run was not yet over, in 1944 Christie, won two Golden Casket lottery prizes, one in September and the seconded in November of that year; totalling £7,800 which would have the same buying power as $241 000 has in today’s money.
Robert Stewart Christie passed away at the age of 63 in March 1945. A solider of three wars he was survived by his two sons in the AIF, his wife and a daughter. Another son who also served in the AIF, died 14 months prior to his father, in a Japanese prison camp in Burma but notification came only two days before Robert Christie’s death but he was not told of the tragedy.
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This information has been supplied by the Queensland Police Museum from the best resources available at the time of writing.
The Police Museum is open 9am to 4pm Monday to Thursday and 10am to 3pm on the last Sunday of the month (Feb-Nov) and is located on the Ground Floor of Police Headquarters at 200 Roma Street, Brisbane.
“FROM THE VAULT: Robert Stewart Christie – a very lucky man” by the Queensland Police Service is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (BY) 2.5 Australia Licence. Permissions may be available beyond the scope of this licence. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/au/legalcode
The history of police radio illustrates that good communications are essential for efficient and effective policing.
In 1933 the Queensland Police Union commented in its Journal via cartoon, on the lack of both police cars and effective communication within the Queensland Police. Alluding to the possibility that the ‘crooks’ had better transport and technology than the police. Prior to 1935, there was no police radio and not many police cars. Officers were tasked out to police jobs while at the station and then returned to report back on the events of the day. In 1935 a temporary one way radio system was introduced which meant that information could be fed directly to officers out on the beat in police cars or on motorbikes. Although officers still had to return to the station to make their report. The Police Union again commented on this turn of events by cartoon.
When World War 2 began it was realised that a two way radio system needed to be put into place for more effective policing across Queensland. In 1941 a permanent two-way radio station was established in building at the Police Depot (it still stands and currently houses the Bavarian Café).
The old Police Radio Station, on Petrie Terrace, 1955. Queensland Police Museum Image No. PM3328.
Today police communications are high-tech in keeping with the nature of modern policing. Police radio is truly portable and can be carried on the person by individual officers while on the beat. Portability ensures that contact between police officers, stations and Police Communications Centres is maintained at all times.
This information has been supplied by the Queensland Police Museum from the best resources available at the time of writing.
The Police Museum is open 9am to 4pm Monday to Thursday and 10am to 3pm on the last Sunday of the month (Feb-Nov) and is located on the Ground Floor of Police Headquarters at 200 Roma Street, Brisbane.
“FROM the VAULT: A History of Police Radio” by the Queensland Police Service is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (BY) 2.5 Australia Licence. Permissions may be available beyond the scope of this licence. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/au/legalcode
Ocean Island Homicide Headlines, from 1st May 1949. Image courtesy of Queensland’s The Sunday Mail
Sometime between the evening of 26 and the early morning of 27 April 1949, William and Isobel Allen were murdered in a vicious attack on Ocean Island. Two Queensland Police Detectives and a Fingerprint expert were sent to investigate.
This crime caught the attention of police agencies worldwide for two main reasons:
Ocean Island was not an Australian protectorate but Queensland Police attended and solved the crime.
It was the first time that a whole community was fingerprinted and palm printed as an aid to catching a killer.
Join the Police Museum Curator Lisa Jones as she outline the difficulties experienced by the Detectives and Fingerprint Expert as they strove to solve this crime on an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
The one-and-a-half hour presentation will begin at 11am on Sunday 31 July and will provide interesting and educational content suitable for a mature audience.
The Museum opens its doors to the public on the last Sunday of each month from 10am to 3pm from February to November in addition to the standard Monday to Thursday 9am to 4pm opening hours. Monthly Sunday openings feature guest speakers from across the historical and crime-solving spectrums.
“2022 SUNDAY LECTURE SERIES: The Ocean Island Murders” by the Queensland Police Service is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (BY) 2.5 Australia Licence. Permissions may be available beyond the scope of this licence. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/au/legalcode
At about 7:30 am on 18 February 1957, Constable First Class John Christopher “Jack” Strickfuss was dressed for work and finishing his breakfast. A big man, Jack had joined the Queensland Police Force in late 1946 after growing up on a dairy farm near Warwick and then reaching the rank of Corporal in the Australian Military Provost Corps. Stationed in Home Hill for seven years, he had returned to Brisbane in late 1955, married and had two young daughters and was already sporting the luxuriant moustache he would be identified with for the rest of his life. Friendly with his neighbours in the dirt track which was Narella Street, Cannon Hill, he had helped the Majkas, a Polish immigrant family, move their house backwards on their allotment during Christmas week in 1956.
Sergeant 2/c John Strickfuss attending a Sergeants Course in 1972. He was a Constable 1/c at the time of this crime.
After hearing shots and a dog’s yelp from down the street, Jack noticed smoke coming from the Majka house and ran to assist. He shouldered open the front door but the heat and smoke prevented him from entering. Grabbing his garden hose, he then noticed that smoke was also issuing from the rear of the Irvine house across the road. Strickfuss and other neighbours, Jim Ainsworth and Fred Ganter ran with hoses towards the Irvine house. About 7 metres away from the front steps, Jack heard and felt five shots pass him in quick succession. Dropping the hose he charged up the stairs onto the front landing and tried to break down the locked door. Ainsworth and Ganter dived for cover and ran to get their own rifles and Jack’s service revolver. Sighting a man in the sitting room with a rifle, Jack ducked down under the window as more shots were fired at him. Further shots were fired through the front bedroom window. After another shot and the sound of a heavy bump on the floor inside, Jack decided to try the back of the house.
Front of the Irvine family house, Cannon Hill.
By now, Ainsworth had returned with Jack’s service revolver and gave it to him as Jack ran to the rear door. Flinging the door open, he saw a man’s body on the floor of the front bedroom with a rifle underneath. Hearing a baby’s cries, he went to the kitchen where he found four more bodies, three of which were on fire. Hurriedly putting out the flames, Jack found the baby who was suffering a gunshot wound to the foot and severe burns. Wrapped in a blanket, she was rushed by taxi to South Brisbane Hospital.
The burnt remains of the Majka family home, Narella Street, Cannon Hill on 18th February 1957
It was only then and also when the flames had been extinguished across the road that the full horror was revealed. Marian Majka had killed his wife Gisella and their five year old daughter Shirley with a knife and hammer. He then waited until Neil Irvine had gone to work, set fire to his own house and took a .30 calibre semi-automatic rifle across the road and shot and killed 12 year old Annie Irvine, 9 year old Belinda Maureen Irvine and Mrs Belinda Irvine. Elaine Irvine, only 6 months old, was wounded by a bullet passing through her mother. Ten year old Lynette Karger, who regularly stopped in at the Irvine house to walk to the nearby Cannon Hill Primary school with the Irvine children was also killed; her lunch money still clutched in a handkerchief in her hand. He then set the bodies on fire, shot their dog and began firing through the windows at the people attempting to fight the fire at his house. He even struck a passing car, barely missing another child. When Jack Strickfuss interceded, it seems that Majka shot himself in the head with the rifle. When he killed himself, he still had a great deal of ammunition and the Cannon Hill Primary School lay at the back of the Irvine’s yard.
Marian Majka’s Immigration Certificate, c1950
The Coroner could find no reason for Majka’s actions. He came to Australia under the Displaced Person’s program after a number of years in Nazi labour camps. Jack Strickfuss was awarded the George Medal for his courage on the day and James Ainsworth and Frederick Ganter were awarded Queen’s Commendations for Bravery.
Neil Irvine moved to Adelaide with Elaine who eventually recovered from her injuries. Lynette Karger’s mother Beryl died less than two years later of a broken heart. Jack Strickfuss retired as a Sergeant First Class in 1981 and passed away in 2012.
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This information has been supplied by Historian and Volunteer Jason Leiper.
The Police Museum is open 9am to 4pm Monday to Friday and 10am to 3pm on the last Sunday of the month (Feb-Nov) and is located on the Ground Floor of Police Headquarters at 200 Roma Street, Brisbane. Contact: E: museum@police.qld.gov.au
In 1921 the border town of Mungindi on the Barwon River, which divides Queensland and New South Wales, was the scene of a flood. Acting Sergeant Reynolds from Queensland’s Mungindi Police Station had already been rewarded for good work in the rescue of a miner entombed at Oaks Goldfield in 1910. Reynolds was also recognised by the Royal Humane Society for saving 3 children from drowning in the Barwon River in 1920. In line with his duties, A/Sergeant Reynolds wrote to Police Commissioner Patrick Short, via Roma’s Sub-Inspector, to report on the flooded conditions in Mungindi.
Group photograph of delegates to the Queensland Police Union Third Annual Conference, Brisbane 7-15 April 1919. Acting Sergeant B.J.Reynolds is standing in the second row, third from the right. Image No. PM0281 Courtesy of the Queensland Police Museum
Here is the letter in full, dated 18th July 1921:
Sir, I beg to report following my report No. 99/21 from heavy rain the Barwon River at Mungindi rose to a height of 24 feet on 24th ultimo, this caused all the low lying country to be flooded and also flooded the streets of Mungindi and surrounded the houses by water.
On top of this it commenced to rain heavily, and on reports from other places higher up the river it was evident that a big second flood would ensue before the then conditions of the river had receded. The river gradually commenced to fall and by the time the second flood waters of the Barwon River started to rise at Goondiwindi the Barwon River at Mungindi was just within its own banks and remained so for several days till the flood waters from Goondiwindi commenced to arrive. Previous to this I warned all people along the river and also all people who owned low lying country to the effect that a record disastrous flood was inevitable. I specially requested them to remove all stock to the highest ground they could find and advised them to procure plenty of rations and firewood while the roads were still in a condition to travel.
My requests and advice was obeyed in every instance with the result that there is not a single report of any stock being lost, or any distress amongst the people who had to only undergo some inconvenience.
Police quarters on the Queensland side of Barwon River, Mungindi, during the flood of 1921. Image taken from the bridge. Image No. PM1281 Courtesy of the Queensland Police Museum
Previous to the second flood I got on the telephone to the clerk of the local council St George to see if I could be supplied with a boat but it was then getting too late to get a boat by Thallon and the only way of getting one appeared to be by river from Goondiwindi but Sergeant Bergin advised it would be unsafe to try it.
Sergeant Martin of N.S.W. was also trying to secure boats from N.S.W. and eventually succeeded in obtaining two Water Police and two boats from Newcastle.
The people of Mungindi then felt safe on both sides of the river, and they concluded if the worst came they could be removed by boats to a high ridge about six miles distant.
Previous to the Water Police arriving there was only one old boat on the N.S.W. side which was totally inadequate to meet an emergency.
On 8th inst. When the Barwon flood was reaching its highest a most extraordinary thing happened which probably saved the town of Mungindi from being submerged. The Weir River which heads somewhere in the vicinity of Dalby and empties into the Barwon River about fifteen miles above Mungindi. The Weir was in record flood equal to the height it reached in the year 1890. Its flood waters came down rapidly and were it empties into the Barwon there was low lying country on the N.S.W. side. The Weir seemed to take an unusual course by going straight through the Barwon River it flooded N.S.W. for miles and eventually covered the N.S.W. railway line in one place to a depth of six feet it caused much damage to stock in N.S.W. it took a lot of the Barwon waters with it but had it kept the Barwon River course it is hard to say what would have been the fate of the town of Mungindi which practically escaped the Weir flood.
N.S.W. Railway Station, Mungindi, during the flood 1921. Image No. PM1281b Courtesy of the Queensland Police Service
On 11th inst. the flood reached its highest 24 feet, 9 inches, two inches higher than the flood of 1914. There is no loss of stock on the Queensland side. Constable Willis and myself was daily patrolling in boats with the N.S.W. police everywhere round houses that were flooded to see that there was no distress and remove people who required removing.
I am attaching a clipping from the Sydney Daily Telegraph newspaper to show the condition of that part of N.S.W. which is bordering Queensland. I am attaching for my Commissioners and Sub Inspectors information photos of the flood, the contents of each photograph is explained on [the] back.
The river is still in flood and falling slowly from all appearances a large portion of country will remain under water for some time, the only losses on Queensland side of the Barwon was about £300 worth of vegetables lost by a Chinaman named Ah Chee. We had to patrol daily in a boat to these Chinese who were living on a raft to see they were all right. B.J.Reynolds Acting Sergeant 626
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This information has been supplied by the Queensland Police Museum from the best resources available at the time of writing. The letter was written by Acting Sergeant Bernard John Reynolds, Mungindi Police Station, Queensland.
The Police Museum is open 9am to 4pm Monday to Thursday and 10am to 3pm on the last Sunday of the month (Feb-Nov) and is located on the Ground Floor of Police Headquarters at 200 Roma Street, Brisbane. Contact: E: museum@police.qld.gov.au
Prior to inauguration of the Queensland Police Force in 1864, Sub-Inspector William Harris with Constables Henry Harris, John Brophy and John Broderick policed Leyburn. The policemen served from humble quarters; in 1862 the Leyburn lockup had cost £550 to build, with a further £227 spend approved for police buildings in 1885.
The Queensland Police Gazette of November 2 1864 announced Sub-Inspector Harris, Officer in Charge Leyburn Police, as rewarded with £30 for the apprehension of Alexander Ritchie for the murder of Mr Charles Alfred Owen. Owen was a Magistrate, overseer and part owner of Yandilla Station on the Darling Downs. Ritchie was later hanged for the crime. Although homicide in the district was uncommon, other offences ranged from horse and cattle stealing, assault, absconding from service, breach of the peace, larceny and language offences.
Plan of Leyburn, 1910. Courtesy of the Queensland Police Museum.
Each year inspections were made of the police station, for the information of the Police Commissioner. The condition of equipment, buildings, fencing, grounds, staff and uniforms were noted. In November 1909 Inspector James F. Geraghty attended the Leyburn Police Station from Toowoomba to report on conditions there. His general remarks noted “I found the station tidy and clean but the yards were in a filthy condition like an old cattle camp. The Constable [Alfred Zendler] alleges that owing to the old fence which encloses the Reserve (which no doubt is in bad repair) cattle come in and camp on the reserve. This Constable is milking two cows and I am of the opinion that these cows cause the nuisance. I told the Constable that if I again found the place in such condition I would recommend his transfer.” Constable Zendler was not transferred, and retired in 1910.
Leyburn Court House with police residence on right, c1910. Image courtesy of the State Library Queensland.
Brisbane’s Courier Mail reported, on January 23 1936, a fire which raised the police station and destroyed contents owned by the Constable in residence, R.G. Turner. The five room building could not be saved, however the main Leyburn Police office remained unaffected. A new police station was erected later that year costing £1026 and Constable Turner’s family reported moving into the residence on September 7, 1936.
In recent years an original boundary marking, in the form of a large tree, blazed with an arrow and lettering was discovered when a land owner noticed these distinct features. The symbol denoting a Government Police Reserve is etched into the cambium layer of an old Ironbark. The significance of the tree as a boundary marker for the original Leyburn Police Reserve has not gone unnoticed. As a way to protect its history, the tree has been relocated to the Leyburn Police Station.
This weekend (14th to 16th August 2015) marks the 20th anniversary of the Historic Leyburn Motor Sprints. The township normally populated by less than 500 is expected to increase to 20,000 people during the weekend event. Police from neighbouring districts will be in attendance to assist Leyburn’s police contingent. There may just be a shiny new police car on display, and images of some older police vehicles.
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This information has been supplied by the Queensland Police Museum from the best resources available at the time of writing. The Police Museum is open 9am to 4pm Monday to Thursday and 10am to 3pm on the last Sunday of the month (Feb-Nov) and is located on the Ground Floor of Police Headquarters at 200 Roma Street, Brisbane. Contact by email: museum@police.qld.gov.au
Only 30 spaces available but there is a waitlist. If you have trouble booking a ticket, email us and we will add you to the Eventbrite booking.
Morning Tea will be provided from 9.30am to 10.30am
Two tours will depart at 10.30am and return at 12.30pm. The group will be split after everyone arrives and one tour will run clockwise and the other counter clockwise.
There are hundreds of Queensland Police officers buried at Toowong Cemetery for every rank from Commissioner down to Constable. The tour will wend its way though the cemetery and stop at the most interesting of these graves.
PLEASE NOTE:
The tour will go ahead except in the event of rain which makes the cemetery slippery and hazardous.
Please research ways to get to Toowong Cemetery. The main entrance is in Frederick Street, right at the corner as you turn left off the roundabout, the entry comes up quickly so please be careful.
It is a lovely 2km walk from Auchenflower Railway Station. Just be careful crossing Milton Road and Frederick Street.
Toowong Cemetery is very hilly so please wear sensible shoes. It may be chilly in the morning but warm up later so bring a hat and some water to carry with you.
Toilet facilities will be available where we meet near the car park.
The battle, a fierce and violent display of street fighting, was the highlight of a series of processions, meetings and riots held by left-wing militants and Russian Bolsheviks on the one hand and returned soldiers on the other. Being almost continuously on duty from 1 p.m. on Sunday 23rd March until about 1 a.m. on Tuesday 25th March the writer had a grandstand view of all the main incidents, and still retains a fairly vivid recollection of the rapid march of events.
On 23 March 1919, a group of Bolshevik sympathisers gathered for a march from the Trades Hall to the Domain, when a large flag was unfurled by Alexander Zuzenko. Simultaneously, around a dozen returned soldiers joined by members of the Socialists League, formed into a line carrying red flags on poles. As the War Precautions Act banned public display of the Red flag, the police moved in to seize them. The violent struggle ensued between 400 marchers and the small police party:
The Police detachment at the scene comprised two NCO’s and eight Constables with myself and Plain Clothes Constable Jim Corbett (later Senior Sergeant) in charge of Sub-Inspector N. Brosnan (afterwards Chief Inspector) and Sub-Inspector J. McNiell. As the procession moved off to the singing of “L Internationale”, Sub-Inspector seized hold of a Red flag carried by a Russian in the front line, and after a struggle, gained possession of it. But he was quickly surrounded and overpowered and the marchers regained the flag.
Cartoon depicting ‘Red Monday’, the battle of Merivale Street between anticommunist factions and police in Brisbane on 24 March 1919. Cartoon extracted from the Queensland Police Union Journal, June 11 1919.
As the captured flags were repossessed by the defiant crowd, the procession kept going, and all efforts by the police to stop them were unavailing. But the trouble was only starting, when somebody shouted Let’s raid the Bolshevik Headquarters. The Diggers formed up and marched across Victoria Bridge to Merivale Street. When the mob reached the Russian Hall, a series of warning shots resounded from inside the Russian headquarters. Discouraged by the fire, the Diggers relunctantly dispersed.
The following day rumours began to circulate of a plan to set the Russian Hall on fire. In the evening up to 8,000 men, some armed, assembled on Merivale Street and within an hour, a fierce battle started between ex-soldiers and police, with Constable Mick O’Driscoll once again was in the thick of the onslaught:
At about 7pm a strong force of police, with rifles and fixed bayonets, marched into Merivale Street, and was disposed in two lines stretching across the street and about 100 yards apart. Drawn up in the rectangle behind their armed colleagues were hundreds of police armed with batons, whilst a strong detachment of mounted police were stationed in Russell Street, close by. Sounds of soldiers singing “keep the home fires burning” and “Australia will be there” reached us in the rectangle. The air was tense and electric as the 50 odd men in blue came to the “on guard” position facing the soldiers now advancing towards them at the double. The diggers came on purposely, pausing only when they came in contact with the cold steel. The pressure from the crowd behind steadily mounted and eventually a concerted rush forced their leaders on to the points of the bayonets. Meanwhile a section of the mob, armed with palings and scrap iron, tried to infiltrate around the front lines of police, but were repulsed by the police armed with batons. The men in the ranks were receiving frequent injuries and the police casualties were mounting. Excitement and feeling became intense throughout the fighting, and many policemen were noticed with blood flowing down their faces.
The battle raged for two hours. Commissioner Urquart was stabbed in the right shoulder with a bayonet, but returned to the scene after his wound was dressed at the Mater Hospital. Sub-Inspector McNeill was hit in the forehead with an iron bar, Sergeant Ferguson sustained a fracture to the skull, mounted Senior Constable Bell had a broken rib, Constables Bateman and Byrne received bullet wounds to the arm and body. Plain-clothes Constable O’Driscoll was struck in the knee with a bottle. A total of 22 policemen and two civilians were listed as injured in the struggle.
If the enrage returned soldiers had got through the police lines and had reached the Russian’s building, it would probably have resulted in death or other dire consequences to the 30 or 40 scared inmates.
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This information has been provided by the Queensland Police Museum from the best resources available. The article was written by Crime and Policing Historian Dr Anastasia Dukova.
The Police Museum is open 9am to 4pm Monday to Thursday and 10am to 3pm on the last Sunday of the month (Feb-Nov) and is located on the Ground Floor of Police Headquarters at 200 Roma Street, Brisbane. Contact: E: museum@police.qld.gov.au
On 14 August 1927, the Criminal Investigation Branch building was rocked by a violent explosion in a property room. ‘The roar of the discharge was heard for miles around, being audible in the suburbs.’ (BC, 15 Aug 1927, p. 13) Numerous crime records and exhibits in cases before the Police and Supreme Courts were destroyed, and nearly all windows and doors were shattered. Considerable damage from timber, iron and plaster hurled through the air was done to the buildings in the area.
Mysterious Explosion, Daily Mail, 15 Aug 1927
Detective Michael Burns was sleeping in the building at the time of the bombing. Burns was knocked unconscious by falling debris and was lucky to survive. He was rescued by fire fighters and later admitted into Mater Misericordia Public Hospital ‘suffering from the effects of shock and concussion’. Detective Burns was superannuated a year later due to the injuries sustained.
The Scene of the Explosion, Daily Mail, 15 Aug 1927
A report filed to the Under Secretary a few days after the explosion suggested that the outrage had been committed by a person with a motive for destroying certain exhibits stored in the property room. The only exhibits in the room at the time relating to a serious pending charge was a quantity of shirting material, property of Buss & Turner & Bayards of Grey Street, South Brisbane. The property was evidence in a prosecution of a charge preferred against a man named Albert Orchard.
On 26 July 1972, James Fitzgerald and Albert Orchard broke into the Premier Shirt Company Warehouse, Grey Street, South Brisbane and stole 47 rolls of Tobralco (fine, light cotton) and six roles of zephyr shirting. Orchard was caught at the scene and the property was recovered. He was later released to await trial. James Fitzgerald escaped, however, and a warrant for his arrest was issued by the CIB.
Warrants Issued
A few days before the explosion, Daniel Williams, powder monkey, employed by the Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board, reported to the police that he left the door of the powder magazine in Merivale Street, South Brisbane, securely locked on the afternoon of 9 August. On the morning of 11 August, he found the powder magazine lock broken, the door open, and three packets of gelignite and two boxes, each containing 100 detonators stolen. Orchard was linked to the theft. He was apprehended on 1 October 1927 and committed for trial on the charge of stealing property to the value of £180 and attempting to destroy property by explosives. Orchard was sentenced to imprisonment for 7 years. The Crown entered nolle prosequi on the explosive charge.
On 28 November Fitzgerald was found guilty and sentenced to 8 years hard labour.
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This information has been provided by the Queensland Police Museum from the best resources available. The article was written by Crime and Policing Historian Dr Anastasia Dukova.
The Police Museum is open 9am to 4pm Monday to Thursday and 10am to 3pm on the last Sunday of the month (Feb-Nov) and is located on the Ground Floor of Police Headquarters at 200 Roma Street, Brisbane. Contact: E: museum@police.qld.gov.au
The Detective Office began on 1 December 1864, 11 months after the inauguration of the Queensland Police Force on January 1. Samuel Joseph Lloyd was placed as the officer in charge of the new branch. Lloyd immigrated to Australia from Ireland and joined the Victoria Police Force in 1855, where he served as a Detective for nearly a decade prior to joining the Queensland Police. Lloyd was OIC of the Detective Branch on and off for the next 32 years, until he retired in February 1896. The number of Detectives in the Office was nominal and drawn basically from the best police officers in Brisbane. There were 2 classes – Detective Constable 1/c and Detective Constable 2/c. Employed only on a part-time basis, the Detectives spent the other part of their time carrying out ordinary police duties. They received no extra pay despite the complicated character of their work and the long hours they often worked in criminal detection.
Report from the Detective Office, 1895.
Shortly before Lloyd’s retirement, on 1 July 1895, at the request of Police Commissioner William Parry-Okeden, the Detective Office was separated from the workings of the ordinary police and became known as the Criminal Investigation Branch. Sub-Inspector 1/c James Nethercote took charge of the new Branch along with 1 x Detective Senior Sergeant; 4 x 1/c Detective Sergeants; 1 x 2/c Detective Senior Constables; 1 x Acting 3/c Detective Sergeant and two 3/c Detective Constables. A year after the re-organisation, Parry-Okeden was pleased to report that between 1896 and 1897, convictions in the Supreme and District Courts more than doubled, which he attributed to the increased efficiency of the CI Branch, 8 to 17 and 12 to 28 respectively. (Annual Report, 1897).
List of Members of the Force who were called “Detectives” on the 1st July 1895, are since that date known as belonging to the “Criminal Investigation Branch”
CIB Building
St John’s Cathedral was the first home of the Branch. The church property was sold to the Queensland Government in 1901. The Cathedral was demolished leaving the Synod Hall located on the corner of George and Elizabeth streets. The Synod Hall became the home of the CIB and contained the offices of the Detectives of the CIB, the Fingerprint, Modus Operandi and Photography Sections. https://mypolice.qld.gov.au/museum/2014/09/02/vault-forensic-science-police-force/
In 1934, the space was remodelled to fit the combined Detective and plain clothes staff. The old entrance on Elizabeth Street was closed and moved to George Street, where a set of rooms and offices just inside the entrance gave the interior a smart and business-like appearance. It remained as the CIB headquarters until 1962 when the CIB moved into the new police building on North Quay. It was demolished in that same year and the brick was reused by St John’s Cathedral.
Old CIB building (church) corner Elizabeth and George Streets, Brisbane, where Queen Victoria park is now located. Lands Department Building is shown in rear of photograph. Image No. PM0204b courtesy of the Queensland Police Museum.
CIB Sections
Between 1864 and 1964, Brisbane’s population grew from 12,551 to 169,390 in 1916, and finally to 740,306. (QLD Treasury) Meanwhile, the CI Branch saw its work load also increase significantly. In 1917, the fingerprint section processed 1,868 prints and identified 155, in 1928, the number rose to 3,042 and 1,327. The number of arrests executed increased from 404 in 1919 to 674 in 1929, and 1,238 in 1935. (AR 1929, 1935) The effective Branch strength increased from 13 to 35 Detectives and 48 plain clothes Constables. The newly introduced Modus Operandi system was singled out as a key contributor in the growing efficiency of bringing possible suspects forward. This System comprised the recording and classifying of crime, the methods used by criminals and their physical peculiarities, such as visible scars, missing limbs, deformities, etc. (AR 1935) The offences that otherwise might ‘not have been elucidated were traced to the perpetrators solely from information supplied to the investigators by officers employed in the section.’ (Telegraph, 23 Oct 1936) Numerous articles of property which were either stolen or lost were subsequently recovered and returned to the owners as a result of this system.
In 1965, or thirty odd years later, the upward trend continued. The Branch expanded to include 227 Detectives and 120 plain clothes Constables. Between July, 1964 and July, 1965, the MO Section recorded the particulars of 109,334 persons, and the photographic section made 21,000 prints of prisoners or offenders photographed during the year. One of the more gruesome cases successfully investigated by the Branch was the Coorparoo Junction Murders https://mypolice.qld.gov.au/museum/2014/12/09/vault-coorparoo-junction-murders/. Following extensive field and investigative work the perpetrator was arrested only two days after the crime.
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This information has been provided by the Queensland Police Museum from the best resources available. The article was written by Crime and Policing Historian Dr Anastasia Dukova.
The Police Museum is open 9am to 4pm Monday to Thursday and 10am to 3pm on the last Sunday of the month (Feb-Nov) and is located on the Ground Floor of Police Headquarters at 200 Roma Street, Brisbane. Contact: E: museum@police.qld.gov.au
Sergeant Vincent James Collins never used to chase the hoons as they raced their cars and motorbikes through the streets of Landsborough. He didn’t need to. He knew where they lived and would simply sit and wait for them to come home. Or, knowing their families, he would knock on their front door and pop in for a quiet chat, well aware that when the young trouble makers finally showed their faces, there would be hell to pay from their parents. Maintaining the law and order in a small town, he realised, wasn’t just the responsibility of the police. He had allies throughout the close-knit community. An old-style country cop, he cut his teeth on the job in wartime Rockhampton, arriving in his first posting in 1942, the same time as the first wave of American servicemen landed in central Queensland. After four lively years there, he was transferred to Theodore, where he would meet his future wife, Patricia Lovett.
The pace of life there was somewhat slower, he found. For starters, the only transport provided by the Police Force was a horse – this in a day when he was also responsible for the mining town of Moura, some 60km away. He may have moved at an unhurried pace yet always seemed to be one step ahead of whatever mischief was afoot on his beat. And even in an era when a sideways glance from the local police sergeant could stop a bar full of brawlers in their tracks, he had something special about him, an air of authority that could defuse trouble almost before it started.
No doubt some of that he learned at the old Police Depot where he did his training in the early 1940’s, having come straight off his parents’ dairy farm at Djuan, outside Toowoomba. The stern fatherly approach he took to his work can probably be traced back to the fact that he had considerable practice at it at his home. Devout Catholics, he and Pat, his wife of 54 years, raised no fewer than 14 children, with a neat split of seven boys and seven girls. It was the family joke that Sgt Collins received so few transfers during his 35 years in the force – just two after his wedding in 1950, to Bulimba (1950 – 1964) and Landsborough (1964 until his retirement in 1977) – because there weren’t that many places with a police house big enough to accommodate the ever-expanding family.
Sergeants Course No. 21, from 20.09.1971 to 08.10.1971 at Chelmer. Back Row: A C Clark, Mathew Jospeh Cranitch, J S Montgomery, V M Robinson, J K Henderson, D Shaw, J Maccheroni, T H Warwick, P L O’Shea. Centre Row: N V Jensen, D J Rowan, J B Czislowski, D P Cain, R R Weise, D R Goan, V J Collins, E J Burns, R G Youels, V Beutel, E J Aspinall. Front Row: L P Rowan, R H Gillespie, Insp F Clifford, Insp R M Matheson, M J Cromarty, O D Barrett, J D Mahoney. Image No. PM2496 courtesy of the Queensland Police Museum.
Bulimba might be a trendy, expensive near-city suburb these days but in the 1950’s it was very much a working-class area, the Bulimba pub the local watering hole for wharfies and meatworkers. They were a volatile mix and many was the time Sgt Collins had to step in and robustly restore the peace. Still, sometimes things got out of hand. It seems unreal today, with genteel coffee shops spilling out on to its sidewalks, but so violent was Oxford Street that the Brisbane Telegraph once even tagged it ‘Hell Street’ in a banner page one headline.
Landsborough offered a quieter life, although it too made heavy demands on Sgt Collins and the two police officers assigned to him. Until his retirement, the main Sunshine Coast highway ran though the town and all too frequently the local sergeant was called out to deal with grim and grisly fatal road crashes. One crash however, he was happy to attend. An ice-cream van had run out of control coming down the Maleny Range and toppled over. Fortunately, the driver wasn’t injured but it was a hot day and the van’s cargo wasn’t going to last long in the heat. By happy coincidence, Sgt Collins knew of a local family with 14 children. It said a lot for his standing in Landsborough and the respect in which he was held there that Sgt Collins chose to retire in the same small community in which he had enforced the law.
In July 2004 Vincent Collins died in a Caloundra nursing home, aged 87. At his funeral, police formed a guard of honour and then, blue lights flashing, accompanied the funeral procession to Caloundra cemetery.
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This article was written in 2004 by Wayne Smith, journalist for The Australian, who was married to the second of Mr Collins’ seven daughters. The Police Museum is open from 9am to 4pm Monday to Thursday and 10am to 3pm on the last Sunday of the month (Feb-Nov) and is located on the Ground Floor of Police Headquarters at 200 Roma Street, Brisbane. Contact: E: museum@police.qld.gov.au
Jean Morris, aged about 19 years, was found dead in her bed in a small two-roomed galvanised iron house, in Queen St, Ayr, which she alone occupied. The body was attired in a silk nightdress. (QPG 15 October, 1932)
The post mortem examination revealed she sustained 43 stab wounds about half an inch wide and four inches deep. No screams or sounds were heard by the neighbours.
The body was discovered by the Electric Light Company employee at 10 o’clock in the morning. The inquest showed Jean Morris died about eight hours earlier. The evidence indicated a dagger or a stiletto was used to inflict the narrow and deep wounds. A dagger fitting the description was discovered in the deceased’s room, but there was no indication it was recently used.
Beautiful Dark-Eyed Jean Morris. Truth newspaper, 16 October 1932.
Jean Morris, as she was known in the North, was a slim, attractive girl not long out of her teens. She originally came from Sydney and was known to the police as a prostitute and an associate of criminals. (O’Driscoll, Mick. Notorious Crimes and Criminals) Miss Morris arrived at Ayr via Home Hill, Cloncurry, Innisfail, and Cairns on 29 September 1932. She was last seen alive on the night of 3 October. Two Italian men, Joe Maganetti, and Michael Gudas were the girl’s known associates. The room search turned up two bank books, one in the deceased’s name and another in Gudas’ showing a credit balance of £139.
Based on the ferocity of the assault and choice of the weapon, the local police concluded the murderer to be a foreigner. Moreover, the description of Jean’s latest nocturnal visitor fitted many southern Europeans who had associated with Jean Morris. The more the local police probed, the more convinced they became that the murder was no ordinary slaying, but that it was the calculated vengeance of a terrorist organisation.
Hotel Delta, Queen Street, Ayr.
Statistical data for the Townsville Police district showed that serious crime has increased in 1932. Gambling, such as fan tan troy card game, was rife in the 1920s and early 1930s. Between July 1932 and July 1933, 746 prosecutions were launched under gaming and anti-gambling laws in Queensland, 241 of them were launched in Townsville District alone. Townsville population in 1933 neared 26,000. Compared with the rest of Queensland, Townsville crime rates were on par with Cairns and Rockhampton, or about one third of total number of cases recorded in the Brisbane Police District. If gambling and Offences against Good Order (drunkenness) were ubiquitous in the area, murder was not; there were three cases brought before the courts in 1931-32, two in 1932-33, and one between July 1933 and July 1934.
The Black Hand involvement was suspected, in many quarters it was held that branches of the dread “Comorro” and the “Mafia” functioned in the area. (O’Driscoll) The organisation was later linked to a series of murders in Ingham, 1935-38. Italian national Vincenzo Dagostino, it was alleged, started his mafia gang and vowed to be an Al Capone of Australia:
Jean Morris made the mistake of rejecting advances … by Dagostino. His reaction was to order her murder by one of his underlings who stole into the cottage and stabbed her to death on 4 October, 1932 … Dagostino merely announced to the gang that Jean Morris was a danger because she knew too much about Mafia activities. (Northern Territory News, 25 Aug 1976, p. 21)
Stiletto Jean Met A Fearful Death, Truth newspaper, 30 July 1950.
As the police closed in on their suspect, the man returned to Italy, where he was promptly arrested. He hanged himself in an Italian prison.
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This information has been provided by the Queensland Police Museum from the best resources available. The article was written by Crime and Policing Historian Dr Anastasia Dukova.
The Police Museum is open 9am to 4pm Monday to Thursday and 10am to 3pm on the last Sunday of the month (Feb-Nov) and is located on the Ground Floor of Police Headquarters at 200 Roma Street, Brisbane. Contact: E: museum@police.qld.gov.au
2002 marks the 70th anniversary of this shocking unsolved murder.
On the evening of September 19, 1952, Betty Shanks, 22, a clerk in a Commonwealth Department, was returning to her parents’ home in Montepelier Street, The Grange. After attending night school classes in the city, she left a tramcar at The Grange at approximately 9.32pm to walk the remaining kilometre to her home. While walking along Thomas Street she was attacked, savagely beaten and strangled. Police believe Shanks’ attacker killed her in the shadow of trees on the corner of Thomas and Carberry streets. Her gold wrist watch had stopped at 9.53pm, 21 minutes after leaving the tram. Despite a long and thorough police investigation, the killer was never found. This murder case remains open and unsolved.
Betty Shanks was murdered on 19 September 1952. (Police Museum Image PM1487.
You will hear from three speakers with an interest in this murder, who will each give a 30 minute talk about their perspective on who might have killed Betty. Then the audience can ask questions of the panel of speakers.
JACK SIM
Brisbane’s infamous “man in black”, Jack Sim, walks the shadowy streets of town in search of horrible histories and tales of Brisbane’s most infamous gaol, Boggo Road. Since 1998 Jack’s passion for the notorious gaol has allowed it to be the site for thrilling ghost and historic tours. Jack has also published true tales of Crime Scenes, Ghost Stories and Prison History from Boggo Road Gaol. You may also have seen him late at night undertaking his Crime Tours and Ghost Tours, with a collection of other knowledgeable hosts, in historic sites such as Boggo Road Gaol, Toowong Cemetery and South Brisbane Cemetery. Jack worked with Ken Blanche while Ken was researching his book Who Killed Betty Shanks? Betty holds a special place in Jack’s heart.
TED DUHS
Ted Duhs spent most of his working life in universities, first at UQ and then at QUT. After leaving university life he became interested in Criminology. His book Crucial Errors in Murder Investigations was published by Bond University Press in 2012. It deals with some 18 cases where significant procedural issues arise. This was followed by “I Know Who Killed Betty Shanks.” The first edition was published by Boolarong Press in 2014. This was followed by the second edition in 2019, and the third edition in 2022. He is currently working on a book entitled Miscarriages of Justice in the UK, US, Australia and New Zealand. Details are available on his website www.miscarriagesofjustice.com.au
ROBERT CONSTANTINE
Robert Constantine is a retired Queensland Public Servant, and he first became interested in the Betty Shanks murder case some year ago, after reading the book by Ken Blanch. He visited the location several times, to see if he could put together, in his own mind, the circumstances of the murder. He believes it was murder and has all characteristics of a well-planned and per-meditated killing. Despite one theory that says Betty was killed in a motorcycle accident, after being struck by a police motorcycle patrolman, traveling on his beat that night. Robert formed the opinion, after reading Blanch, that there must have been two people involved in the crime. One man is waiting at the tram stop, whilst another is concealed in the bauhinia trees along Thomas Street.
**This event is planned as an educational seminar. The views and opinions of speakers expressed at this lecture, do not necessarily state or reflect those of The Queensland Police Service**
This two-and-a-half-hour presentation will start at 10am on Sunday, 25 September and will be both informative and educational and is suitable for any audience.
The Museum opens its doors to the public on the last Sunday of each month from 10am to 3pm from February to November in addition to the standard Monday to Thursday 9am to 4pm opening hours. Monthly Sunday openings feature guest speakers from across the historical and crime-solving spectrums.
PLEASE NOTE: The Police Museum will open Sunday, 25 September from 9.30am to 3pm, and is located on the ground floor of Police Headquarters, 200 Roma Street, Brisbane.
After 45 years, five months and five days, Queensland Police Employee Number 1169194 has left the building. Prior to her exit, Lorrayne Stone provided a thought provoking piece on her civilian career. The Police Museum retains the histories of police officers and civilian employees, and we wish to acknowledge the long, often arduous career of Lorrayne, and we thank her for taking the time to record these memories.
I started with the Queensland Police Force on May 25, 1970. On that day the first police officer I saw was wearing a khaki coloured uniform. I was allocated to the Fingerprint Bureau in Police Headquarters. The building was known as the Old CIB building and was located on the site of the current Police HQ carpark. There were five female staff members with a Senior Sergeant in Charge, a number of Sergeants, Senior Constables and Constables. There was one electric typewriter, mainly used to type requests for interstate and international fingerprint matches, criminal histories and other ‘very important’ documents, as well as a number of manual typewriters.
The Police Department acquired this building from the Egg Marketing Board in 1962. The building was used as the Police Headquarters until 1978, when it was made into the offices of the CIB. Image No PM0203 courtesy of the Queensland Police Museum.
There was a small locker room and apart from a few lockers, this room also contained a desk where fingerprints were sometimes taken from criminals and Visa applicants, and where staff could enjoy their tea break and lunch if they chose. Photocopies were made with the only photocopier in the building, located in the Commissioner’s Office. All photocopies had to be recorded and signed for. Office records were held in the form of small index cards and all documents including fingerprints, criminal histories and associated paperwork were kept in individual manila folders filed in cabinets.
I lived at Manly West and getting to and from work was by bus, and after a couple of months I braved the train. In those days the last train station in the city was South Brisbane and the last bus stop was at North Quay – both a half hour walk from Police HQ. On transferring to Wynnum Station, in 1972, I was allocated a desk which was situated in a hallway just inside the front counter, and two lockers; one for my personal gear and one to secure the new manual typewriter bought solely for my use and which was to be locked away at the end of each day. Apart from operating the PABX system (three telephone lines with a number of extensions) I was responsible for typing reports for the Inspector, Senior Sergeant, Criminal Investigation Branch, and later the Juvenile Aid Bureau, Police Prosecutor, and uniformed officers. These reports were all typed in original with up to seven carbon copies. Overtime for civilians was unheard of.
I was the babysitter for children waiting to be claimed by ‘lost’ parents, parents attending court, parents being questioned on criminal matters. There were male toilet facilities, but as there had been no other females working at the station prior to my transfer there I had the pleasure of using the public female toilet in the courtyard, situated between the Magistrates Court and the Police Station.
Interior photograph of the Ansaphone section, Information Bureau, Makerston Street Headquarters, 1986. Before CRISP there was the Ansaphone system transcription from answering machine tapes. Image PM2880 courtesy of the Queensland Police Museum.
In 1978 I was seconded to the Wynnum District Office. Initially, this office was located within the Wynnum Police Station, and then moved into a house previously lived in by the Senior Sergeant and his family which was converted into office accommodation (it’s amazing how the addition of desks in an empty two bedroom house can achieve that ‘office’ look and feel). The house was located behind the police station, cell block and Court House. In 1993 I joined the world of the ‘rotational shift worker’ and transferred to CRISP (Crime Reporting Information System for Police), which later became PAC (Police Assistance Centre), and finally Policelink. Policelink is the only workplace within the Queensland Police Service where I first sat at a brand new desk on which was a brand new computer, in a brand new building. My only other memories of ‘brand new’ were the manual typewriter at Wynnum Station, an electronic typewriter some years later in the District Office which progressed to a Star Writer, and a headset when I started at CRISP.
Computerisation was one of the biggest changes within the Police Service, however between 1970 and 2015 I witnessed the appointment of a new Commissioner of Police six times; I commenced with Ray Whitrod at the helm in 1970, then Terry Lewis took over in 1976, Ron Redmond in 1987, Noel Newnham in 1989, Jim O’Sullivan in 1992, Bob Atkinson in 2000 and finally the current Commissioner Ian Stewart in 2012.
Throughout my career I have had the honour and privilege of working with some truly amazing men and women – too many to list – none that I will intentionally forget. I have shared laughter, pain and tears with, and for, many workmates. I sincerely thank those who have supported me and will cherish those memories.
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This information has been provided by Lorrayne Stone, former Policelink employee, and collated by Georgia Grier, Museum Assistant, for use by the Queensland Police Museum. The Police Museum is open from 9am to 4pm Monday to Thursday and 10am to 3pm on the last Sunday of the month (Feb-Nov) and is located on the Ground Floor of Police Headquarters at 200 Roma Street, Brisbane. Contact: E: museum@police.qld.gov.au
Sergeant 2/c Alexander Cochrane (left) and Constable 1/c James Boyle in the act of rescuing a man attempting to jump off the Victoria Bridge on February 8, 1958. Photograph taken by Ray Saunders a Courier-Mail photographer. (PM1183)
On the 8th of February 1958, a twenty one year old man, intent on committing suicide, climbed over the railing of Brisbane’s old Victoria Bridge and out onto a wooden spar. Ray Saunders, a Courier-Mail Photographer, saw what was happening and called the Police.
When Sergeant 2/c Alexander Cochrane and Constable 1/c James Boyle arrived on the scene a short time later, they found the man dangling by one arm from the end of the spar. Thinking quickly, Constable Boyle grabbed the man’s arm and held onto him for over 15 minutes, until other Police arrived with ropes. Using skill and great care, the ropes were tied around the man’s legs and he was hauled to safety.
Police Commissioner Frank Bischof congratulates Sergeant 2/c Alexander Cochrane (left) and Senior Constable James Boyle (middle), on the occasion of the presentation of the British Empire Medal for Gallantry, on 7 August 1959. The medal was awarded to both officers for saving the life of a man who attempted to jump off the Victoria Bridge on February 8,1958. (PM1144a)
Constable 1/c James Boyle and Sergeant 2/c Alexander Cochrane were both awarded the prestigious British Empire Medal for Gallantry for their courageous efforts on this day.
Obverse of British Empire Medal for Gallantry awarded to James Boyle.
The British Empire Medal for Gallantry was awarded from 14 January 1958 until its replacement with the Queen’s Gallantry Medal in 1974. It was awarded to people below management or professional level. In the uniformed services, it was awarded to non-commissioned officers of the armed forces, officers below superintendent rank in the police, and personnel below divisional officer level in the fire services. It was awarded for acts of gallantry (not in the face of the enemy) below the level required for the George Medal.
Governor Sir Henry Abel Smith inspects Senior Constable James Boyle’s British Empire medal while Sergeant 2/c Alexander Cochrane looks on, 7 August 1959. (PM1144b)
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This information has been supplied by the Queensland Police Museum from the best resources available at the time of writing.
The Police Museum is open 9am to 4pm Monday to Thursday and 10am to 3pm on the last Sunday of the month (Feb-Nov) and is located on the Ground Floor of Police Headquarters at 200 Roma Street, Brisbane. Contact: E: museum@police.qld.gov.au
“From the Vault – Quick Thinking Police Rescue” by the Queensland Police Service is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (BY) 2.5 Australia Licence. Permissions may be available beyond the scope of this licence. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/au/legalcode
