On May 30, 1859, a Water Police contingent was started in Brisbane with William Thornton as Water Police Magistrate along with one Clerk, one Chief Constable and four Constables.
In the 19th century, the key duties of the Water Police were to investigate smuggling, maritime lawbreaking and desertion by seamen. By the early 1860’s the Water Police were conducting their affairs from an old convict hulk called the Proserpine, which was moored in the Brisbane River at Lytton. Water Police Officers lived and worked on the hulk which also served as a lock up for deserters and drunkards.
The early days of the Water Police were far from easy. The first vessel the Julia Percy was purchased in 1862 and used for harbour duties. It took another 20 years or so for the Water Police to take on a state presence with the purchase of the S.S. Vigilant in 1882 and used to patrol Cooktown and Cardwell.
There are currently Water Police Stations at ten locations along Queensland’s coast – Brisbane, Cairns, Thursday Island, Gold Coast, Wynnum District, Sunshine Coast, Hervey Bay, Yeppoon, Whitsunday and Townsville.
The Water Police mission is to contribute to the well-being of all persons in Queensland by protecting life and property, preserving order, preventing and bringing of offenders to justice, with emphasis placed on the policing needs of the boating fraternity generally, property owners located adjacent to waterways, on islands, and persons living in coastal areas.
This information has been supplied by the Queensland Police Museum from the best resources available at the time of writing. Contact: E: museum@police.qld.gov.au
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.
“THEN and NOW – Water Police” by the Queensland Police Service is licensed under a 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