Since its first days, Mount Isa, a mining town, was a rough sort of settlement. In May 1924, just a year after the town was established, a township police station was opened. At its inception, the town had one policeman per the population of about three hundred, with miners constituting more than half.
During his first months at Mount Isa, Constable Holohan was housed in a tent. Constable Landy, took over the station five months later. By then, the Police Station comprised of a 10’ by 12’ frame tent and two lock-up cells. As the sly grog sales continued to rise, two more constables were attached to the station in 1925. A portable station was erected in 1926, followed by the Court House and Singlemen’s Quarters.
Mount Isa Cell Block, Court House, Police Station and Singlemen’s Quarters, 1929.
Image No. PM0587 Courtesy of the Queensland Police Museum.
Mount Isa’s first police Constables had their hands full with charges for obscene language, creating a disturbance, inciting and resisting arrest. In the majority of cases, defendants were found guilty with fines imposed according to the offence. In April, 1925 a town meeting unanimously called for the current police presence to be removed or else it “may lead to serious trouble in the near future.” The residents accused the constables of “trying to terrorise them into their way of thinking by Libel and Summonses.” Witness statements revealed intimidation of signatories by the men, who had previously frequently found themselves at the dock.
In 1931, the strength of the Station had increased to three constables and an acting sergeant. Married men’s quarters were added in 1935, new barracks in 1938, and a motor garage a year later. In 1952 the station strength was increased further to 15 men: one Senior Sergeant (OIC), one Sergeant 1/c and two 2/c, Detective Sergeant 2/c, Detective Senior Constable, and nine Uniformed Constables. The population of Mount Isa was estimated to be 9000 persons.
Mount Isa Police Station, c1950.
Image No. PM1508 Courtesy of the Queensland Police Museum.
Decades had passed but the general break down of offences barely changed. By the early 1950’s, Mount Isa had three hotels in the township in which there were 456 arrests made between April and October, 1953, with the majority constituting public order offences. It was estimated that there were between 500 to 600 people in each of the hotel bars on any given Saturday night, with approximately 700 gallons of beer consumed in each hotel.
“We must have law and order and we intend to enforce it!”,
Senior Sergeant Marchant, 1953
On one such Saturday, 10 October, 1953, Constable Samuel Frederick Robinson was assaulted by Richard Tozer, 22, while Tozer was resisting arrest near Hotel Boyd. “More than 300 people milled around to watch the struggle and incited the defendant to fight the constable.”Constable Robinson was kicked and had his head butted against the concrete wall. During the altercation, Robinson had his handcuffs, baton and cap taken away. “Tozer then tore the shirt off the Constable whilst he was held by the crowd, and one of the crowd tore the singlet off the Constable. At this stage the Police on duty arrived, accompanied by all Police available, and even with their presence, the prisoner was still incited to further resist.”Constable Robertson remained in the Force for 16 years, 1952-1968, and received a Favourable Record and three Commendations for his service.
Technical Officer Ryszard Kazimierz Pietrala in the Communications Room at Mount Isa, 1968.
Image No. PM3518 Courtesy of the Queensland Police Museum.
The 1959 annual report saw little change, as there were 2400 persons taken into custody during the year, with 1503 charged with drunkenness, 121 with stealing, 71 with using obscene language and 67 for operating a motor vehicle under influence of liquor.
In 1962, the Headquarters of the Police District of Cloncurry were transferred to Mount Isa. As the station strength steadily increased to 46, a new modern Police Station building was completed in 1970. The spacious new building was large enough to accommodate several social programs such as English classes for women migrants.
Mount Isa Police Station, October 1972.
Image No. PM3157 Courtesy of the Queensland Police Museum.
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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 article was written by Museum Volunteer and Crime and Policing Historian Dr Anastasia Dukova.
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
“FROM the VAULT – Mount Isa Police Station” 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