NSW Cops’ Guns, Radios May Be Fitted With GPS Trackers Following Alleged Murder by Officer

Police gather at the crime scene after a man stabbed a woman and attempted to stab others in central Sydney, Australia, on Aug. 13, 2019. (SAEED KHAN/AFP via Getty Images)

New South Wales (NSW) police officers are calling on senior ranks and the Police Association of NSW to agree to approve the GPS tracking of officers in the wake of the alleged murder of a young couple by a serving officer.

Television presenter Jesse Baird and his flight-attendant boyfriend Luke Davies were allegedly murdered by NSW police officer Beau Lamarre-Condon. Their bodies were found inside surfboard bags at a rural property in Bungonia, near Goulburn, about 200 kilometres southwest of Sydney, on Feb. 27.

Mr. Lamarre-Condon is in custody, charged with murdering the couple at Mr. Baird’s home in Paddington on Feb. 19.

The radios carried by NSW officers are already fitted with GPS trackers, but these are not switched on due to objections from the union.

But senior officers are calling for the same trackers to be installed in guns “so we know exactly where officers are when armed in the community.” They believe the measure could have assisted investigators in plotting the movements of the police-issued glock pistol allegedly used in the killing.

Mr. Lamarre-Condon checked out such a weapon from the Miranda police station the week before the alleged double homicide, to work at a “user pay event.”

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“Managers across a range of departments have been calling for these measures to protect their teams for years, but have been repeatedly told that it wouldn’t happen because the union refuses to endorse the tracking of officers,” one senior officer—who wanted to remain anonymous—told the Sunday Telegraph.

Installing and turning on the trackers would improve safety, he said.

“Currently, if police are sent out to a job, there is an estimated response time—if you are managing the situation back at the station, you have no idea where your teammates are, or if they are safe, unless you radio in for a welfare check.

“If they don’t respond to the welfare check over the radio, you then need to send another truck out to make sure that the officers are okay. It is a long, clunky process that could be fixed with the click of a button.”

A spokesperson for NSW Police said the department was unable to answer questions relating to GPS capabilities in equipment, while the the Police Association of NSW refused to answer questions, saying they were of an “operational nature.”

Review Will Take Place

Premier Chris Minns said Victoria’s Police Commissioner Shane Patton would conduct an independent inquiry into NSW Police policies and procedures.

All findings would be made public to ensure the community was kept informed of proposed changes, he said.

“Something’s gone badly wrong [and] we know change needs to be made,” he said.

Asked if he would back calls for police-issued weapons to be installed with GPS trackers, Mr. Minns said he would consider all recommendations from the review.

“I have to examine how ubiquitous those GPS trackers are on police equipment, whether they’re available in every police car or on every police officer,” he said.

“We will look at [the recommendations] really closely.”