Blue Army: Paramilitary Policing in Australia

Front Cover
Melbourne University Publish, 2001 - History - 289 pages
Most of us are shocked when suspects are shot dead by police before they can be tried, and disturbed to see police wearing riot gear and using baton charges at peaceful demonstrations. When police begin using paramilitary tactics, the essential nature of their role is redefined, switching from protection and peacekeeping to active aggression. Jude McCullochÍs involvement as a lawyer in cases of police shootings led her to detailed investigation of changes to policing in Australia. Blue Army arises from her research into the paramilitarization of the police. It exposes the risks of allowing AustraliaÍs police forces to move away from the key principle of keeping the peace with the use of minimum force.
 

Contents

Paramilitary Policing and Counterterrorism
1
The Police and the Military
15
Keeping the Peace
32
Calling Out the Troops
53
The Victoria Police Special Operations Group
68
Police and Firearms
92
Special Operations Group Fatal Shootings
116
Paramilitary Policing Goes Mainstream
150
Policing Dissent
174
Paramilitary Policing Globalisation and the Future
214
Appendix
222
Bibliography
257
Index
281
Copyright

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About the author (2001)

Jude McCulloch lectures in police studies at Deakin University. She has worked as a community lawyer for many years and represented the families of several men shot and killed by police in the late 1980s.

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