Police told only one firearm in court

The magistrate acknowledged there was no lock-up for police fire arms at Wellington Court but told officers at Wellington only one officer could hold weapons.

Western region delegates recently supported a push by the police union to allow police officers across NSW to wear firearms in court.

NSW Police Association members met in Dubbo  and resolved that if the ban was not overturned they would consider further action, including refusing to give evidence in person if it could be provided via audio-visual link to the court.

The association has criticised the Chief Magistrate and Sheriff's Office for continuing to ban police from wearing guns and other weapons in some courts.

According to Association president Scott Weber, the matter needed to be dealt with sooner rather than later given recent terrorism-related offences in Sydney, heightened security warnings and a direct threat against police officers in Victoria. 

"This is not acceptable, it means police officers cannot utilise all their tactics and their training in regards to dealing with violent offenders, or even armed offenders," he said."We've already seen a great initiative from the NSW government where police officers are allowed to access their arms in Parliament House, why not courts across NSW?"They're still in full uniform, they're dealing with the offenders they've charged but they don't have access to their arms and appointments. This is absolutely crazy. "We need a uniform policy across the state where police officers, who are authorised to protect life and property, have that capability in local courts. "The world has changed, and not for the better. We've seen an increase in terrorism and we need to protect our system of justice. There is a way to do this that adds no cost to the system."See your ad hereAside from terror threats, Mr Weber said courthouses could be "pressure cooker environments"."Police need to be properly equipped when confronted with a violent situation," he said."Judges, magistrates and court officials can't always control what happens in the courtroom."Mr Weber said some members of the judiciary who stood by the ban "must be stuck in the past". "Tradition does not dictate no weapons in the local court, it is an archaic system from higher courts and times have changed," he said."When these traditions developed, there were no credit card knives, no ceramic weapons, no 3D printed edged weapons or firearms. These are scary propositions because they don't get picked up by traditional methods."NSW Police Association Western Region executive member Sue Rose said the issue was "extremely important" to officers across the state and the organisation was hopeful now the issue was well and truly on the table there would be some action."In the western region, our courts don't have the luxury of metal detectors as we walk into courts, they're very much open to the public and we're very mindful we don't want injuries to our members or the public," she said."Under our oath we're supposed to protect people, we need the resources to do that and our arms and appointments form part of that."Asked about the specific regulations governing police officers taking firearms and other weapons into courts in Dubbo and surrounding towns, a Department of Justice spokesperson said: "For operational reasons we do not publicly discuss security arrangements in courts".