Grant Stevens rebuke to Glenelg real estate agent reveals worrying contempt for crime victims at SAPOL | Kathryn Bermingham

The response from SA’s top cop on one of the biggest radio shows in Adelaide was probably not the result this real estate agent was after, writes Kathryn Bermingham.

The response of SA Police to a terrifying incident at a Glenelg real estate agency has exposed a concerning contempt towards a victim of crime.

Century 21 The Bay director Carol Hartlett and her colleagues were forced to lock themselves in an office last week after mental health patient Lisa Bowes allegedly burst in with a knife.

Ms Hartlett had received a threatening phone call from Ms Bowes at 8.20am that morning, but said when she reported the call an officer at Glenelg police station told her “they’re just idle threats” and “people often don’t go through with this”.

An independent review is now looking into the exchange of information between agencies, and why authorities failed to act on multiple warnings in the lead-up to the attack.

A separate review, oversighted by the Office for Public Integrity, is examining the alleged conduct of the police officers involved.

Whatever the outcome, Police Commissioner Grant Stevens already absolved his agency and officers of any wrongdoing in a scathing public rebuke of Ms Hartlett’s concerns on ABC Radio Adelaide on Wednesday.

Police Commissioner Grant Stevens has already absolved his agency and officers of any wrongdoing in a scathing public rebuke of Ms Hartlett’s concerns. Picture: Roy VanDerVegt

Ms Hartlett was rightly worried on that Monday morning.

The Bondi Junction stabbings had happened nine days earlier. Julie Seed, a fellow real estate professional, was killed in a random knife attack less than six months ago.

Yet, when she reported the call – the second concerning incident in the space of a week – she says she was brushed off.

According to Mr Stevens, police knew that the patient had been admitted to hospital on April 17 but there is no mechanism that notifies them of a discharge.

A flaw in the system, no doubt – and one that might prompt an officer to make inquiries to check whether the patient was still in hospital.

Instead of making those inquiries, the officer recorded the incident and took no further action.

Astonishingly, Mr Stevens seemed to see no issue with a situation where a member of the public reports a threat, police do nothing but log it on their system, and the threat eventuates.

Ms Hartlett must have been bewildered to hear him tell ABC Radio Adelaide “the police officer in the Glenelg police station recorded the incident, linked it to the person who the caller believed was responsible.

“There’s not much more they could do.”

Carol Hartlett at Century 21 in Glenelg, after a knife incident. Picture: Matt Loxton

There’s not much more they could do? Simply wait for the terror to unfold? The outcome could have been catastrophic.

Even more astonishingly, Mr Stevens thought it appropriate to pick a fight with a victim of crime who had suffered a traumatic event and raised a legitimate concern.

Asked about Ms Hartlett’s complaint, he dismissed it as “the allegations of one person regarding their experience with a police officer”.

Ms Hartlett has raised valid concerns, and there is much to be learnt from her horror experience.

SA Police would be wise to listen.