Senior NSW Police officers call for GPS tracking in radios, guns to monitor cops movements

Cops across the state could have their every move monitored amid calls for GPS trackers to be installed in police-issued guns. See why the plan hasn’t been rolled out before.

NSW Police officers could have their every movement tracked through radios and firearms while on the beat – if a plea from senior cops is given the green light after years of debate.

Officers are calling on leaders in their ranks and the Police Association of NSW to come to an agreement to approve the GPS tracking of officers.

The pleas from police come amid claims the measures could have assisted investigators in plotting the movements of the police-issued firearm, allegedly used in the slaying of murdered couple Jesse Baird and Luke Davies by one of their own officers.

NSW Police officer Beau Lamarre-Condon. CREDIT: LIAM MENDES

The Sunday Telegraph can reveal GPS trackers, already installed inside police-issued radios, are not currently operational due to objections by the police union, as senior officers call for the same trackers to be installed in guns “so we know exactly where officers are when armed in the community”.

One senior officer, who did not wish to be named, said representative of the police association had previously blocked moves to see tracking capabilities in police-issued equipment switched on, as the measures were “too big brother-like”.

“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,” the officer 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.”

The senior cop said GPS trackers should also be installed inside police-issued firearms to “not only ensure we know their whereabouts, but also to track them in rare circumstances that officers aren’t doing the right thing with their weapon”.

It will be alleged in court that accused killer cop Beau Lamarre-Condon used a police-issued Glock pistol to kill former television presenter Jesse Baird and his flight-attendant boyfriend Luke Davies in Baird’s Paddington sharehouse on February 19, after checking it out of Miranda police station the week before the alleged double-homicide.

NSW Police officer Beau Lamarre-Condon. CREDIT: LIAM MENDES

Police will also allege Lamarre-Condon signed out the gun to work at a “user pay event”.

“We know that there will always be someone that does the wrong thing, and right now we have the worst possible example of a police officer (allegedly) going rogue and using their weapon against two civilians.,” the senior cop said.

“If we had the ability to track police-issued guns officers would know they are on notice, they are being watched.”

A NSW Police spokesman said the department was unable to answer questions relating to GPS capabilities currently being switched off in radios or added to police-issued guns, but said the agency “will always consider options to help improve the safety of our officers”.

Police Commissioner Karen Webb confirmed this week that Victoria Police would conduct a review of NSW Police’s firearm handling procedures following the alleged murder.

The Police Assocation of NSW refused to answer questions as they were of an “operational nature”.