Call for cops to unleash water cannons at protests

The former head of Victoria Police’s riot squad wants water cannons used on unruly protesters and says if that can’t be arranged police needed to get “real serious with the tear gas”.

Victoria Police should look at getting its hands on a water cannon to deal with the city’s wave of protests, the force’s former riot squad boss says.

Jeff Mawkes said he had never seen worse behaviour than that of recent days in which the Shrine of Remembrance was used as a protest prop, the West Gate Freeway was invaded and vaccination clinic staff and journalists sprayed with spit and urine.

Former inspector Mr Mawkes spent 19 years at the force response unit and worked many fiery Melbourne demonstrations, including the G20 protests of 2006 and the World Economic Forum rumble in 2000.

He said he approached senior police in 2000 at the time of the World Economic Forum unrest about getting a water cannon but was knocked back.

German riot police use a water cannon on protesters during a G20 summit in Hamburg.

“Sometimes, you’ve got to think outside the square. The weather’s going to improve so the quicker the better,” he said.

“This (the protest action) is not going to go away for quite a long time.”

Mr Mawkes said if a water cannon could not be used, police needed to get “real serious with the tear gas.”

“My gut feeling is to bring out the tear gas and give it to them,” he said.

Victoria Police’s former riot squad boss Jeff Mawkes says a water cannon should be rolled out at Melbourne’s protests.

Mr Mawkes, who served in Vietnam, was disgusted by the occupation of The Shrine on Wednesday.

“It’s an absolute disgrace for them to use the expression ‘lest we forget’,” he said.

Mr Mawkes said the police operation at The Shrine had been well executed.

That was more than could be said for Saturday’s response at Richmond where inexperienced officers confronted protesters while the specialist public order support team was elsewhere.

Protesters in Paris are showered by a water cannon during an anti-government demonstration.

“They (the inexperienced members) would have been thinking, ‘I didn’t sign up for this sh-t’,” Mr Mawkes said.

Meanwhile, the Herald Sun has been told the state’s Charter of Human Rights is a major consideration in every tactical decision of police dealing with the riots.

One officer said the charter, the risk of legal action and operational realities made some of what the public expected impossible.

Mass cordoning and arresting of suspects was not feasible from both standpoints.

The protest descended on the Shrine of Remembrance on Wednesday. Picture: David Crosling

Detaining them and spending hours processing them on the scene would also have human rights implications.

“Everything has to be viewed against the Charter of Human Rights. Any control of movement is a limitation on human rights,” the officer said.

In any case, he said, it was completely impractical to arrest several hundred people in an incident such as Wednesday’s because of the sheer number and volatile nature of many of those involved.

Several officers would be required to make each arrest.

“It’s about what’s achievable, as well,” the officer said.

The violence and unrest seen on Melbourne streets in the past few months has been unlike anything in recent history.

The sheer size of protest groups – made more dangerous by a growing extremist element – has forced Victoria Police to radically escalate how they respond to demonstrations.

Protests have swelled in size in recent days. Picture: Mark Stewart

In the past few days alone, that response has changed from a frontline of uniform officers with basic equipment to riot police in armoured vehicles carrying pellet guns and stinger grenades.

On Saturday, when anti-lockdown activists took the streets of Richmond, rank and file police were left to defend the frontline, as the highly equipped Public Order Response Team guarded untouched landmarks including Parliament House.

Ten officers were assaulted in the violence which involved some being trampled by the stampeding mob.

The force came under fire for holding back the PORT, but sent them in on Monday afternoon when scenes turned ugly outside the CFMEU headquarters.

Hundreds of protesters have caused mayhem across the CBD. Picture: Alex Coppel.

The response stepped up again on Tuesday, when 500 police including the Critical Incident Response Team saturated the CBD in a bid to take control of rioters who clashed with police for more than eight hours and took over the West Gate.

Chief Commissioner Shane Patton vowed for stronger enforcement on Wednesday, where riot police ended protesters’ occupation of the Shrine by using nonlethal rubber bullets and tear gas.

Meanwhile bearcats, used only in major critical incidents such as terrorism, were seen patrolling the CBD amid a sea of PORT vehicles.

Social media has played a large role in modern day protests, with users exposed to more dissenting voices and campaigns than ever before.

Online groups such as Telegram often contain misinformation and extremist views which hook in and radicalise people from ordinary backgrounds.

The pandemic has supercharged these groups, which now contain tens of thousands of followers eager to spread and act on their views.