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In pictures: Policing in the ’60s

1 min read·August 01, 2018 - 1:26PM
News Corp Australia Network

IT was the decade of the Beaumont children mystery, the Wanda Beach murders, ‘The Mutilator’ and the disappearance of Harold Holt — plus perhaps the strangest siege in Australian history, when a police commissioner organised a wedding and acted as the best man.

1966: Anti-whip campaigner Wally Hoysted is led away by a police officer at Flemington racecourse in Melbourne after walking onto the track with a double-barrelled shotgun. Hoysted fired a shot and threatened to use the gun on jockeys preparing for the first race of the day before being taken away. Picture: Bruce Howard/File
1966: Anti-whip campaigner Wally Hoysted is led away by a police officer at Flemington racecourse in Melbourne after walking onto the track with a double-barrelled shotgun. Hoysted fired a shot and threatened to use the gun on jockeys preparing for the first race of the day before being taken away. Picture: Bruce Howard/File
1962: South Australian police traffic control officers Constables P. S. Jalfon and M.P. Cornish show off the safety equipment they have at their disposal. Picture: Vern Thompson/File
1962: South Australian police traffic control officers Constables P. S. Jalfon and M.P. Cornish show off the safety equipment they have at their disposal. Picture: Vern Thompson/File
1966: Cadets from the Fort Largs Police Academy wade through mud and water at Patawalonga Boat Haven during the search for the Beaumont children — Jane, nine, Arnna, seven, and Grant, four — who disappeared from Glenelg Beach on January 26. The South Australian case remains unsolved to this day.
1966: Cadets from the Fort Largs Police Academy wade through mud and water at Patawalonga Boat Haven during the search for the Beaumont children — Jane, nine, Arnna, seven, and Grant, four — who disappeared from Glenelg Beach on January 26. The South Australian case remains unsolved to this day.
1965: Enlarged pictures of Pentridge escapees Peter Walker and Ronald Ryan are displayed in Victorian police cars for quick identification of the pair after their deadly jailbreak. After they were eventually recaptured in Sydney, Ryan was sentenced to death for the shooting murder of warder George Hodson and was hanged in 1967 — the last person to be executed in Australia. File picture
1965: Enlarged pictures of Pentridge escapees Peter Walker and Ronald Ryan are displayed in Victorian police cars for quick identification of the pair after their deadly jailbreak. After they were eventually recaptured in Sydney, Ryan was sentenced to death for the shooting murder of warder George Hodson and was hanged in 1967 — the last person to be executed in Australia. File picture
1966: Prince Charles smiles as he takes a ride in a police boat during his first visit to Australia. The teenager enjoyed a break from his studies at Timbertop, the rural campus of Victoria’s Geelong Grammar School, which he attended for two terms. File picture
1966: Prince Charles smiles as he takes a ride in a police boat during his first visit to Australia. The teenager enjoyed a break from his studies at Timbertop, the rural campus of Victoria’s Geelong Grammar School, which he attended for two terms. File picture
1966: Probationary police constables give blood at the Red Cross Blood Centre in Adelaide. Nurse Heather Harrell takes blood from the arm of Probationary Constable Peter Hamisch, watched by, from left, M. Maciejewski, G. Bolton, Noel Brinkley and D. Pidgeon. File picture
1966: Probationary police constables give blood at the Red Cross Blood Centre in Adelaide. Nurse Heather Harrell takes blood from the arm of Probationary Constable Peter Hamisch, watched by, from left, M. Maciejewski, G. Bolton, Noel Brinkley and D. Pidgeon. File picture

More photos: Policing in the ’50s | ’Policing in the 70s

1968: Police quiz stuntman Mervyn "Bluey" Bostock after he sliced the ribbon with his sword before Alderman Clem Jones could make his official speech opening the new King George Square car park in Brisbane. File picture
1968: Police quiz stuntman Mervyn "Bluey" Bostock after he sliced the ribbon with his sword before Alderman Clem Jones could make his official speech opening the new King George Square car park in Brisbane. File picture
1961: Constable Mummery and "Sherlock", a Woodingdean bloodhound, trailed <i>The Herald </i>photographer Frank Howe to his lair behind a pile of logs. Picture: Frank Howe/File
1961: Constable Mummery and "Sherlock", a Woodingdean bloodhound, trailed The Herald photographer Frank Howe to his lair behind a pile of logs. Picture: Frank Howe/File
1967: Victoria Police officer John Simon jumps into the water in what was to prove a futile search for Prime Minister Harold Holt, who disappeared off Portsea’s Cheviot Beach. File picture
1967: Victoria Police officer John Simon jumps into the water in what was to prove a futile search for Prime Minister Harold Holt, who disappeared off Portsea’s Cheviot Beach. File picture
1963: Looking lost and feeling lost, these five children were waiting to be claimed at the police room at Oakbank racecourse in South Australia. Picture: Pat Crowe/File
1963: Looking lost and feeling lost, these five children were waiting to be claimed at the police room at Oakbank racecourse in South Australia. Picture: Pat Crowe/File
1968: British actor Violet Carson, who played Ena Sharples on TV show <i>Coronation Street</i>, is helped through the crowds by police and executives from broadcaster NWS-9 as she makes her way to Hotel Australia in Adelaide. File picture
1968: British actor Violet Carson, who played Ena Sharples on TV show Coronation Street, is helped through the crowds by police and executives from broadcaster NWS-9 as she makes her way to Hotel Australia in Adelaide. File picture
1964: Police pose with the body of one of three lions shot after they escaped from O’Connells Circus at Wingfield, Adelaide. Four big cats fled their cage, killing circus caretaker George Herzog, 49. Three were stalked and shot dead by police marksmen and two big-game hunters, but the fourth returned to its cage on the command of its owner and trainer. File picture
1964: Police pose with the body of one of three lions shot after they escaped from O’Connells Circus at Wingfield, Adelaide. Four big cats fled their cage, killing circus caretaker George Herzog, 49. Three were stalked and shot dead by police marksmen and two big-game hunters, but the fourth returned to its cage on the command of its owner and trainer. File picture
1966: Anti-Vietnam War protesters and police clash during a demonstration at the corner of Oxford and Liverpool Streets in Sydney. File picture
1966: Anti-Vietnam War protesters and police clash during a demonstration at the corner of Oxford and Liverpool Streets in Sydney. File picture
1964: Police help a young woman as crowds gather at Essendon Airport to greet The Beatles on their visit to Melbourne. File picture
1964: Police help a young woman as crowds gather at Essendon Airport to greet The Beatles on their visit to Melbourne. File picture
1968: Police drive petty criminal Wally Mellish, second left, with his new wife Beryl after finally ending the extraordinary, eight-day Glenfield siege in New South Wales. Mellish took girlfriend Beryl and her baby hostage at gunpoint after police visited their home to talk about stolen car parts. He insisted on being married to Beryl on the first day of the stand-off and they were wed by Reverend Clyde Paton, with Police Commissioner Norman Allan as best man. After finally being freed, Beryl said she would have the marriage annulled. File picture
1968: Police drive petty criminal Wally Mellish, second left, with his new wife Beryl after finally ending the extraordinary, eight-day Glenfield siege in New South Wales. Mellish took girlfriend Beryl and her baby hostage at gunpoint after police visited their home to talk about stolen car parts. He insisted on being married to Beryl on the first day of the stand-off and they were wed by Reverend Clyde Paton, with Police Commissioner Norman Allan as best man. After finally being freed, Beryl said she would have the marriage annulled. File picture
Singer Normie Rowe is ordered back to the centre of the stage by police while performing at Queanbeyan RSL Hall in Queanbeyan, NSW. Officers feared an already riotous audience would further erupt, and Rowe had to help calm the crowd down, asking them to sit. File picture
Singer Normie Rowe is ordered back to the centre of the stage by police while performing at Queanbeyan RSL Hall in Queanbeyan, NSW. Officers feared an already riotous audience would further erupt, and Rowe had to help calm the crowd down, asking them to sit. File picture
1968: Reporter Alan Dearn poses for <i>The Herald</i> in a bizarre new design of Victorian police armour, which resembled Ned Kelly’s famous helmet. It was said to be able to stop a .32 bullet from three metres, but the design never took off, and was abandoned after trials.
1968: Reporter Alan Dearn poses for The Herald in a bizarre new design of Victorian police armour, which resembled Ned Kelly’s famous helmet. It was said to be able to stop a .32 bullet from three metres, but the design never took off, and was abandoned after trials.
1965: Arms pinned back, student leader Charles Perkins is bustled out of the Moree swimming pool in New South Wales. Students from the University of Sydney visited the town as part of the Freedom Ride — a tour of regional towns highlighting injustice and discrimination against Aboriginal Australians.
1965: Arms pinned back, student leader Charles Perkins is bustled out of the Moree swimming pool in New South Wales. Students from the University of Sydney visited the town as part of the Freedom Ride — a tour of regional towns highlighting injustice and discrimination against Aboriginal Australians.
1962: Exhausted tunnel searchers Constable Barry Hudson, centre, and Mr D. J. (Curly) Castle rest and smoke a cigarette with an unidentified helper, left, on the last stage of their arduous crawl through an underground drain in Adelaide, searching for a small boy who, police were later satisfied, was home in bed. Picture: Harry Collier/File
1962: Exhausted tunnel searchers Constable Barry Hudson, centre, and Mr D. J. (Curly) Castle rest and smoke a cigarette with an unidentified helper, left, on the last stage of their arduous crawl through an underground drain in Adelaide, searching for a small boy who, police were later satisfied, was home in bed. Picture: Harry Collier/File
1966: Police on BMW R69 motorcycles escort the funeral procession of the Governor of Victoria, Sir Dallas Brooks, on Swanston St, Melbourne. File picture
1966: Police on BMW R69 motorcycles escort the funeral procession of the Governor of Victoria, Sir Dallas Brooks, on Swanston St, Melbourne. File picture
1966: A youth is carried away by police during a demonstration against conscription in Queen Street, Brisbane. Picture: Bruce Postle/File
1966: A youth is carried away by police during a demonstration against conscription in Queen Street, Brisbane. Picture: Bruce Postle/File
1960: A poster at Central Police Station in Sydney announces the reward for help in solving the shocking kidnap of eight-year-old Graeme Thorne. A ransom was demanded for the youngster, whose parents had made headlines after winning the Opera House lottery, but his body was found at Seaforth a few weeks later. File picture
1960: A poster at Central Police Station in Sydney announces the reward for help in solving the shocking kidnap of eight-year-old Graeme Thorne. A ransom was demanded for the youngster, whose parents had made headlines after winning the Opera House lottery, but his body was found at Seaforth a few weeks later. File picture
1969: Police warn Carlton supporters to take their floggers and streamers back inside the fence at the VFL semi-final between Collingwood and Carlton at the MCG.
1969: Police warn Carlton supporters to take their floggers and streamers back inside the fence at the VFL semi-final between Collingwood and Carlton at the MCG.
1963: Constable Cyril Howe, 31, was shot in the stomach after a police chase that ended when the suspect crashed and pulled a shotgun on him. Despite suffering wounds that would prove fatal, the brave officer, based at Oaklands, NSW, managed to write the name of his killer in his notebook, sparking a major manhunt for William Little. Little killed two other people before turning his gun on himself as police closed in.
1963: Constable Cyril Howe, 31, was shot in the stomach after a police chase that ended when the suspect crashed and pulled a shotgun on him. Despite suffering wounds that would prove fatal, the brave officer, based at Oaklands, NSW, managed to write the name of his killer in his notebook, sparking a major manhunt for William Little. Little killed two other people before turning his gun on himself as police closed in.
1969: Zelda D'Aprano chains herself to the doors of the Commonwealth Building, Melbourne, protesting for the equal opportunity and pay rights of women. Forty-five minutes after she padlocked the 3.6m chain around her waist, Federal police cut through it and sent her on her way.
1969: Zelda D'Aprano chains herself to the doors of the Commonwealth Building, Melbourne, protesting for the equal opportunity and pay rights of women. Forty-five minutes after she padlocked the 3.6m chain around her waist, Federal police cut through it and sent her on her way.
1961: A reporter tries out an early breathalyser at the Russell St police headquarters in Melbourne. Victoria made it an offence to drive a car with a blood-alcohol level greater than .05 per cent in 1966.
1961: A reporter tries out an early breathalyser at the Russell St police headquarters in Melbourne. Victoria made it an offence to drive a car with a blood-alcohol level greater than .05 per cent in 1966.
1968: Victorian police officers are issued with tear gas guns and canisters outside Pentridge during a riot inside the jail. Three prisoners eventually surrendered after a four-hour siege. File picture
1968: Victorian police officers are issued with tear gas guns and canisters outside Pentridge during a riot inside the jail. Three prisoners eventually surrendered after a four-hour siege. File picture
1960: A police officer directs traffic at the King William, Rundle and Hindley Street intersection in Adelaide.
1960: A police officer directs traffic at the King William, Rundle and Hindley Street intersection in Adelaide.
1965: Detectives and other police at the scene of the murder of two teenage girls at Wanda Beach, NSW. Christine Sharrock and her best friend Marianne Schmidt, both 15, were killed on the beach and buried in the sand. The case, known as the Wanda Beach Murders, remains unsolved. File picture
1965: Detectives and other police at the scene of the murder of two teenage girls at Wanda Beach, NSW. Christine Sharrock and her best friend Marianne Schmidt, both 15, were killed on the beach and buried in the sand. The case, known as the Wanda Beach Murders, remains unsolved. File picture
1968: Police attempt to hold back fans as The Monkees arrive for the start of their Australian tour at Kingsford Smith Airport, Sydney, Picture: Ron Iredale/File
1968: Police attempt to hold back fans as The Monkees arrive for the start of their Australian tour at Kingsford Smith Airport, Sydney, Picture: Ron Iredale/File
1965: Senior Constable Tom Beswick and Constable Peter Graham at work in the D24 communications centre at the Russell St police HQ in Melbourne. File picture
1965: Senior Constable Tom Beswick and Constable Peter Graham at work in the D24 communications centre at the Russell St police HQ in Melbourne. File picture
1961: Melbourne street cleaners chat with First-Constable Marjory Bowden on the corner of Swanston and Bourke Streets. File picture
1961: Melbourne street cleaners chat with First-Constable Marjory Bowden on the corner of Swanston and Bourke Streets. File picture
1967: First Constable R.E. Westwater (left) and First Constable J.E. Bathard shake hands as they take delivery of one of two new Mini-Cooper patrol cars — dubbed the Peanut Patrol — for the Mobile Traffic Branch in Victoria. File picture
1967: First Constable R.E. Westwater (left) and First Constable J.E. Bathard shake hands as they take delivery of one of two new Mini-Cooper patrol cars — dubbed the Peanut Patrol — for the Mobile Traffic Branch in Victoria. File picture
1968: TV and radio presenter Simon Townsend is pictured being taken to Paddington Police Station. The prominent activist was first called up in 1965 to serve in Vietnam, but refused to comply and was court-martialled and jailed in 1968 before finally being declared a conscientious objector. File picture
1968: TV and radio presenter Simon Townsend is pictured being taken to Paddington Police Station. The prominent activist was first called up in 1965 to serve in Vietnam, but refused to comply and was court-martialled and jailed in 1968 before finally being declared a conscientious objector. File picture
1964: Police and nurses sit stoically in front of the stage — and facing thousands of screaming fans — as The Beatles perform at Festival Hall, Brisbane. File picture
1964: Police and nurses sit stoically in front of the stage — and facing thousands of screaming fans — as The Beatles perform at Festival Hall, Brisbane. File picture
1965: A South Australian detective wears an armpit holster with a .38 Browning automatic pistol. Picture: Sam Cheshire/File
1965: A South Australian detective wears an armpit holster with a .38 Browning automatic pistol. Picture: Sam Cheshire/File
1963: Detective sergeants James Black and Jack Ford arrest William McDonald, aka The Mutilator, in Melbourne over the gruesome murders of four men in Sydney in 1961 and 1962. He was also responsible for a fifth death in Brisbane. McDonald was jailed for life after a trial at which it’s reported jurors fainted on hearing the details of his crimes. File picture
1963: Detective sergeants James Black and Jack Ford arrest William McDonald, aka The Mutilator, in Melbourne over the gruesome murders of four men in Sydney in 1961 and 1962. He was also responsible for a fifth death in Brisbane. McDonald was jailed for life after a trial at which it’s reported jurors fainted on hearing the details of his crimes. File picture
1963: Probationary constables Fay Leditschke, Dorothy Griffiths and Margaret Neale, aim guns while receiving a lesson in marksmanship from Inspector H. C. Bottroff at the Thebarton Police Training College in South Australia. Picture: Vern Thompson/File
1963: Probationary constables Fay Leditschke, Dorothy Griffiths and Margaret Neale, aim guns while receiving a lesson in marksmanship from Inspector H. C. Bottroff at the Thebarton Police Training College in South Australia. Picture: Vern Thompson/File
1969: The minimum height limit for police officers in Victoria was dropped from five feet, nine inches (175.3cm) — but only by half an inch. File picture
1969: The minimum height limit for police officers in Victoria was dropped from five feet, nine inches (175.3cm) — but only by half an inch. File picture
1967: A scientific officer searches for clues on a car's rearvision mirror at a laboratory in Sydney. File picture
1967: A scientific officer searches for clues on a car's rearvision mirror at a laboratory in Sydney. File picture
1965: Police — including 20 men flown in from Brisbane — keep pickets and their supporters off the roadway near the entrance to the MIM mine in Mount Isa as other employees enter during a long-running industrial dispute.
1965: Police — including 20 men flown in from Brisbane — keep pickets and their supporters off the roadway near the entrance to the MIM mine in Mount Isa as other employees enter during a long-running industrial dispute.
1968: “Judge not lest you be judged, sinner,’’ the note read, and if that wasn’t dramatic enough, the arsonist drove a knife into it on a desk inside Brisbane’s old Supreme Court. David Brooks, who held a grudge against police and the justice system, decided to“get square’’ and left the note before setting a destructive fire. Picture: Graham Hutton/File
1968: “Judge not lest you be judged, sinner,’’ the note read, and if that wasn’t dramatic enough, the arsonist drove a knife into it on a desk inside Brisbane’s old Supreme Court. David Brooks, who held a grudge against police and the justice system, decided to“get square’’ and left the note before setting a destructive fire. Picture: Graham Hutton/File

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Original URL: https://www.ntnews.com.au/truecrimeaustralia/ourcriminalhistory/in-pictures-policing-in-the-60s/news-story/045d9c1445e4ca02ff61f503f5be8a32