‘Tempting targets’: WA Police reveal their gun map PR stunt could have increased firearm crime

Nearly two years after maps showing the location of gun owners in Perth were released, WA Police and WA’s Information Commissioner have revealed the stunt may have provided “bad-faith actors” with “tempting information” that could have resulted in home invasions, theft and gun-related crime.

WA Police and Police Minister Paul Papalia have been adamant releasing the maps to media in March 2022 during an announcement on a guns crackdown was designed to demonstrate the prevalence of gun ownership in the state. They say the maps were “de-identified” and did not pose a risk to the owners.

WA Police Minister Paul Papalia.Credit: Hamish Hastie

Several gun owners were not convinced, however, and said they easily found their own houses on the maps. They complained it was easy to tell which suburb one of the maps depicted. At the time WA Police accused gun groups of “fearmongering” and said there was no compromise to public safety.

In response to a Perth gun owner’s freedom of information requests asking for copies of the maps which were provided to media, Information Commissioner Catherine Fletcher and WA Police’s own FOI officer confirmed the maps posed serious safety issues.

In her October decision, Fletcher revealed police were concerned that releasing the maps again, albeit in higher resolution, would put lives and public safety at risk.

“The agency claimed that there is a real risk that individuals could use the disputed documents to identify particular addresses at which firearms are registered and that this would present a threat to the life and physical safety of persons and the security of property,” Fletcher’s decision read.

“The Commissioner accepted the agency’s submissions and considered that disclosure of the disputed documents could pose a significant concern to public safety and property security.”

WA Police spelt their concerns out in more detail in a decision to reject a second request for the maps in December – describing the risk to the public as unacceptable.

“Maps identifying the locations and concentrations of firearm owners provide bad-faith actors with information on tempting targets, increasing the risk of home invasion, theft, and ultimately, firearms-related offences,” WA Police’s FOI officer said.

“I view the risk of disclosure identifying promising targets — particularly regarding isolated properties, which are easier to locate from the maps — as wholly unacceptable.

“The fact publication of similar information has occurred in the past does not warrant exacerbating the problem with a fresh round of disclosure, potentially to the public at large.”

Opposition leader Shane Love called on Papalia to apologise for betraying the trust and privacy of law-abiding gun owners and placing targets on their homes for an “ill-thought-out PR blitz”.

“This was an egregious and unacceptable breach of trust which has caused great distress for responsible gun owners,” he said.

“The Cook Labor Government has put their own political agenda ahead, and thirst for media stunts ahead, of a potentially serious risk to public safety if these firearms were targeted, stolen, and used by criminals based on information made public by the government.”

Both WA Police and Papalia rejected the suggestion that public safety had been compromised.

A WA Police spokesman said the maps which were released had been de-identified and did not pose a risk to public safety.

He said the force stood by the comments made at the time the maps were released but recognised that there had been attempts to identify gun locations using the maps.

“Since that time, it has become clear that several people have gone to extreme lengths in an attempt to identify the map locations, or guess where the location are, and given our awareness of those determined efforts it is no longer deemed in the public interest to further release the maps in any format,” he said.

“To date, WA Police Force is not aware of any compromise of public safety as a result of the release of the de-identified maps.”

Papalia said it was WA Police who supplied modified and de-identified maps for release, “advising particulars including street names, features and other elements were altered to ensure the anonymity of specific locations.”

The WA Government is expected to introduce the new firearms legislation to Parliament soon.

Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.