THE CONSTABULARY WALK - Sunday, 20th September 2009, departs at 2pm
Meet us inside the front gate which is situated on North Road, Caulfield South, near the corner of Hawthorn Road.
Come join us on this interesting walk where you will hear about the lives of a few of those who were members of the Police Force and that of a Police Magistrate.
The Victoria Police was formally established on 8 January 1853 from an existing colonial police force of 875 men. The first appointment as Chief Commissioner was William Henry Fancourt Mitchell.
The following couple of decades saw the growth of the police force, including the beginning of construction of the Russell Street police station in 1859 and the establishment of a special station in William Street to protect the Royal Mint in 1872.
1880 also saw the formation of the Aboriginal Tracker Corps. The corps was disbanded in 1968.
In 1888, Senior Constable John Barry produced the first Victoria Police Guide, a manual for officers.
The Victoria Police Manual, as it is now known, remains the comprehensive guide to procedure in the Victoria Police.
Police officers were granted the right to vote in parliamentary elections the same year.
On 31 October 1923, members of the Victoria Police Force refused duty and went on strike over the introduction of a new supervisory system.
The police strike led to riots and looting in Melbourne's CBD. The Victorian government enlisted Special Constables, and the Commonwealth of Australia
called out the Australian military. Victoria Police are the only Australian police department to ever go on strike.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_Police
2009 - Victoria Police is a large organisation employing more than 13,600 people, including police, public servants and protective security officers, serving Victoria, with a population in excess of five million. With 339 police stations and other facilities, Victoria Police provides support to the community 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year.
www.police.vic.gov.au/
Police Magistrates - These Magistrates were government officials who had originally been responsible for supervising police in their district. A Police Magistrate moved around and was able to set up whenever and wherever required too. This included locations such as tents or hotels. All Police Magistrates had some sort of formal training, many having been promoted from clerks of courts.
