Media monitoring

Public urged to reveal illegal guns anonymously

Sydney Morning Herald, Page: 4 Friday, 13 January 2012

The police have launched an audacious effort to get thousands of illegal guns off Sydney’s streets, urging people to be more courageous and simply pick up the phone to tell them where weapons are in order to save lives.
The acting NSW Police Commissioner, Nick Kaldas, launched Operation Spartan yesterday to combat a recent rise in gun crime amid fears that innocent people would be caught in the crossfire.
He said most weapons were imported, but most of the illegal guns being used in the shootings had probably been stolen from legitimate sources, either homes or businesses.
There were 589 guns reported stolen in NSW last year. An independent study suggested there could be as many as 500,000 illegal guns nationwide.
"They are sourced legitimately and then stolen ... those weapons probably change hands a number of times before we get to them," Mr Kaldas said.
He described the gun-toting criminals as "cowards" for recklessly shooting at homes in which innocent people lived.
But he said police were hamstrung by a lack of co-operation from victims.
"Gun crime of this type is frightening for victims and local communities, and it is very frustrating for police," he said. "We need victims and witnesses to come forward and co-operate with police that’s essential. We need people who know about guns in our community to tell us where those guns are so we can get them off the street.
"Pick up the phone, dial 1800 333 000 Crime Stoppers and you can anonymously report that gun and potentially save a life." Mr Kaldas said there had been discussions with the state government about making it an offence for witnesses not to co-operate with a police investigation. "I’m not sure if legislation can fix that easily, but it’s certainly something we are very open to and would have a look at." he said. "I don’t think there is an offence at the moment for people not providing information to the police.
That’s something we will look at but I’m not sure that’s going to be enough of a deterrent to actually affect what’s happening here." Mr Kaldas said Operation Spartan would involve increased patrols, particularly in hot spots such as Sydney’s south-west.
Police say that in the past 18 months, close to 10,000 firearms have been taken off the streets.
However, only some of these were black market weapons.
Police have identified a suspect in the shooting of a Lone Wolf bikie in Sans Souci last week, but have yet to make an arrest.
Two men who were present when Neal Todorovski was shot dead in a scuffle on January 4 applied for bail yesterday but the police argued it should be refused to prevent them from interfering with witnesses or taking part in any reprisal action.
But John Korn, the lawyer for the two men John Haper Leger, 32, and Matthew Edward Lewis, 23 said there was no evidence they knew the gunman, let alone go looking for him.
He suggested the charge of affray against each man was merely an attempt by police to punish them for not cooperating in the investigation into Mr Todorovski’s death.
In an answer to a question by the magistrate, Les Mabbutt, the police prosecutor, Vanessa Robichaux, said they had identified but not arrested the gunman.
Both men were refused bail and will reappear in court next week.

Home > Media monitoring > Public urged to reveal illegal guns anonymously