The Public Order Squad arose from Commissioner Ray Whitrod being somewhat embarrassed at the inability of the force to assemble, at short notice, a large number of police officers who had been trained in crowd control. This was in the early 1970s when students were 'sitting-in' at the University of Queensland and when it was found that for this type of offence police officers could do little to quell the situations that were occurring on rather a regular basis.
I distinctly recall seeing a legal opinion from the Solicitor General to the effect that, unless an amendment were made to the now-repealed Vagrants, Gaming, and Other Offences Act, police officers could only go onto the campus in pursuit of an offender who had committed a criminal offence by invitation of management or to investigate a criminal offence. (I remember spending much time and effort with the late Superintendent Bob Matheson, one of our members, on bringing about the insertion of section 4A in the abovementioned Act which gave police the power to deal with sit-ins.)
Mr Whitrod was impressed by the manner in which police motorcyclists, who were called to the university, were able to handle these students and this was because of their helmets and leggings which gave them some means of protection. He decided to form the Public Order Squad which he did by assembling about one hundred uniformed police clerks from the various offices at Police Headquarters, and I am pretty sure, Fortitude Valley and Woolloongabba. Helmets with visors were purchased for use by this squad. Later, long batons were obtained.
We trained hard once a week at the Lang Park Police Youth Club and initially a bombardier-cum drill instructor from the army was our instructor. Mr Whitrod and former Superintendent Kev McMahon, were fairly regular attendees at training. We used to go to and from Lang Park in the police bus.
On several occasions I recall going out on a Friday or Saturday night in a group of Public Order Squad members to enforce, in particular, the Traffic Regulations in areas where hoons were allegedly out of control. This was on overtime and caused some unrest among the police officers in the areas where we worked. They thought that they should get any overtime on offer.
Another regular duty for the Public Order Squad was to go to Coolangatta on new year’s eve where prior to this there had been quite a degree of lawlessness particularly from revelers who had celebrated the new year in Tweed Heads and then crossed the border to have another celebration on Queensland time.
I distinctly recall being either in charge or second in charge of a bus full of Public Order Squad members at Coolangatta on a new year’s eve. The Police Minister, the Honourable Max Hodges, and Commissioner Whitrod, were hovering around the streets and the Public Order Squad, when near to midnight, was held in the bus behind the police station.
The Minister and the Commissioner returned to the police station (the old one and not the current one) and soon afterwards rocks were hurled at the station. This went on for a little while and then it was decided to release the Public Order Squad along with its members' helmets and long batons.
These batons were pieces of round timber about one metre long. They were just that— long and straight—and we kept them in a sugar bag in the front of the bus. We had trained with them but they had never been used in public before. (My recollection is that these batons were made in the former Boggo Road Jail).
We lined up in the side street beside the station and someone gave the order to advance which we did in a pretty straight line at the start. The hoons took off followed in some instances by pursuing police officers who did not hold the line. I distinctly recall seeing Constable Lindsay Ross Dickson chasing a male down to the water’s edge. Many thongs were left on the roadway by the fleeing hoons. I do not recall many arrests being made but I do remember being involved in a bit of police history—the first time long batons were used to disperse a crowd in Queensland.
