Gold Stealing Detection Unit

Last updated

Gold Stealing Detection Unit
Agency overview
Formed1907
Jurisdictional structure
Operations jurisdictionWestern Australia, Australia
Western australia locator.svg
Map of Gold Stealing Detection Unit's jurisdiction
Size2,645,615 km2
Governing body Government of Western Australia
General nature
Operational structure
HeadquartersEgan Street,
Kalgoorlie, WA
Website
https://www.police.wa.gov.au/Crime/Gold-stealing/Gold-Stealing-Detection-Unit

The Gold Stealing Detection Unit (GSDU), or Gold Stealing Detective Squad (GSDS), [1] is a special unit of the Western Australian Police, based in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia. It investigates criminal activity and allegations at all stages of the gold production process in the state. [2]

Contents

The unit consists of a very small number of detectives but is the oldest specialist police service in Western Australia. [3]

History

The squad was formed in 1907, at a time when gold theft was rife in the region. [4] It was formed after Detective Sergeant Kavanagh, [3] in charge of the Kalgoorlie police, submitted a report in 1906 on the seriousness of gold theft in the Eastern Goldfields of Western Australia. A Royal Commission [5] determined in February 1907, [3] that his allegations were justified and a special police service was formed in late 1907. [6]

Previous to this, the Chamber of Mines operated a special service called The Bureau for investigatory services. [7] The Chamber continued to financially support the GSDS. [6] The unit is based now, as it was then, at Egan Street in Kalgoorlie.

Walsh and Pitman

In April 1926, Inspector John Walsh [8] and Sergeant Alexander Pitman of the GSDS were murdered while investigating gold theft. [9] Their bodies were dumped down the Belle of Kalgoorlie mine shaft at Miller's Find, Binduli, near Kalgoorlie. [10] [11] The murders and the subsequent press reporting about the limited resources available to the GSDS at the time had a similar effect of the 1907 reporting of issues. The lengthy investigation, eventual capture, and execution of the murderers, William Coulter and Phillip Trefene, was of considerable interest to the Perth press at the time. [12]

Walsh's and Pitman's funeral in Perth on 17 May 1926 was a procession watched by thousands, and attended by a large number of police officers. [13] The memorial to the two policemen was originally of low interest; however, in the year of the state's centenary it was unveiled by the Governor. [14] The memorial was originally erected outside the police building in James Street, Perth, [15] [16] moved for a time to the WA Police Headquarters, and is now located in the WA Police Academy at Joondalup.

Recent history

The squad was part of the Western Australian Police Department until 31 May 1995, when the latter became the Western Australia Police Service. [17]

On 2 October 2007, the unit celebrated its centenary in Kalgoorlie Town Hall. [18] [19]

As 70% of all gold mined in Australia is produced from Western Australia, gold mining is an important industry in the state and it is a requirement for anybody to work in the industry to obtain a GSDU clearance certificate. In 2017, 210 tonnes of gold were mined in Western Australia, worth A$11.2 billion to the state economy. [20] [21] [22] [23]

Current functions

The GSDU provides the only regular police service to many of the isolated mines in Western Australia. [24]

The functions of the GSDU continue many of the 1907 GSDS functions, including the provision of clearance certificates for prospective mine workers, inspections, advice and education, and its main role for 100 years, detection and prosecution of gold theft.

The GSDU currently consists of six detectives, funded by the WA Chamber of Mines. [25]

Recent operations

In October 2004, the GSDU arrested six men in Norseman and charged them with offences ranging from stealing to possession of unlicensed firearms. [26]

In January 2009, GSDU charged six men with theft of safety equipment at mines. [27]

In December 2013 the GSDU investigated a clandestine gold processing plant in suburban Kalgoorlie, reminiscent of the means by which gold stealers operated in the early years of the 20th century. [28] Similarly the squad and other police were involved in late 2023 and early 2024 with investigating in town processing plants. [29]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kalgoorlie</span> City in Western Australia

Kalgoorlie is a city in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia, located 595 km (370 mi) east-northeast of Perth at the end of the Great Eastern Highway. It is sometimes referred to as Kalgoorlie–Boulder, as the surrounding urban area includes the historic townsite of Boulder and the local government area is the City of Kalgoorlie–Boulder.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western Australia Police Force</span> Australian state police and law enforcement agency

The Western Australia Police Force, colloquially WAPOL, provides police services throughout the state of Western Australia, an area of 2.61 million square kilometres, the world's largest non-federated area of jurisdiction, with a population of 2.66 million, of which 2.11 million reside in the Perth Metropolitan Region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harry Anstey</span>

Harry Francis Anstey was a metallurgist and gold prospector who led the prospecting expedition that discovered gold in the Yilgarn, leading to the gold rush that established Western Australia's Eastern Goldfields.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Meekatharra, Western Australia</span> Town in Western Australia

Meekatharra is a town in the Mid West region of Western Australia. Meekatharra is a Yamatji word meaning "place of little water". At the 2016 census, Meekatharra had a population of 708, with 34.0% being of Aboriginal descent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coolgardie, Western Australia</span> Town in Western Australia

Coolgardie is a small town in Western Australia, 558 kilometres (347 mi) east of the state capital, Perth. It has a population of approximately 850 people.

Koolyanobbing is located 54 km (34 mi) north-northeast of the town of Southern Cross, Western Australia. Iron ore has been mined here since 1948 by a series of companies, with a break between 1983 and 1993. The ore is currently railed to the port at Esperance for export. The current owner and operator of the lease is Mineral Resources Limited.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Goldfields Water Supply Scheme</span> Pipeline and dam project in Western Australia

The Goldfields Water Supply Scheme is a pipeline and dam project that delivers potable water from Mundaring Weir in Perth to communities in Western Australia's Eastern Goldfields, particularly Coolgardie and Kalgoorlie. The project was commissioned in 1896 and completed in 1903.

Shirley June Finn, née Shewring, was an Australian brothel keeper, nightclub operator and socialite who was shot dead at about midnight on 22–23 June 1975 in Perth, Western Australia. Her body, dressed in an elaborate ball gown and expensive jewellery, was found at dawn in her car, which was parked on a golf course next to a busy freeway. The murder is notable because of Finn's close relationship with Western Australia Police detectives who, in that era, controlled and regulated Perth's prostitution and gambling activities. The crime remains unsolved.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Kalgoorlie Gold Mine</span> Gold mine in Western Australia

The South Kalgoorlie Gold Mine is a gold mine located south-west of Kalgoorlie, Western Australia. The mine is sometimes also referred to as "South Kal Mines - New Celebration", being a merger of the former New Celebration Gold Mine and the Jubilee Gold Mine, which were combined in 2002.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gold mining in Western Australia</span>

Gold mining in Western Australia is the third largest commodity sector in Western Australia (WA), behind iron ore and LNG, with a value of A$17 billion in 2021–22. The 6.9 million troy ounces sold during this time period was the highest amount in 20 years and accounted for almost 70 percent of all gold sold in Australia.

Mount Morgans, known as Mount Morgan until 1899, is an abandoned town in Western Australia 900 kilometres (559 mi) northeast of Perth and 40 kilometres (25 mi) southwest of Laverton on the original Malcolm-Laverton Road, in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia.

Bardoc is an abandoned town in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia. It is situated between Kalgoorlie and Menzies along the Goldfields Highway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fatality statistics in the Western Australian mining industry</span>

Fatality statistics in the Western Australian mining industry captures the number of people killed in the industry in the Australian state of Western Australia. During the period 2000-2012 (inclusive), a total of 52 fatalities occurred. In 2006, the Chamber of Minerals and Energy of Western Australia commissioned a taxonomic study to analyse the 306 mining fatalities which occurred between 1970 and 2006. The Department of Mines and Petroleum, later renamed the Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety, the governing authority for the industry in the state, has published statistics for fatalities in mining dating back to 1943 and intends to publish statistics dating back to 1886, though early records are not expected to be exhaustive.

Yundamindera, also once known as The Granites, is an abandoned town located between Leonora and Laverton in the Shire of Leonora in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia. The town is surrounded by pastoral stations, mostly raising sheep. Some of the leases include Yundamindera Station, Mount Remarkable Station and Mount Celia Station.

Mulwarrie is an abandoned town in the North Coolgardie Goldfield of the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia, 125 km northwest of Kalgoorlie, between Davyhurst and Mulline.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Hastie</span> Australian politician

Robert Hastie was an Australian politician who was the first parliamentary leader of the Labour Party in Western Australia. He was a member of the state's Legislative Assembly from 1901 to 1905.

State Batteries in Western Australia were government owned and run ore-crushing facilities for the gold mining industry. Western Australia was the only Australian state to provide batteries to assist gold prospectors and small mines. They existed in almost all of the mineral fields of Western Australia.

Donald Leslie Hancock was a Western Australian policeman. He is principally known for his involvement in the investigation of the Perth Mint Swindle, and his death in a car bombing in 2001.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chamber of Minerals and Energy of Western Australia</span> Mining industry organisation in Western Australia

The Chamber of Minerals and Energy of Western Australia (CME) is a peak business and employers' association in Western Australia (WA).

References

  1. ↑ known commonly as the Gold Stealing Detection Squad or GSDS in the 1920s
  2. ↑ Specialised state and territory agencies against organised crime – Western Australia Archived 10 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine Australian Institute of Criminology, accessed: 25 June 2009
  3. 1 2 3 Gold Squad' celebrates its 100th birthday Archived 13 July 2009 at the Wayback Machine Government Media Office – Ministerial Media Statements, accessed: 25 June 2009
  4. ↑ Centenary of the Gold Squad [ permanent dead link ] Miningaustralia.com.au, published: 3 October 2007, accessed: 25 June 2009
  5. ↑ Western Australia. Royal Commission to Inquire into and Report upon an Alleged Prevalance of Gold Stealing (2013), Royal Commission to Inquire into and Report upon an Alleged Prevalence of Gold Stealing, 1906-7, Carlisle, Western Australia Hesperian Press, ISBN   978-0-85905-560-4
  6. 1 2 "AU WA A1238 Gold Stealing Detection Unit". State Records Office of WA. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  7. ↑ Bureau (Kalgoorlie, W.A.) (1899), Daily record and detective occurence [sic] book, 1899-1900 , retrieved 27 January 2024
  8. ↑ Bentley, Mollie. Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University – via Australian Dictionary of Biography.
  9. ↑ Purdue, Brian.(2001) The gold stealers : the murders of Inspector John Walsh & Sergeant Alexander Pitman, near Kalgoorlie in April 1926 Carlisle, W.A. : Hesperian Press ISBN   0-85905-271-0
  10. ↑ "Another Gold Rush – Leases Pegged at Binduli". The West Australian. Perth, WA. 26 October 1910. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
  11. ↑ "Horrifying Murder at Kalgoorlie". Sunday Times. Perth, WA. 16 May 1926. p. 1. Retrieved 19 November 2015.
  12. ↑ William Coulter – trial and sentence for murder of Pitman and Walsh Daily News (Perth, W.A.), 15 Sept. 1926
  13. ↑ The Bullion Van policewahistory.org.au, accessed: 25 June 2009
  14. ↑ Police news, Jan. 1927, p.1-3; May 1927, p.5; Mar. 1928, p.5; Nov. 1928, p.3; Dec. 1929, p.1-8: memorial unveiled on 8 Dec. 1929 by the Governor, lengthy descriptions and photographs.
  15. ↑ "WALSH-PITMAN MEMORIAL". Western Argus (Kalgoorlie, WA : 1916 – 1938) . Kalgoorlie, WA. 24 September 1929. p. 23. Retrieved 26 January 2012– via National Library of Australia.
  16. ↑ the liswa photograph is of when it was in James Street
  17. ↑ "AU WA A944 – Western Australia Police Service". State Records Office of WA. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
  18. ↑ The Chambers of Minerals & Energy newsletter Archived 20 July 2008 at the Wayback Machine published: 12 October 2007, accessed: 25 June 2009
  19. ↑ 100 year anniversary celebrates gold squad in 'Prospect, western Australia's International Resources Development magazine' – December 2007 – February 2008, page 10
  20. ↑ "2017 review of mineral and petroleum industry activity". Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety. Government of Western Australia. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
  21. ↑ McKinnon, Stuart (5 March 2018). "Australia on track for record gold production in 2018". The West Australian. Perth, WA. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
  22. ↑ Gold stealing in Western Australia Western Australian police website, accessed: 25 June 2009
  23. ↑ The requirements for entry onto West Australian Mine sites Archived 7 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine Barminco website, accessed: 25 June 2009
  24. ↑ About the Gold Stealing Detection Unit's (GSDU) services Western Australian police website, accessed: 25 June 2009
  25. ↑ Ayling, Julie; Grabosky, Peter; Shearing, Clifford (2006). "Harnessing Resources for Networked Policing". In Fleming, Jenny; Wood, Jennifer Dawn (eds.). Fighting Crime Together: The Challenges of Policing and Security Networks. Sydney: UNSW Press. p. 74. ISBN   9780868409238 . Retrieved 28 March 2018.
  26. ↑ WA police crack gold stealing ring ABC.net, published: 11 October 2004, accessed: 25 June 2009
  27. ↑ Gold squad charge six men over mines theft WAtoday, published: 30 January 2009, accessed: 25 June 2009
  28. ↑ "Gold processing plant found at Kalgoorlie house". Australia: ABC News. 11 December 2013.
  29. ↑ "WA Police seize 30 tonnes of stolen gold-bearing ore they claim bikies used to launder cash for illicit drug operations". Western Australia: ABC News. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.