"Every year we get some ratbags who get their kicks out of this. We can't be everywhere. People should be very careful and vigilant for people acting suspiciously. "We don't care if it's someone doing something legitimate -- let us investigate that." Vehicle descriptions, registration numbers or descriptions of people acting suspiciously could be invaluable in arson investigations, Det-Insp Cooney said. An arsonist was responsible for the deadly Dandenong Ranges blazes of 1997, which claimed three lives and destroyed 41 homes. The killer has not been caught but Det-Insp Cooney said that crime might have been solved with the kind of scraps of information witnesses may have thought insignificant. Firebugs start hundreds of blazes throughout the state each summer but charges are only laid over a small fraction. http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,3449387%255E1702,0... Former police jailed for perjury From AAP 17dec01 TWO former NSW police officers have been jailed for lying over an incident where a group of young men were forced to run a gauntlet of police batons. Christine Gay Fish, 36, was found guilty by a jury of one count of perjury and John Gordon Swan, 52, of two counts in October after a trial in the NSW District Court. Today acting Judge Donald Stewart condemned the pair, saying that a policeman or woman committing perjury "strikes at the very heart of justice". "If this is police culture, it's disgusting and wrong and the sooner this message goes out the better," he said. "Police should not be allowed to think perjury is a minor peccadillo." Judge Stewart jailed Fish for 20 months, with a non-parole period of 12 months. Swan also was jailed for 20 months, with a non-parole period of 12 months, on each count to be served cumulatively. The court was told the charges related to court appearances involving one of a group of nine young men who in 1990 were forced to run a gauntlet of batons at Kings Cross police station following "near riot" at nearby Darlinghurst Road. The incident emerged at the royal commission into police corruption. Judge Stewart said the men were "severely assaulted in a cowardly and reprehensible manner". He said police executed "severe and summary punishment" against the men for vengeance. Swan and Fish then lied in court to protect their mates over the incident. Another officer involved in the incident, David John Langton, pleaded guilty to perjury and assault charges. He was sentenced last month to two years' jail on two perjury counts, to be served cumulatively. 16dec01 THE ANTI-CORRUPTION Commission has revealed details of an investigation into theft and drug dealing by a group of WA police officers. The case is one of a number highlighted in the ACC's annual report, released this week. It involved three detectives accused of stealing about 1000 morphine tablets from a Kalgoorlie disabled pensioner in 1998 and trying to sell the drugs. The officers had heard about the stockpile of narcotics through an informant and went to the pensioner's home. "Searching the house, the officers found the narcotics, counted them, took some and departed," the ACC report said. When the pensioner reported the theft two constables went to his home to investigate. Soon after, two of the accused detectives arrived. "They then took over, sent the constables away and kept the incomplete offence report that one of the constables had begun preparing," the ACC found. The ACC searched houses and businesses linked to the officers in several WA locations and found "unexplained sums of money, both in cash and deposited in bank accounts . . . in the possession of the officers." The ACC supplied an informant with $18,000 to buy the drugs from the allegedly corrupt police officers, but the sting operation fell apart when the informant stole most of the "buy" money. The informant was charged and received a suspended jail sentence in October last year. A brief was sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions, but no charges have been laid against the officers. However, Police Commissioner Barry Matthews decided to sack the detectives, saying he had lost confidence in them. Police Union president Mike Dean said the three officers maintained their innocence and were awaiting the outcome of an Industrial Relations Commission appeal against their sackings. A separate case investigated by the ACC last year involved allegations that WA police officers were involved in two murders and had been compromised by a bikie gang which had videotaped officers using drugs and having sex. The man making the allegations was registered as an informant and located to a "safe house". He signed a 22-page statement, then refused to co-operate any further and the ACC concluded that the allegations could not be substantiated. -- Subject: Arson around Police car hit in fire attack By CAMERON SMITH 29dec01 A POLICE car was damaged after it was torched in Melton early yesterday. At 2.15am, a watch-house keeper noticed an unusual glow outside of the building on one of the station's security cameras. Sgt Simon Payne said officers went outside to investigate and found one of their marked sedans engulfed in flames. "The flames on the bonnet were 2m high," he said. "Three members came out with fire extinguishers and were able to put the fire out." Police found a bucket by the car, which is thought to have contained fuel for the fire. Police are expected to view video tapes from a nearby service station in the search for clues. The police car will also undergo forensic testing.Professor rat,who lives less than an hour away on motorbike was asked to comment and denied any link to that..."exceptional piece of work"