Ratbags with matches light a fire under the Bushes.

[mattd]

"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%255E1702,00.html 

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"