 Good morning, everyone. Again, thank you very much for coming in this morning. Detective Senior Constable Damien Leading is still critically ill in the intensive care unit at the Gold Coast Base Hospital. He will have further medical examinations today and advice will be provided to his family and loved ones in that regard. We continue to update all police officers and the police family after the updates are given to his family in relation to his ongoing medical condition. I do appreciate the media and your support and I will make that available later to you in the day. Our prayers and thoughts are with him. He's an exceptional officer. He epitomises what a modern detective is about. At 8.5 years service, just recently achieved his detective classification, which is an extremely important achievement for all detectives. He has served his 8.5 years of policing in the Gold Coast. As you're all aware, it is the busiest policing environment in Queensland, if not Australia. He was a constable at Surface Paradise and then a detective at the Gold Coast CIB, Northern Regional Group, based at Surface Paradise and then 18 months ago was one of the founding detectives at the new Coomber District CIB. Both he and his wife are police officers, as you're aware. They met and graduated within months of each other from our Peace Academy in 2003. She is attached to the Gold Coast Police and as you're also aware, they have a newly born three-month-old child and other child. Damien just returned some parenting, which again is a trait of a modern police officer. He's extremely fit. For those that know, he's a local triathlete and has been one of the lead investigators in relation to our large amounts of armed robberies in the Gold Coast and Coomberia. As I said, he personifies what is a career police officer, a very experienced, competent and capable young man. As you're aware, the three offenders will be appearing in the Southport Magistrates Court this morning and it is highly inappropriate of me to comment any further in relation to that. Our forensic police are still at the scene of this incident and they're conducting further examinations which is a thorough and complete ballistic examination of the scene in relation to what has actually taken place. At this point, I am unable to comment further in that and it again would be inappropriate of me until those investigations are complete. I do like to thank all our wonderful friends at the Queensland Ambulance Service, the staff at the Gold Coast Hospital and for their great support in relation to the events that have occurred. Also our wonderful friends from the RCS Emergency Services that helped with the search of the area yesterday. As you're aware, the police were first response. Damien and his detective partner we would also like to acknowledge a female officer who also has an entire career in the Gold Coast. She is attached to our Coomberia Child Investigation Unit who also has seven and a half years policing service. Again, in an area that is extremely busy. The investigation, as I said, is progressing extremely well and have a large team of detectives as we do in this type of major incident that occurs here quite regularly and they're very, very experienced in making these investigations. At this point in time, we are asking for any other member of the public that would have any other information concerning the armed robbery at the Pacific Pines Tavern last Sunday evening which occurred shortly after 10.30 or around 10.30pm last Sunday evening. At this stage, we believe that we have all of the accused persons in relation to this matter, but we are still desirous of any further information in relation to that. I'm happy to field any questions. Who are the fellow officers handling it at the moment? As it is in this situation as the police commander, I have two responsibilities. I have to investigate a major serious crime involving our officers and we have the requirements in accordance with law to ensure that's done correctly, independently and ultimately these matters end up in the Supreme Court in a couple of years' time. So we have to then involve the local officers but move in, experienced other officers from other areas to make sure. At this point in time, the officers in the Coomber District, as you know, Damien's from the Gold Coast area which are very close so they're all being well supported and as always, as I've said previously, this for police officers and any other person in emergency services, particularly police officers, our gravest fears and our worst nightmare. Have they actually been working on the case of the Coomber Detectives or have they been taken off because of their closeness to Damien? They are working in the area but they aren't working on the case. The Detective Senior Sergeant Proctor is there as are other detectives, but the Chief Investigators of this investigation are my Senior Detective Inspectives and Detective Senior Sergeants from Logan, Gold Coast, some of the state's most qualified and experienced detectives plus detectives from our state homicide group heading up all of the major teams in relation to this investigation. I do have the resources of other areas but at this point in time they are the main investigators, some of the state's most experienced investigators and the Coomber Detectives at this time are not participating in what you would term as the ongoing investigation in relation to this but you must be very mindful, they were part of the first response. They have obligations to ensure that all of their evidentiary gathering, their observations and all their activities are done and that was done yesterday, balancing up the welfare side of things that has to be done and they are still in the area but are not participating in the investigation to say. Bluey O'Gorman was on the ABC this morning saying that there's a crime crisis on the Gold Coast and he wouldn't feel safe even filling up his character at the station at the moment the way things are. How do you respond to that from a very experienced police officer? I know Mr O'Gorman personally has known him for a long time and he's entitled to his comments in retirement but the arm robberies this year as I said I will talk about the statistics exactly later for you in the morning are similar to they have been in recent years the arm robbery statistics over the last decade have had seen a reduction in the area we currently sit between 40 and 45% clear up rate in the area any arm robbery is serious as you're aware in recent decade or so the trend has been towards softer targets of service stations 24 hour food outlets and shopping centres rather than the traditional financial institutions as they were decades ago and hotels these days seem to be classed into that softer target area the issue is investigation as I said every arm robbery is one too many but the other part of policing ladies and gentlemen is crime prevention and we are working with the Chamber of Commerce which we're here on the Gold Coast in Khmer we are working with our crime prevention people we are working with the chains of service stations, fast food outlets and other activities to provide advice in relation to securing up their premises to put modern more safer environments with their staff and their environment we continually look at the modern trends around the world in that regard and continue to give people advice so it's a two pronged approach one is crime prevention and two is unfortunately the responding and the investigation in relation to them and it's very very important that we have both arms of policing addressing both the issues There's no doubt you are doing a sort of shot to an arm robbery we had another two arm robberies on the Gold Coast you must be just extremely frustrating Extremely frustrating and it's very very dangerous and serious and we continue to ask people to be extremely vigilant in relation to it we in the police investigate and we are just the one part of the criminal justice system in that process Can you stop this? I mean realistically can you put a dent in this given the huge amount of attention that that one had gathered the other night and then two more last night? Look we can continue to investigate them and again as I said the police are that part of the criminal justice system that deal with it we investigate it and put it before the courts again we will continue to be vigilant in all the resources that we have which are crime prevention and investigative strategies and again through yourselves through the media, through the community through the community itself and the business houses in urging to make sure that we look at that but also the community support groups and from my intelligence a lot of these people that commit these offences are people that have drug habits and in relation to those activities so there's a whole range of other areas that can look at what we can do in relation to looking at this overall problem in society there's economic issues that are impacting upon society today there's social issues in relation to drugs and we the police service are the front line one arm of the entire system that needs a community approach to address these issues and you can be rest assured that we are, my police officers are very alert to their operational as you well know this area is by far the busiest policing environment that I command from the New South Wales Queensland border to eight mile plains and west to bay desert of Gold Coast Kumra and Logan districts by far the busiest policing environment in Queensland on a daily basis and of course my police are very vigilant when I leave here this morning I go out and welcome twenty new police recruits and you can all be rest assured as you would be that we talk about the vigilance and operational vigilance that they will need in this policing environment. Are you going to or have you or will you recommend to the commissioner that we have an armed robbery squad or a major crime squad on the go in light of what's happened? Look the issue that the commissioner has discussed that has got a lot of comment in recent time he's the commissioner of the Queensland Police Service I'm part of his executive he and I have had discussions in relation to this matter I did get an extra 14 detectives recently in almost my four decades of policing that is the largest increase of detective staff I've seen in months I allocated ten of them to the Gold Coast CIB and four of them to the Kumra CIB and as you're aware the Gold Coast District and the Kumra District make up the Gold Coast City Council area which we all for public purposes talk about being Gold Coast and that increase was a first to my personal experience we would as a police commander always like extra resources I can use extra resources all the time but what we have to understand is there is only so many extra police recruited and it's statistically shown that this policing region in particular the new Kumra District, Gold Coast and Logan where I am we get a major proportion of the annual distribution of extra policing staff at this point in time they're the resources I've got would I like more resources? Yes, any police commander anywhere in policing in the world would but in relation to this type of armed robbery the traditional armed robbery we know that the armed robbery squad that were formed historically in policing and they are a squad as a result of a range of issues in strategically in policing no longer tend to exist in policing it's more calmed, organised and major crime generally but these robberies whilst there has been some groups of young people in the Logan area and others that have in fact been little groups they aren't traditionally what we call organised and major crime there is as you're all aware a large number of offences in this Gold Coast area that fit into organised and major crime and we do work very closely with state crime operations command that's the big detective command at headquarters and whilst there they do provide a lot of resources down here there is a full time team here working with my local detectives operation alliance and they've had some huge successes in the last three years since I've been here and that's been implemented in not only offenders in relation to robberies property crime we also work closely with the outlaw biker gang from state crime command the majority of the state crime command work is here in that Gold Coast area particularly in frauds as well so the squads do come here the majority of the time actually to set up an armed robbery squad here the general detectives investigate this type but as you're aware the volume of homicides and other crime that does occur in this area which would have been part of the decision of my request recently for active detective staff in the allocation of 14 the matter is on the table as the commissioner says and I've had discussions with him in relation to it and the resources of state crime command in conjunction with my people I'm talking to the assistant commissioner there again today strategically looking at what we can continue to do to investigate these armed robberies in part of the crime problem here and as I said they don't fit into the police definition of organized a major crime but they are still very serious crimes with the violence that's occurring that we need to work together with the community and receive information as we did in this particular matter from someone that saw this offence taking place on Sunday night not just one shot do you know if he fired his gun? at this stage it would be inappropriate for me to comment I am briefed on it and in due course depending on the persons now being charged before the court I am confident to say that there is more than one shot being fired but at this point it would be highly inappropriate for me to comment and especially that my ballistics experts that and as you well understand it does well and truly take some time to work through these crime scenes we still have the crime scene and we'll probably have it as for the most of today as well I am prepared to say that the paperwork has come to my desk and when you offer senior detectives in charge of various 14 extraditions you can be rest assured well and truly the process is expedited and I am very confident to have them on the ground the detectives here have been as you know for decades and in particularly recent times under a lot of scrutiny and we have worked extremely hard in our recruitment of them bearing in mind all of that it is that scrutiny that does occur and the unfortunate media coverage that occurred with Operation Tesco it is often a struggle to get police to come and work in this environment but you can be rest assured that the paperwork is on my desk we have turned that around and we have selectively selected some very senior detectives to come in who are heading up this investigation and as I say in my experience some of the most competent and capable detectives the service has when will they start they progressively come online as you can understand in your own professions in your own organisations people come and go all the time and with a policing staff sworn staff of 1400 and approximately four and a half hundred unsworn staff I have a large movement of staff all around so they would be coming online the next day, next week but you can be rest assured they would all be online within the next couple of months you said that City Constable letting's condition is still critical have you received any advice that has stabilised or improved at all? it is stable and of course with these serious head injuries the first 24 hours in relation to them I have received from the Neurosurgeons is critical in relation to that I am aware and I am aware of the media reports that he is far but does live in England and we have been in touch with him and I am aware and expecting him to arrive in the not too distant future you are talking about this afternoon or tonight? it is correct that I heard that the QPS had done and paid for his flights it is incorrect you are helping his father and sister to get here the sister is and the service is helping the system you mentioned working with the Chamber of Commerce there was a presentation here recently in conjunction with them I think 7000 people were advised and only 20 turned up is that a bit frustrating? one person I will talk to I go to a lot of functions when you have a breakfast in the morning the Chamber of Commerce has a lot of people that run small businesses are there like us all at 7am in the morning opening them up and of course their priorities and the current economic climate and other activities require them to look at those things but what we do we go to them we proactively go out to food chains store chains hotels we have had some other ones through Chamber of Commerce we have had dozens of people turn up and as I say with my crime prevention staff we are happy to go to them 7 days a week which we do do and you are all aware of them so again it may be the numbers are down on that occasion and that is disappointing but each and every one of those people have a network and we have our crime prevention email network where we send out our crime bulletins electronic leader people as a Facebook site and we do all of those modern media information sessions and again but please we rely upon information and again in relation to that I urge as well as our crime prevention our community to continue to provide us with this information and from my decades of experience in solving a lot of major and organised crime it is that information we receive from the public which it is vital and that marvellous institution being created of crime stoppers allows people to provide that information with amenity and we work through it and so yes it is disappointing to consult with my staff consult with their areas in relation to what we can do to improve community safety especially in this area of soft targets but it is a community response that needs to occur so when you've really gone the ambulance hold up last night talking about soft targets will you brief on the hold up of the ambulance hold up I am aware of that and the offender has been arrested and charged so how do you ascribe an attack like that look it is before the court to me when there is a hold up on ambulance officers going about their duties that is to the core of society here we are having people responding to provide medical assistance to people and I have spoken to my counterpart at the ambulance service the Assistant Commissioner Barnes last night about it in relation to it just after it happened my police, the detectives and general police caught the offenders and the offender I beg your pardon and they will be going to court now that really when people are providing assistance like that that really goes to the art of society is there a message you would like to get across if there are people contemplating on small targets soft targets like this if they are watching what would you say to them look if these people are people dependent habits which time and time again appears to be the motive behind a lot of this getting small amounts of cash there are agencies that are available and this is when I talk about the community becoming involved not just the law enforcement and we are only one part of the criminal justice system there are a lot of wonderful agencies that do exist here in the Gold Coast in areas that can provide assistance for these people in relation to if they do have other problems in relation to a possible habit, a dependence if people are destitute and they need money for other as a result of the economic conditions there are a range of agencies that do there and are provided and I'm sure if they spoke to my officers or to anyone in that aid and welfare support community there are but unfortunately on a number of these occasions they are affected by substance abuse when these things occur and that does worry us as well and that's why everyone needs to be vigilant and we do urge people not to take weapons themselves into their own hands because it could inflame the situation and I understand people frustrations in this regard frustrations very extreme frustrations but it can also exacerbate the scenario that severely and the selves their loved ones and everyone else can be seriously injured and possibly killed are there too many grubs living on the Gold Coast? look the society of the Gold Coast is in some of my areas we have a huge multicultural society there is a lot of people on the Gold Coast it is a very international popular tourist destination and a very popular place for people to come has been historically all my life and all of yours in relation to commenting as to the type of people that inhabit the Gold Coast I'll leave that for others do we need tougher penalties? that's what the opposition is calling for today do the courts need to be tougher? the police services role is to investigate the matters professionally in accordance with our Westminster system and my system is to investigate them and put them before the court and my position is one that is for our parliamentary arm of the Westminster system that we live in and we investigate them and as I said we are that part of the criminal justice system given who invested you are in that process do you not find it disappointing sometimes when you are presenting a case that is tied up at a bow and it doesn't get the penalty it seems to deserve? has a career detective and been involved in numerous major criminal investigations right throughout my career yes that does a key you do get disappointed but that's why we have to be extremely vigilant and that's why as the police commander here when this matter occurred on Sunday night I thought well and truly to the future as presenting this matter in the Supreme Court in a couple of years time and I am very cognisant of what is required of the high standard we have in our Westminster system which is vital and of course doing that but of course I personally believe the best systems in the world and that we are well looked after in that regard and that's the system we have when we look at the news around the world daily I think we do do extremely well in that regard but yes to answer you from my perspective I have been frustrated but again as a police commander we have to work through that and we have to independently do it to investigate all matters as they have come to us pretty loaded target an ambulance officer just trying to help an ambulance officer yes look they are vulnerable their focus is purely for the preservation of life and people and we do work very closely with their communications centre our communications centre here on the Gold Coast in relation to us responding to jobs with them but again I can't talk further about this particular matter or the weapon or anything used in relation to it but it is it does get on the lower end of the scale there how many crime prevention officers do you have here on the Gold Coast in this office here we have at the regional level we have a highly qualified civilian and a senior sergeant we have a sergeant and four officers at the Gold Coast so that's six at Coomber office we have another two and at Logan we have a team of four there but to answer your question I have 1400 I have 1400 crime prevention officers every police officer who goes out to every scene in particular our forensic people that go to the scenes of crime and examinations they are all trained in crime prevention and when they talk to people at premises and houses they then turn around and provide advice so whilst we might have a dozen coordinating it throughout the region and we tap in with all the latest trends from worldwide every police officer is in my opinion a crime prevention officer in giving advice to the community given that you turned the tide on the robberies of financial institutions is this the same sort of campaign that you are launching now to try and get these people to improve is it a similar or is it an unrealistic goal or the one major difference between financial institutions and what we term small as softer targets is the financial institutions and international and multinational organisations that have possibly a large budget that can look for modern things in relation to crime prevention whereas if you get someone that has just gone into a small business and then we ask or we suggest that they spend a considerable amount of money in relation to the latest electronic surveillance they may not have that so there's got to be again you've got to take all those factors into consideration and again the financial institutions of the armed robberies that I experienced in my of them in the 70s and the 80s and the 90s and electronic banking has been one of the greatest advantages for us there we used to get paid in cash and that's what the car roll robberies were about now we all get paid electronically into our electronic bank accounts so things have changed but unfortunately we've still got to go to service stations and pay for fuel supermarkets fast food outlets to get the essentials of life daily in relation to that and where people congregate and buy things unfortunately we still have these robberies so I'll thank you