Mid West top cop reveals how police responded to major crime, disasters, and COVID in 2021

Much like its predecessor, 2021 was not without its curveballs and it was our local police force which was often forced to confront these challenges head on. The Geraldton Guardian sat down with Mid West-Gascoyne District Superintendent Roger Beer to discuss the year that was and how police responded to natural disasters, missing persons reports, communities tragedies, local crime and a global pandemic. Cleo Smith and Carnarvon crime Perth-based detectives may have been the ones to finally place four-year-old Cleo Smith back into her mother’s arms, but Mid West-Gascoyne district officers were the first to arrive at the scene. Supt Beer said the “fantastic result” could not have happened without the work of local first responders who launched the search for the little girl who went missing from Carnarvon’s Blowholes Campground on October 16. “A lot of credit is due to the officers from this district who responded and how they dealt with the initial situation,” he said. “There was also all the background things in intelligence that you can’t actually see that I’m sure had a big impact on the ability of those investigators to identify what was going on and ultimately find Cleo.” Supt Beer said the 18-day ordeal had been a “rollercoaster ride” for the Carnarvon community. “It was obviously devastating for a small community to have a four-year-old girl go missing, then she was found and then of course everyone goes away and they are left thinking, ‘well what do we do now?’” he said. Local leaders and residents have now reported a spike in youth crime, with Supt Beer saying there would be a strong police presence in Carnarvon over the coming months in response to the offending. “We are focusing very much on Carnarvon over the next couple of months to see what difference we can make up there because I think those people at times probably deserve a bit more than what they get,” he said. “Carnarvon has got a core group of kids that can be responsible for some of the more serious offending, but a lot of the offending in Carnarvon can be attributed to kids under the age of criminal responsibility. “In those cases it is less about police enforcing the law — which of course we need to do and we will continue to do — but it is also about how do we help parents be better at their job to keep the kids occupied and off the street.” Cyclone Seroja The Northampton police station was recognised in the 2021 Nine News WA Police Excellence Awards for the work officers did to keep the community safe before and after cyclone Seroja hit the Mid West. Supt Beer said this was just one example of how local police went above and beyond in response to the April 11 disaster. “What I was very pleased about locally was police in each town are part of their local communities and they do a lot of work in the lead-up and the initial stages post-impact,” he said. “They were doing things that are outside normal policing duties, just to check on people and do the best to keep them safe. “Many people were seriously impacted and are still feeling the results of that impact.” JC murder trial Two years after the fatal shooting of Yamatji woman JC on a Rangeway street, a jury found the Geraldton officer who pulled the trigger not guilty of murdering the Aboriginal mother. Community outrage erupted after the acquittal, with events held in Geraldton and Perth in protest of the verdict. Supt Beer said JC’s death and subsequent murder trial was a “really difficult time” for the woman’s loved ones and police. Given the family’s grief, Supt Beer said the community response to JC’s death and the trial verdict was “appropriate”. “Some people had some things they needed to express — and we support that — and I thought they did it in a respectful way,” he said. “I attribute the respectful way in which people’s emotions were expressed to the relationship that I and other police officers have with key people in this town.” Land and sea searches Not every missing person report had as happy an ending as Cleo Smith’s story this year, with Kalbarri windsurfer John Laverack, and Meekatharra prospector Trevor McDonald among those who were unable to be located by police. Supt Beer attributed the above-average number of search operations to the spike in intrastate travel during the pandemic. “Certainly since we haven’t been able to travel internationally there is a lot more people on our roads out doing things and looking at our beautiful State … we do seem to have responded to more persons at risk this year than we ordinarily would,” he said. “On most occasions we have been able to find what we are looking for, some of them unfortunately in less than desirable circumstances.” Remains found and identified as belonging to Mr Laverack suggested the 72-year-old died while windsurfing in severe weather, but Supt Beer said no trace of Mr McDonald has been found. “We spent a lot of time out there looking and unfortunately we just weren’t able to find him,” he said. “I wish we could have, and if any new information came to hand then we would go back out there, but there was certainly nothing identified as suspicious around the circumstances, just that we weren’t able to find where he was.” Crime trends Crime rates across the Mid West and Gascoyne are about 26 per cent higher now than they were the same time last year. But Supt Beer said crime was “suppressed” during the pandemic and current figures suggested a return to average offending rates rather than an “alarming” spike in crime. He said what did concern him was the prevalence of youth crime in Geraldton and the region. “Here in Geraldton, there might be a core group of kids that cause problems for three or four days until we identify them, then crime will stop for a little while and then starts up again … it is an ongoing issue,” he said. “In Mullewa there was a core group that was involved in crime and since we have been able to contain those half-a-dozen kids, Mullewa crime has reduced significantly.” Supt Beer said Geraldton detectives ran several successful drug operations which resulted in the suppression of the supply of amphetamines by mid-year. But he said the drug trade in the region was an ongoing concern. “Of course you take one group (of drug dealers) out and another emerges,” he said. “It is very difficult to keep a lid on things in the longer term, but drugs are and will always be a focus.” Looking ahead Supt Beer will mark three years in Geraldton on Boxing Day, with the top cop saying his time in the region could soon draw to a close. “Ordinarily we do tenures of between two and four years, and I have done three. I don’t have a transfer notice yet but I don’t think it is far away,” he said. Supt Beer said while the job was often “relentless”, he had fallen in love with Geraldton and was proud of what police have achieved across the region in recent years. “The Mid West and Gascoyne community is amazingly resilient, respectful, helpful and they like the cops,” he said. “I am overwhelmed by the doughnuts and coffee vouchers and morning teas that just turn up at the front of the station, which makes me feel really proud of my officers. “I know that individually and collectively they get a kick out of what they do, because they see that people appreciate what they do, and that is really important.”