Queensland police at the turn of the century

This paper profiles the Queensland Police Force at the turn of the twentieth century, and highlights recruitment and training, conditions, remuneration, duties, administrative structures and the influence of Commissioner Parry-Okeden. The life of a Queensland policeman was highly controlled, such that the occupation rarely attracted the upper strata of society, the wealthy, highly educated or faint-hearted. Yet an analysis of police duties shows them to be also social workers, psychologists, carpenters, painters, undertakers and health workers. The Force was neither autonomous nor a pace-setter, but drew its strengths and weaknesses from the people it served. Given the closeness between the police and the community at the turn of the century, it was difficult for the public not to get to know their local policeman, even if they were law abiding citizens. He encroached on their lives in many ways: patrolling on beat duty, collecting statistics from their farms, or checking electoral rolls. His obvious presence and standing in the community was open to scrutiny from all levels of society. This approach worked satisfactorily when Queensland was predominantly a collection of small rural communities and the concept of the 'village cop' was alive and well.