Police

Queensland authorities will begin to rollout mobile phone and seatbelt detection cameras across the state from today – however drivers will be issued warnings rather than fines for the first three months. In addition to using cameras to detect drivers handling mobile phones, Queensland is believed to be the first jurisdiction in the world to use fixed-camera technology to detect seatbelt offences.

NSW Police now have the power to issue bigger fines and get drugged and drunk drivers off the roads and before the courts, thanks to a new law that combines both driving offences which previously had to dealt with separately.

UPDATE, 24 June 2021: The 2021 Beat The Blue motorkhana test of skill between police and car enthusiasts has been postponed from 30 June 2021 to 19 September 2021 after new COVID restrictions came into force following a recent outbreak. A statement issued by organisers overnight said entry fees would be refunded or carried over to the new date. Beat The Blue is a not-for-profit charity. All money raised goes to NSW Police Legacy, a support network for the families of fallen police officers.

The Ford Ranger has earned its police stripes in Victoria and will replace the current fleet of Holden Colorado utes – at a rate of 200 vehicles per year, as each example comes up for retirement. A third-party supplier has developed a new prisoner module to be fitted to the back of two-door space cab and four-door crew cab vehicles, and Ford says it has tested the new set-up at its engineering centre near Geelong.

The Ford Falcon XR6 Turbo has reached the end of its run as a highway patrol car in Australia after almost two decades of service across four generations of Falcons. The final example – a marked sedan attached to Surry Hills highway patrol near the Sydney CBD – handed in its stripes on 31 March 2021 after clocking up 86,156km over four years.