DUMB AUSTRALIAN COPS AND A DUMBER AUSTRALIAN JUDICIARY

A teenager who wandered freely through an unlocked police station, stole the keys to the gun safe and then took a patrol car on a high-speed joyride has escaped with a slap on the wrist. And now the 17-year-old wants to be a police officer to "show them how it's really done". "They told me I still can (join NSW Police) and I wouldn't mind being a copper," the youth revealed exclusively to The Daily Telegraph.

This is despite an admission that eight weeks before he broke into Corrimal police station, near Wollongong, he had broken into a patrol car and stolen a bag. The major security breach at the police station in August embarrassed the force. An internal investigation is expected to wind up within the month and new security procedures have been implemented.

Even the boy is amazed his punishment was nothing more than taking part in youth conferencing, where "they just told me to stay out of trouble and that's about it. Oh, and do my homework". He did not even lose his provisional driver's licence despite having stolen a police car. Nor has he been asked to pay for damage caused when he hit a gutter. "My friends thought it was hilarious. I got fined $384 for driving a V8 because I'm still on my P-plates. But yeah, it was a stupid thing to do," he said.

The youth's revelation that he simply walked into the station while highway patrol staff were on the road contradicts police reports the station was locked. "I walked straight in. The door was unlocked. It definitely wasn't locked," he said. "It was too easy. I reckon they were lucky it was me. Most of the criminals I know would've gone through and cleaned out the whole place." Instead, the boy wandered about the station for 10 minutes before stealing police radios and keys. Police confirmed one of those sets of keys gave the boy access to the station gun safe containing police-issued Glock handguns, although the weapons were also secured by padlocks. Another set gave him access to all in-car camera video units across the state.

While contrite about his actions, he could not help but gloat about taking the stolen V8 SS Holden Commodore marked patrol car to speeds of 160km/h after drinking half a bottle of bourbon. The vehicle's return also went unnoticed and he was not arrested until two days later.

Report here



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