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"Gun culture" in Australia's Victoria leaving police at risk

Xinhua, July 7, 2015 Adjust font size:

Australia's Victorian police have again issued a warning about Melbourne's growing "gun culture" after a police officer was shot on Tuesday while attempting to pull over a car.

Victorian Police association secretary Ron Iddles said the proliferation of illegally owned guns in Melbourne made policing an increasingly dangerous occupation.

His comments came after a rogue gunman in Melbourne's northwest shot a police officer in the back of the head with a shotgun at around 3.40 a.m. local time on Tuesday.

The injured constable, 31, was transported to Royal Melbourne Hospital in a serious but stable condition, and is reportedly conscious despite the ordeal.

The incident occurred when the officer and his partner began to tail a Ford Escape.

After attempting to intercept the suspicious vehicle, the occupant fired a single shot from a 12-gauge shotgun as he fled the scene.

The shot hit the officer through the driver's side window.

The shooter is yet to be apprehended. "The environment of policing has changed," Iddles told 3AW radio on Tuesday morning. "There's more firearms out there, and it's dangerous for our (police) members every time they go out to work."

It is the second time in a month that Iddles has spoken out about Melbourne's insidious gun culture which has increased dramatically in the past decade and is often putting his members at risk.

In response to a Crime Statistics Report on June 18, which dubbed the Melbourne's northwest as the city's "red zone" for illegal gun confiscation, Iddles said: "It is concerning that every second day a firearm is being located in a car, and about every six days there is a firearm incident."

"Either a drive by shooting (will occur) or a shooting of someone that is not fatal."

Figures suggested an unregistered firearm was being found in a car every second day.

Iddles said on Tuesday the officers were just trying to do their job. "When these two officers put on a uniform last night, they didn' t expect to be a target they went out there to serve the community," he said. "The gunman had a total disregard for human life, and in particular the life of police officers." Endi