Private Agents Registry Withheld 270 Licences
The Age
Thursday August 13, 1992
The Private Agents Registry has either refused, suspended or cancelled the licences of 270 security guards, private detectives, crowd-controllers and process servers in Victoria during the past financial year.
The police registrar, Inspector Stephen Frost, said that during the same period, 122 complaints had been received from the public about the 11,500 licensed private agents operating in the state.
Inspector Frost said 441 hearings had been conducted into a range of offences committed by private agents, mostly as a result of information provided by police. The offences included assault, theft by deception, armed robbery, burglary, illegal bugging, harassment and the illegal possession of firearms.
Private security applicants are prevented from holding a private agents licence if they have previous criminal convictions.
Inspector Frost said he had received no complaints about illicit trade in confidential information by private investigators and commercial agents in Victoria. ``But it is a covert activity and most people would not be aware that they have been tracked down as a result of someone paying for information about their personal details," he said.
The president of the Victorian Association of Private Detectives, Mr Stan Cook, said all members were expected to conform to a strict code of practice. ``While we have had no members who have had their licences cancelled, there are people out there who obviously break it (the rules)." The Victorian president of the Institute of Mercantile Agents, Mr Craig Dent, yesterday condemned the trade in confidential information. He said his organisation, which represents about 500 process servers in most states, also had a strict code of practice.
The president of the Victorian Council for Civil Liberties, Mr Ron Merkel, last night called on the Federal Government to set up a royal commission into the illicit trade in confidential information.
© 1992 The Age
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