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POLICE BLOW THEIR SECRET WEAPON

STATE
by Aja Styles

May 26, 2003

WESTERN Australia's Police Pipe Band hopes to win this year's World Pipe Band Championships in Glasgow and bridge cultural gaps in the community with their new didgeridoo accompanist Jeremy Garlett.

Having won the world championships in 1998 at grade two level and the 2001 United States open championships at grade one, band leader Constable Doug Kirkwood believes their unique and popular rendition of "I am Australian" is a winning performance.

"We are in with a good fighting chance and it's our first appearance in Glasgow at that grade," Const. Kirkwood said.

Mr Garlett joined the band 18 months ago and integrated the didgeridoo to create a unique sound that would cross cultural borders.

"The band is another element of police life and provides entertainment for all walks of life," Const. Kirkwood said.

Mr Garlett, 42, an Aboriginal Police Liaison Officer for the Belmont Police Station, was a radio DJ before joining the police force eight years ago. He was a founding member of 6AR, Aboriginal Radio, whose operation began at Curtin University, producing the first indigenous radio program in Perth.

Mr Garlett's interest in helping the community and the Aboriginal people of WA extends beyond radio but he places a lot of importance on music.

"There are elements in the community that will offend and re-offend but it is only one side of it and you need to get two sides to get the whole picture, I think music does it [give a bigger picture] and media does it- it is crucial to the development of Aboriginal people," Mr Garlett said.

A Yamitji man of the north-west deserts, near Carnarvon, Mr Garlett enjoys his work because of the importance of incorporating new ways of dealing with Aboriginal issues within the police force.

"I've reached out to a lot of people about spirituality of the community," Mr Garlett said.

His experience included a cultural exchange program with Zimbabwe, which looked at crime and homelessness, and he found similarities in Aboriginal communities.

"The same range of people can lose self-esteem because of the government's indignant nature," he said.

"Those sorts of things [like loss of self-esteem] make an impact and it doesn't matter about race, whether you are black or white, if you put them [people] under the same conditions you get the same responses."

The pipe band will perform at the Mandurah Performing Arts Centre on the June 14 to help fundraise their trip to Glasgow. The performance includes highland dancers, "Protect and Serve" book signings and comedy host Max Kay.