Highgate Hill Police Station to be placed on the State's register of heritage places

3/7/99
The humble suburban police station that became the communications hub of the WA Police Force has won listing on the State's register of heritage places.
The Highgate Hill Police Station was built in 1897 at the height of the gold boom that saw Perth's population explode.
By the 1940s, the police station had secretly been converted to house the police force's new wireless facility and is likely to have been used as part of the Defence Department's communications network during World War Two.
Today, the buildings continue to play a police role as home to the Road Safety Section and Bicycle Education Unit.
Heritage Minister Graham Kierath said he had accepted the Heritage Council's advice and recommendation that the police station, lock-up and quarters in Lincoln Street, Highgate, be placed on the interim register of heritage places. This reflected the importance of the different roles the buildings played over the years.
"This old police station building has a rich history that belies its modest appearance, including the particularly significant role as a home to the police wireless branch," he said.
"When the branch was started at Highgate, the wireless branch capability consisted of two converted Bentley cars. In its final year of operation, the station had comprehensive two-way radio capability, telex links throughout the State, a country mobile network, high power transceivers and portable systems for patrolling officers."
Mr Kierath said the police station, built in 1897, was one of nine suburban stations built between 1895 and 1899 in response to the rapid growth in Perth's population and the accompanying rise in crime.
The quarters were added in 1906 as accommodation for the officer-in-charge of the station.
The most notorious incident in the station's life was in 1928 when the officer-in-charge, Sgt Alexander Mark, was shot dead by a customer at the Brisbane Hotel, prompting the introduction of firearms licensing in Western Australia.
Mr Kierath said Highgate was closed as a police station in 1940 when a larger, more modern facility was opened in Inglewood.
"The entry of Japan into World War II hastened the introduction of more sophisticated wireless facilities for the police force," Mr Kierath said.
"Highgate was chosen as the secret location for the wireless branch as the Police Commissioner thought Central Police Station might be a bombing target. The sewer vent adjacent to the station served as an excellent if unlikely antennae mast.
"The secrecy surrounding the location of the wireless section was kept until officially revealed in 1956.
"The Wireless Branch was transferred to the new Police Headquarters in East Perth in 1975. The buildings that started out as an unassuming Victorian police station had exhausted their use as the communications hub of the police force."
He said Highgate Hill was one of only a few surviving examples of a pre-1900s suburban police station in Western Australia.
Media contact: Steve Manchee (08) 9213 6400