Two alleged offenders still on the run after ankle bracelets cut off in WA manhunt
Western Australia police are hunting two alleged offenders after eight people accused of serious crimes cut off their ankle bracelets in the past 48 hours,
Western Australia police are hunting two alleged offenders after eight people accused of serious crimes cut off their ankle bracelets in the past 48 hours, triggering a major weekend operation. By Sunday afternoon, six had been caught.
The escapees were being monitored under court orders, and police say each cut-off device forced officers off other jobs and into the search. The scale was blunt. Large. Eight cases in two days.
Resources pulled from frontline work
Simone Taplin of the WA Police Union said the people involved were “dangerous to the community” and that six officers were needed to hunt each one. That meant 48 officers were diverted from their usual duties over the weekend.
“That’s a large amount of resources to look for someone who should be behind bars,” she said.
Her warning cut straight to the point. When officers are sent racing after someone who has cut off a bracelet, other calls wait. Domestic violence. Serious crimes in progress. Routine patrols. All of it gets squeezed.
Two men remain at large
Among those still on the run is 40-year-old Jeremy James Miller, who has pleaded guilty to twice breaching his post-sentence supervision order. Police said he was deemed fit by the courts to wear the device before cutting it off in Midland and disappearing.
The other man still wanted is Russell Ysandre Damion Dabb, 18, who faces 25 charges, including allegations not fully detailed in the source material.
Police have not said where either man is believed to be now. The manhunt continues.
The episode has again put a hard light on electronic monitoring, a tool used in many justice systems to track alleged or convicted offenders in the community. When a device is removed, the alarm is immediate. So is the response. And this weekend, it took 48 officers to chase eight people, with two still missing as of 3:30pm Sunday.
