WA Police Gazettes

Police Gazettes are a critical resource for anyone researching criminal history, as well as family historians who are researching an ancestor who may have been on the wrong side of the law. In many cases, they provide the best starting point for such research, before moving on to check if there are more detailed Police, Court or Prison records.

At the time they were printed, Police Gazettes were not issued for public access, but rather copies were produced for distribution to all WA police stations as a regular (e.g. weekly) bulletin.

Extract from a 1910 Police Gazette

In 2023, the WA Police Service transferred a master set of WA Police Gazettes to the State Records Office for the period 1891-2010. These records are now included in the State Archives Collection. Along with the transfer of the physical Gazettes, the Police Service also included digitised copies of these volumes. 

1920 Police Gazette providing a visual inventory of items subject to theft
 

The State Records Office is extremely grateful to the WA Police Service for including digitised copies as part of this transfer. Digital copies of the Police Gazettes for the period 1891-1945 are freely available for public access through the SRO WA online catalogue