by CAA | Feb 5, 2019 | Library, Uncategorized
6th January 2019
Well not exactly, it is 4 years old but it has now produced over 100 opinion articles together with three plans and a number of submissions to government Inquiries. It has also proposed a number of new and innovative ideas that will assist and improve policing in this state.
The CAA has also provided advocacy to many individuals who have sought the CAA counsel. Many are serving and former Police members and ordinary citizens who have been confronted with the frustration of trying to deal with the police organisation or the legal system.
The CAA is a long way from where it started, focused on the lack of youth engagement by Victoria Police and the certainty that the lack of engagement would lead to increased crime. We predicted a Crime Tsunami was on its way and to our dismay, this prophesy manifested itself in 2016; the Crime Tsunami overtook this State. The effects are still being felt today and we take no comfort in the latest crime statistics particularly when mismanagement by Victoria Police was a major contributor.
There is still far too much crime in this State and to think it could have been avoided by sticking to sound policing principles is galling.
That said the journey of the CAA so far has been full of interest but above all else, we have learned an enormous amount about Victoria Police and the application of Law and Order in this State. We continue to be dismayed by the dismantling of what was once the unassailable premier Police Force in Australia and recognised worldwide for its excellence in Policing.
A slave of the Management Matrix introduced some years ago that has decimated the efficiency of Police Command.
The CAA is increasing the strength of its advocacy with the launch of a new Web site caainc.org.au where you can browse our material and communicate with us to help us improve the status quô.
The web site will have the latest news from CAA as it happens.
caainc.org.au
by CAA | Jan 26, 2019 | Library, Uncategorized
26th January 2019
Comments that expose the failure.
“…to ensure that decision making is devolved, as a matter of principle and as far as possible to the level closest to those who implement the decisions…”
“…it is both practical and desirable to move decision making to a lower level closer to the issues…”
“…moving operational decision making closer to the coal face with accountabilities and performance based management…”
Quotes attributable to the same author?
No, the first is from the recommendations on accountability in the report, Task Force Deliver conducted by Neil Comrie AO APM into the Victoria Police and published in January 2019 and the second is from Plan 100.1. ‘Addressing Law and Order for all Victorians” produced by the Community Advocacy Alliance (CAA) in 2018. The third is from the original Plan 100 published by the CAA in 2017 in response to the crime tsunami in Victoria.
The similarity in the authors is that they are former experienced executive police and that they have identified an issue independently. The concept of devolution of decision making in Victoria Police as it currently stands requires an urgent adjustment particularly given how this fundamental organisational flaw is manifesting in serious failures in governance currently being highlighted.
It is essential that decisions are made for an organisation like Victoria Police at the place closest to the action, or where “the rubber hits the road”. Police Executives in an office removed from the community no matter how intelligent cannot hope to understand the complexities of policing particular communities and the variabilities by demographics and geography that the Police at a local level possess. These variabilities often exist within a Police sub district far removed from the executives and only within the knowledge of the local police. The much maligned ‘local knowledge’ is a fundamental tool of policing.
The other problem that has evolved in the structure of the Victoria Police executive is their number and span of control. With forty-seven executive Officers the overlapping of spans of control are inevitable and detract from efficient and competent decision making
It is unavoidable that the executive decision making will be hindered having to consider peers responsibilities.
The overlapping spans of control also lead to delayed decisions, creating uncertainty as to who makes what decision, and even more critically when a decision is made who is accountable for it.
These structural flaws are most felt by the subordinates responsible for actioning decisions.
New South Wales by comparison has about twenty seven executives doing ostensibly the same job as their forty seven counterparts in Victoria. It is unavoidable with that number in Victoria that work will increase to fill the allotted resource space, a major contributor to creating a centralist organisation.
Victoria Police are not the first and will not be the last to suffer as a result of following a structural design proffered by the purveyors of fashions in management strategies rather than pragmatism. The CAA Board members from the corporate sector cite examples of exactly what has happened to Victoria Police as happening in large commercial corporations. However, the advantage of the Corporations is that a corporate failure, like structure, is addressed where in VicPol it has simply been allowed to continue unchallenged for twenty years.
In New South Wales where the Police corporate structure we now have was imported from, they recognised the folly of this centralist structure some time ago and have incrementally moved back towards the structure that previously existed. Devolving decision making in the process.
When the Officers in charge of Police Stations in Victoria lost control of their ability to manage the Station Roster, that fundamental role shift should have alerted the Force that there was a problem evolving. The Station Commanders no longer had control over their operation; decision making had been moved up the chain away from the coal face as had accountability and responsibility.
The structural imbalance evident in the Victoria Police must be addresses with urgency if the organization is to operate effectively and efficiently.
by CAA | Jan 25, 2019 | Library, PTSD, Uncategorized
26th April 2019
It would not be hard to conclude that the horror stories that the Community Advocacy Alliance (CAA) have reported to date would lead readers to believe that these nightmares were confined to the “Other Ranks”, that is below Officer rank but alas for Officers that is not true.
Although we are exploring several stories by former Officers, this one is particularly cruel with sad consequences.
The policy introduced some time ago to rotate Officers probably had some sound logic which escapes most of us, but it can and is used as a brutal, demeaning and soul destroying tool that allows bullies to specifically target individuals whom perhaps do not fit a particular “Corporate Model”.
Usually not related to any lack of performance the rotations or transfer for temporary duty occur without any consideration as to the impact on the member or their family so it can be doubly cruel. Moreover, because the members are Officers, they are supposed to cop it on the chin.
3845 was a Superintendent, by any standard a high rank in the Police Force.
He was very fit and a genuine outdoor type respected by his staff and the public alike. His greatest sin, having spent a good deal of his service in the country, was the popularity he enjoyed from his staff. His partner and friends judged him to be of the highest moral and ethical standards displaying a strength of character, not all are gifted with.
As a country Superintendent, he was surprised to have an Assistant Commissioner ring him out of the blue. Before any pleasantries could be exchanged and seemingly without hesitation, the Commissioner launched into a tirade about his character. He was accused of dishonesty and a raft of other allegations of crimes which he knew nothing about.
The Assistant Commissioner would not let him get a word in talking over the top of him in a relentless tirade telling him the Ethical Standards Department (EDS) were going to come and sort him out.
It probably did not occur to 3845 right at that moment, but this was an extremely odd way to run an investigation into serious misconduct of any member let alone a senior officer, ringing them up and abusing them with the allegations.
When 3845 eventually got to say something he told the Commissioner that the accusations related to a totally different geographical location where he had never worked. 3845 then determined that the Commissioner thought he was talking to another member. A completely different rank and work location with a different first name and two additional letters in his surname, that, when pronounced could not be confused with the Superintendent.
The response from the Assistant Commissioner having been caught out so embarrassingly was to hang up. No apology, no belated email or follow up call to apologise, nothing. The performance of the Assistant Commissioner over this incident goes directly to the character of the Commissioner, and you can be the judge of that.
Most of this rant was a blur as 3845 related the event to a trusted friend who was also a Police member he had known for many years. It was obvious to his friend that this event had taken a severe toll on somebody that the friend believed was very strong. No shrinking violet this man.
However, the Superintendent’s belief in the Victoria Police had been shattered by the event, and he took it all very hard perhaps because of his character it was such a damaging blow.
After this incident, his partner and friends started to notice this once robust individual was not as robust as he once was and noticed the stress was taking its toll, probably aggravated by the heroic Assitant Commissioner without the courage to apologise.
Aggravating the disposition of the Superintendent, he was sent to another Command temporarily, not rotated which is considered permanent at least until the next rotation. Unlike the rotations in the metropolitan area that can be very inconvenient adding hours to a days commute, the Superintendent was sent from one side of the State to the other, over 500 kilometres away; this one was a doozy even by Vicpol standards, probably a 5-6 hour commute, each way. With eight hours of work, presumably, sleep was not seen as necessary.
His predecessor had left many distasteful tasks unattended requiring 3845 to clean up the mess, so to speak. And what happened to his predecessor? Promoted of course.
The Department however generously decided to fund the Superintendent for a few months in temporary accommodation but soon that was withdrawn, and he was forced to, “couch surf” until he could find something.
How demeaning to treat any member let alone a Senior Officer like that. As most who have tried to get tempory accommodation in the bush can attest it is not easy with landlords shunning people who are looking for temporary digs.
Sometime later 3845 was towing his caravan on leave when he lost control and was involved in a serious accident where his partner was injured as was 3845. With the tyranny of distance, a superior officer to 3845 told him to take time off to look after his partner which he did.
At least there are pockets of compassion still in the organisation, but that compassion was soon shattered when another Assistant Commissioner rang 3845 and accused him of bludging on the system, the same system that located his workplace on the other side of the State.
This was pretty much the last straw for 3845 and his health now started to deteriorate at a faster rate. Shattered because he had given Victoria Police over forty years of dedicated service where he put Policing above everything else and the organisation he loved and served was now to destroy him.
When 3845 called into his mate’s place on the way back from a conference, his mate was shocked how 3845 had deteriorated and just how his faith in Victoria Police had been shattered. The toll it was taking on him, was frighteningly obvious.
He and the Superintendent’s partner eventually cajoled him into seeking medical help.
He was diagnosed with a serious health issue and sadly paid the ultimate price a little over twelve months later.
The contribution by Victoria Police to the premature death of this member is problematic but to rub salt, the support, with only one exception, during his illness was next to non-existent, including support for his long-time partner to consider her welfare.
The one exception was a Deputy Commissioner whom 3845 had attended Airlie Officers Course and developed a friendship with and he at least maintained contact the Superintendent. The heroes of this story, of course, nowhere to be seen.
The rotation system must be disbanded to remove a tool bullies can use to destroy any police they choose to dislike. It is essential that the Chief Commissioner has the authority to move personnel to meet operational and functional demands, but that should be the exception rather than the rule.
You may ask about the Victoia Police welfare support mechanisms, well just keep asking. A workforce of around 20,000 police members most on the frontline and an ineffective under-resourced welfare system, who is responsible?
It is very sad that the member died so relatively young but even more disappointing is how a once proud and compassionate organisation has been allowed to deteriorate to such a degree, callous and heartless would be our call.
by CAA | Jan 23, 2019 | Library, Uncategorized
23rd January 2019
The groundbreaking initiatives announced by the Andrews Government today, in relation to Victims, must be applauded and the government righty congratulated. Although the devil may be in the implementation it is truly a watershed moments for Victims and well overdue.
This announcement is strongly supported by the CAA. We acknowledge that these are recommendations yet to be adopted but they were made at the Government’s behest so we are confident they will be adopted.
The CAA published its position on the abhorrent treatment of Victim’s of crime in this State and presented a number of recommendations that could improve the treatment of Victims.
The paper, ‘A case for Victims’, first published in April 2018 can be found at
https://caainc.org.au/a-case-for-the-victims/ and addresses a number of the initiatives announced by Government.
It would be perhaps advantageous that the Government revisit this paper in light of the recommendations before it.
The government setting up another quango as the recovery of debt function is the only thing we pass comment on, not criticism.
The Tax Office and the Sheriff’s Office have the existing mechanism to play the long game in debt recovery and a new body may not be necessary.
Not covered in our original article the legislation required to establish much of the Victim support function must include a provision whereby bankruptcy cannot extinguish the debt. That a debt follows a convicted criminal until paid even after they have served any penalty. The debt will be a reminder of the folly of crime and act as a major deterrent.
The arguments that will be proffered will be focused on the welfare of the perpetrator’s ability to reform but that is cold comfort to many victims that never have their life returned.
The last thing we, and any victim, would want to see is a criminal subsequent to an Order accumulating wealth by either legal means or otherwise and avoiding the compensation. That is why we favour to Tax Office as the recovery agency.
Given the history of our Judiciary, it would be highly desirable that there are legislative changes that realign the role of the Victim in the legal process so that compassion and most importantly respect is afforded to all victims.
by CAA | Jan 20, 2019 | Media
by CAA | Jan 19, 2019 | PTSD, Uncategorized
19th January 2019
PTSD is a major work based health hazard for police members as individuals and to the productivity of Victoria Police.
We have learnt that in nearly every case that we have been made aware of, that the problem has been made worse by the way the system has dealt with the Police member. Although complete conjecture as we are not clinicians, we are fast forming the view that although operational demands may be at the core of the disorder the severity of the case can be exacerbated by the process that the members are subjected to.
The system clearly lacks compassion that may be offered in a physiological health issue.
A combination of poor management practices and an adversarial compensation system combine to ensure any member unfortunate enough to suffer this disorder is sure to have their matter aggravated by the system.
The two components, management practices and an adversarial system, are fixable and it is irresponsible for Victoria Police and the Government to persist with a system that continues to damage vulnerable members.
In our view that is cruel and unconscionable behaviour.
Repairing either or both aspects will not of itself reduce the likelihood of members suffering PTSD or other similar medical issues but early intervention may reduce the severity.
We fail to see why people of good will cannot see and repair this flawed system.
The other aspect of PTSD is what now must be an astronomical cost, in not only Medical services and compensation, but also the cost of legal representations and settlements by Victoria Police. Although the majority of the cost is born directly by the Insurers, that can be a very false economy. Insures are there to make a profit so somebody has to pay, it will not be them, so premiums must rise.
The loss of productivity by the members before and after diagnosis must also have an eye watering price tag.
The welfare of the members is paramount and the model established in Western Australia where set compensation is provided for their police, without the adversarial minefield, seems to be an attractive option.
Identifying (accurately) the current first and second tier cost, we would guess would go a long way to funding a Veteran’s scheme similar to the Military. The third tier is the hidden costs expended by retired members who may have to fund any late onset and treatment of PTSD personally.
The fourth tier is the families of the PTSD sufferers and what impact emotionally as well as financially is carried by them.
These suggestions will not fix everything but they could reduce the severity of the disorder. Better training of Management may soon improve outcomes for sufferers because managers with the necessary skills can identify members who are potentially inclined to PTSD and professional early intervention may save the member or at the very least reduce the severity of the affliction and the cost.
Sometimes being mercenary may move insurmountable hurdles.
by CAA | Jan 18, 2019 | Library, Uncategorized
18th January 2019′
We at CAA have condemned the absence of integrity within government activities here in Victoria, and called for integrity to be made a central component in every public action undertaken on our behalf.
It has now been officially reported that Victoria Police acted unethically (without integrity) in respect of driver breath testing, over many years.
We already knew the Transport Accident Commission (TAC) had paid Vicpol for a contracted number of breath tests to be carried out, and Vicpol had admitted the contract had not been met. Vicpol then contracted to carry out even more breath tests.
We have been told the police unethical conduct was not criminal – but that judgement and assurance seem to themselves be completely lacking in honesty and integrity. In short, we are being snowed; to mix the metaphor, this was a whitewash!
If there has been deliberate falsification of figures to obtain a result closer to a contracted, and paid for result, it seems to a fraud – the obtaining of property (money) by deceit. Consider all the disclosed facts, and also consider that it does not matter that those carrying out the falsifications do not benefit personally.
On the disclosed material it appears there has been a systematic course of conduct, which senior officials knew about, or ought to have known about, to falsify official figures to benefit Vicpol and gain kudos for senior personnel within it.
A bit like dodgy crime statistics but actually more serious.
Vicpol appears to have scrutinised and accepted the official report on falsification of the breath test figures. We suggest that any half-competent police officer would have put two and two together and deduced there was a need for a full-blown criminal investigation into the whole sorry saga.
But only if there is, in the scrutinising, reporting, and consideration processes, genuine and honest concern for integrity – as opposed to the desire to put the saga out of sight and out of mind.
Vicpol stands condemned by the High Court of Australia as having engaged in “reprehensible conduct”. This latest saga falls even more squarely within that description.
We are reminded of the ongoing apparent attempts to sweep aside the “Red Shirts Rort” affair, first by doing nothing (until forced to act by public pressure), then by treating those involved by different standards, then by apparently “dragging the chain” – unduly delaying the process of the law.
Somebody at Police Headquarters – or perhaps Spring Street – has to take responsibility for the culture which has brought about a widespread collapse of ethics and integrity, and disregard for the oath of office taken by every police officer.
CAA believes Vicpol has succumbed to a culture of management by fear, where internal expressions of concern regarding deficient policies are ruthlessly suppressed and/or punished. We had originally advocated for a review of VicPol. We came to that conclusion before the plethora of systemic failures started to emerge. It would not surprise us that there are more to come.
A Royal Commission to expose the organisation’s deficiencies and reprehensible culture – and how this culture has been allowed to flourish – may be the only way to put Vicpol on the right path once again.
We have previously noted the unwillingness of IBAC (in effect a standing royal commission) to do its job properly, and that the body inquiring into the police informer 3838 scandal is sadly too constrained to do the job properly.
Enough of the whitewash and coverup.
by CAA | Jan 16, 2019 | Library, Uncategorized
16th January 2019
Amidst all the publicity about what the High Court has ruled as “reprehensible conduct” by Victoria Police a few other points should be made clear.
Firstly, the “reprehensible conduct” attributed by the Court to the whole organisation seems actually to be the responsibility of a few members – i.e. we should not condemn the whole body.
Secondly, the standard of conduct expected of the organisation’s members derives from the top; the standard is shown by example and precept, on a continuing basis. The organisation’s culture provides the setting in which certain conduct is either accepted or rejected.
So it might be seen – but must surely be condemned by all – that culturally the police could supinely turn a blind eye to the infamous Red Shirts Rort exposed by the media and then the Ombudsman over so many months, so long ago. There can be no excuse whatsoever for the police leadership to have done so little so late, about that particularly egregious abuse of public office.
Eventually, of course, action was taken; some minor players were publicly humiliated, arrested, processed and obvious charges seemed to be imminent. So much activity to so little purpose?
Then we had an election and then the dazzling spectacle of “reprehensible conduct” being brought before a Royal Commission. Have we forgotten the Reprehensible Red Shirts Rort? So much to look at that we might be forgiven for overlooking (or even forgetting?) that the principal culprits in that scandalous conduct have been shielded by police leaders.
Too little, too late, too slowly and too deferentially. What happened to the principle so strongly endorsed by the High Court – the principle that the police are there to uphold the law without fear or favour, malice or ill-will? What happened to equality before the law?
If the Royal Commission is to achieve anything of concrete value to Victorians it should inquire into how this defective culture came into existence, to apparently flourish, and to be supported from the very quarters which benefit from this Red Shirts Rort scandal.
The Community Advocacy Alliance has spoken out about this affair, and publicly urged that it be concluded promptly – preferably without the potential for bringing about several by-elections. There were, and are, few genuine complicating factors in reaching that conclusion.
There is a lack of will. Lack of will to take initial action, and lack of will carry out a sworn duty.
British folk talk of their “PC’s” with respect. In Victoria, PC seems to mean only “politically correct”. CAA contends there is far too much Victorian PC about, and too little attention being given to the reformation of our own Police Culture.
by CAA | Jan 15, 2019 | Library, Uncategorized
15th January 2019
To paraphrase the old truism – “There are lies, damn lies, and … crime statistics.” Vicpol would have us believe crime is decreasing, and yet our observations and media reports suggest the contrary. Vicpol says the Crime Statistics Agency (CSA) is responsible for keeping the books, not them, so if there is a problem it must be their fault.
Well, just to indicate how figures can lie, a few years ago Vicpol decided to juggle the books even before the CSA got involved in counting – by refusing to accept certain reports of crime, and a highly popular class of crime at that. Credit card fraud is almost as common as buying milk – and yet Vicpol will not listen any report of this crime unless the victim first goes to their bank; and even then only if the bank refuses liability. If the victim is reimbursed by the bank the crime magically disappears. It does not matter how much involvement there is by organised crime (and they just love this field!) Vicpol sees nothing, hears nothing and does nothing.
It certainly does not tell CSA about it. There is nothing to report, is there?
Another sneaky little “counting practice” used to mislead the gullible public is to lump together multiple crimes committed in a spree – sexual crimes, deceptions, thefts, burglaries etc. – by the same criminal or gang of criminals – AS ONE CRIME.
All of this is officially approved.
Time and again we hear from disappointed, or mystified, citizens, that when they become victims of a crime the police put obstacles in their way to lodging an official record of that crime. They are too busy, or “You will have to come down to the station (if it is attended)”, or “There is not much we can do, is there?”
This sort of attitude is less likely to be approved on high, and we do not suggest it arises in the most outrageous or public offences, but the complaints occur too frequently to be entirely without cause. Local culture often means that means are found to avoid doing what the bosses at headquarters want, or to actually do what they want but cannot tell you out loud! (Wink, wink, nod, nod.)
Either officially or unofficially, then, the number of victims of crime reported is very significantly less than the true figure. And there is no way to tell just how much less.
Another sneaky “counting practice” is to track a crime victim and only count him/her once even if he/she is victimised multiple times, in separate incidents, throughout a year.
Perhaps enough has been said to justify our doubt about claims that crime is decreasing. And after all, if that were true we did not need to recruit more police so vigorously, did we?
Vicpol does not have a happy record of handling crime statistics even-handedly and honestly, and CSA seems to merely lend a surreptitious glaze of “professionalism” to official sleight-of-hand.
Community Advocacy Alliance Inc. has called for more open and identifiable integrity as a necessary ingredient throughout government as a whole, and does so again with particular respect to the recording of crimes and victims of crimes, in Victoria.
Perhaps we should disseminate figures that satisfy what the public want to know not what the elites determine we should know. That would be a novel idea.
Let us be quite certain that these important aspects of our society get the recognition and attention they actually deserve – and that they are no longer cast aside as unimportant (unless perhaps they inadvertently create a ministerial photo opportunity.)
by CAA | Jan 9, 2019 | Library, Uncategorized
9th January 2019
Since 2014 the Crime Statistics Agency (CSA) has been responsible for the public presentation of data based on crime statistics collected by Victoria Police.
Within that data is a section on victims of crime who have been and are referred to by the CSA as “Unique Victims” (as recently as in their 2018 Annual Report).
At various times I have attempted to ascertain the exact definition of “unique victim” but it has been difficult to pin down – even more so because the definition appears to change depending on who you ask, when you ask and in relation to which types of crimes you ask.
In the past it has been variously explained as being the number of individual persons or companies who became victims of one or more crimes in a given financial year.
Those victims, should they be unfortunate enough to be the victim of three separate unrelated criminal offences at three different times of the year would be recorded as one “unique victim.” Not a victim three times.
In the December 2018 release from the CSA there is a description of how a victim of multiple crimes arising from the one incident is counted. Quite simply, the ‘most serious’ crime is the recorded offence.
By this method, a rape victim who is robbed at knifepoint must be recorded as a victim of only one of those offences. As both are serious indictable offences within the ‘Crimes Act 1958’ and both carry a maximum 25 years imprisonment. I am unaware which offence would be recorded and whether there is consistency in which might, or should, be recorded. It seems quite obvious, as in the CSA information on Victim reports in December 2018, that whichever is considered to be the lesser offence(s) is/are simply not recorded against that victim or perhaps at all. If these offences are recorded, it is certainly not stated.
The same document also outlines how offences that occur over time are recorded. It seems that, for example, if you were a victim of frauds which occurred over a period of months and which was processed by police on one report, as is often the case, you are recorded as a victim of one offence rather than multiple criminal offences.
Bad enough that there is always more than one victim for every crime and that those victims cannot be counted accurately enough to be included in statistics. (Within 72 hours of the Bourke Street tragedy of January 2017, more than 1,700 people had called the Victims of Crime Help Line for assistance).
Coupled with the manner in which victims are actually counted, one wonders how many victims of crime there really are in this State and whether the manner by which their numbers are determined is the best and most accurate way to inform interested Victorians.
Perhaps we might be better served simply being told of each and every single crime in each and every crime report taken by police.
At least then we might see the forest for the trees.
Greg Davies APM.
by CAA | Jan 3, 2019 | Library, Uncategorized
3rd January 2019
What a surprise – the junior siblings and their friends are emulating their older role models. Who would have guessed that phenomena?
This is the most damming and amplified example of the failure of reactive policing, the philosophical bent of Victoria Police.
While all the resources were applied to catching the older ones they forgot or didn’t know there is an obligation in Policing called Crime Prevention and they should have been working on the younger ones.
“… members have a duty to preserve the peace, protect life and property, prevent offences…” (VicPol mission statement).
The older siblings needed to be arrested and charged for offences they commit but at the same time the proactive function of Victoria Police should have been working to avoid the emulation by the “Kiddy Gangs.”
Programs like Police in Schools, Blue Light, Police and Citizens Youth Clubs, Operation New Start, The Ropes program and an upgraded, modernised, and expanded Police Cautioning Diversionary program, all could have contributed to avoiding the development of the “Kiddy Gangs.”
But Vitoria does not have these programs like all the other States with lower crime rates. The best VicPol can muster is a Blue Light program a skeleton of its former self, and a cautioning Program that has not seen a meaningful upgrade since its inception in the 50s.
The era of Proactive Policing introduced by Chief Commissioner S. I. Miller and developed further by Chief Commissioner K. Glare saw the lowest crime rates and the highest level of levels of feeling safe in our community that has sadly been lost over recent years together with the art of Proactive Policing.
This all might have something to with Victoria having the lowest rate of feeling safe [6.4].
The Community Advocacy Alliance has recommended a myriad of proposals in its Plan 100.1 to address these failings. The plan is published on caainc.org.au.
The CAA calls for the urgent implementation by the Victoria Police of proactive crime prevention strategies.
Preventing crime reduces victims.
by CAA | Jan 1, 2019 | Library, Uncategorized
1st January 2019
We do not know about you, but these crime statistics are a bit underwhelming and we do not feel any safer.
What we have known about for years, four in fact, is that rampant crime was affecting our freedoms. All the naysayers, “I feel safe dining in Mansfield,” claiming the issue was blown out of proportion can now be silenced that there is a crime Tsunami in Victoria. Crimes of violence against the person are not diminishing and many crimes go unreported probably the majority.
The wave may have started to ebb but the damage left behind will take a decade to repair.
The problem with the crime statistics is they do not help us feel safer because we know one misstep and the crime rate will rocket again.
The most important statistic which should transcend all other considerations is the measurement of safety and security; how safe the community feels. Importantly Police service delivery if measured will also give an insight in how to best deal with the social problems we face. Crime statistics do not let management know if a particular section of the organisation is not effective.
None of the social issues are measured so all we are left with is the cold facts of crime by numbers, not by the impact of those crimes.
Measuring the feeling of safety the community has, is the key.
At least ancient Greeks had a word that describes this key that has no equal in English, ”eudemony”. Described by Aristotle over 300 years BC.to explain a broader phenomenon than just happiness.
Victoria Police have extolled the production of substantial corporate papers, the sort of stuff that gets academic managers excited, but it is of little or no relevance to the Police on the street actually enforcing the Law.
Particularly when these types of documents are not based on empirical data on the important issues to the community (the customers of the service). Victoria Police has lost focus on its purpose, being a slave to itself rather than providing the service to the people it is established to work for.
by CAA | Dec 25, 2018 | Library, Uncategorized
The laws removing a person’s right to drive are designed to improve compliance and reduce death and injury on our roads. This is a laudable and noble endeavour; however when that noble cause also creates undesirable consequences, it should be reviewed.
There is no doubt that the strong penalties imposed on drivers who break road laws have a deterrent effect, particularly on young drivers, but the current sentencing (some mandatory) needs to be discussed and reviewed. Sentencing or penalties should be about correcting behaviour not about destroying lives and making things worse for our community.
The total removal of the right to drive can be a terrible penalty with many unintended consequences that do not always achieve the desired effect. If a penalty also means losing employment, this is very severe for a first offence and is counterproductive to the greater community good.
There will be an argument that the transgressors deserve what they get and they made bad choices and put others at risk – perhaps there is merit in that view, but when considering the overall impact of these penalties that they can be disproportionately unfair, particularly for first or young offenders. There needs to be a pragmatic review of the system. Destroying lives is not good Justice.
We are not talking about dangerous, serial or rogue recidivists. They do not deserve compassion.
There is a bias in imposing penalties against those who are employed in the non-professional sphere. Licence Suspensions and Disqualification coupled with fines (often and routinely higher than for property crime and crimes of violence) may utterly destroy those who need a driver’s licence for their job.
Taking away a person’s livelihood for relatively minor offences is cruel and unjust.
The first thing that happens to most trade-orientated defendants is their job is lost and hope of employment in their trade unlikely. Apprenticeships can be lost forever. Some professional people and workers in retail, health and hospitality can access their work by public transport but frequently a trade worker must be able to drive, not just to access their workplaces but to undertake their work. Mechanics who cannot test drive a car, or plumbers and carpenters who cannot carry their tools to work, are just some of a myriad of jobs that require a licence. We may, of course, add any employment where a driving licence is an employment condition.
Workers who lose their licences and their jobs lose the capacity to pay fines. Defaulting on penalties can lead to imprisonment. The loss of income also means that any loans un-serviced can result in foreclosure and the probable repossession of the goods, usually their car. This inevitably leads to the downgrading or loss of any form of credit rating. The multiplication effect of penalties does not take into account that the offender still has to live and the penalty is further magnified if the driver is on the lower end of the socio-economic scale. Insolvency and bankruptcy are sometimes inevitable.
In summary, penalties for low range traffic offences and first offenders are destroying lives.
It is incongruous that penalties regularly reported in the media for crimes of violence, drug and property offences (and even some high-range driving offences) seem to be proportionally and sometimes lighter than those imposed on drivers who are first-time offenders for low-range offences.
Poorly applied sentencing penalties will not lead to a reduction in offending, but an escalation as perpetrators convert to victims of the system. They can feel trapped and can see only the option of repeat offending, or resorting to habitual welfare, joining the unemployable.
A feeling of hopelessness and being trapped in the” Unintentional Cycle” pushes many to criminal activity and or drug abuse as an escape or an ill-advised path to a solution. The untold mental damage and perhaps self-destruction is bad enough for the individual but the impact on the community is underrated.
Low-level traffic offenders can go from net contributors to a net liability for the community through welfare.
Drivers need to be accountable for their non-compliance, but we need to review the removal of drivers’ licences to allow the courts to use diversions, conditional Suspensions and Disqualifications.
It seems odd that diversion is the preferred option for the courts in criminal matters, but they do not apply the same standards to traffic matters. The rationale should be identical.
To remove a licence conditionally by limiting hours of driving so that the defendant can continue to work, would seem to be a fairer outcome and the impact on their social life not unreasonable – though even that may be excessive for a first offender.
Why should we not offer Good Behaviour Bonds in traffic cases as is done in some other State jurisdictions?
Under the current system, we still have many recidivist traffic offenders. The current regime does not promote compliance to any higher degree than the alternative approach we recommend.
How many of the current crop of recidivist drivers lost their licence for their first offence and ended up in the “Unintentional Cycle”?
We call on the Government to bring about necessary changes to legislation to provide greater flexibility in sentencing for traffic offences in Victoria, making them at least comparative to the criminal sentencing practices.
Ivan W.Ray Hon. Secretary Community Advocacy Alliance.
by CAA | Dec 23, 2018 | Library, Uncategorized
23rd December 2018
The question of confidence in our Police Force, which is paramount and for this to grow the community needs to be satisfied their views are being heard and responded to.
The CAA has long advocated that empirical research into these issues needs to be available and released as part of the crime statistics to get a meaningful picture of the policing effectiveness.
Telling people there is less crime is not going to convince too many, experiencing the effects of crime in our community.
.For the vast majority of crimes reported the actual impact on people (victims) is a figure somewhere in the multiple of 10. Therefore, the victim rate for Victoria must realistically be somewhere near five million per annum.
With a state population of a bit over six million there are relatively speaking not to many Victorians not touched by or are victims of crime. The odds of you not being affected and becoming a Victim over a five-year period are remarkably slim.
The “will not happen to me,” Syndrome, is an antithesis in our society.
Quoting a reduction in the number of victims that these statistics indicate shows how poor the understanding is within VicPol of the impact on crime in the community
It would also help if Police Command actually spoke to some victims to get an understanding of the impact of crime, something they clearly do not have.
The CAA are absolutely astounded at the insensitivity and ignorance displayed by the Victoria Police executive to all victims.
Perhaps they meant to say complainants.
An apology would be magnanimous
by CAA | Dec 15, 2018 | Library, Uncategorized
15th December 2018
In recent years Victoria has witnessed the appointment of Chief Commissioners of Police that has resulted in the increased politicisation of what must be a truly independent position. Chief Commissioners need to have complete operational authority over the Force if they are to police without fear or favour, malice or ill will, for the benefit of all Victorians.
The Community Advocacy Alliance Inc. (CAA) urges that politics be removed from the appointment process by the only practical means – a Joint Parliamentary Committee. A small committee made up of both major parties and at least one Independent should be able to make appointments on pure merit. Political considerations must be put aside.
If evidence for such a change is required one only has to consider the current formation of a Royal Commission to enquire into actions of the Victoria Police. The persistent and consistent, well documented, failure to investigate serious and legitimate complaints against senior members of Force Command and others also provides evidence of the need for effective appointments.
This essential independence should not be confused with accountability as the Chief Commissioner is accountable to the Government and must report on an annual basis the performance of Vitoria Police for which he or she is personally accountable.
While at absolute arm’s length from Operational matters the Government should be able to set the general philosophical direction of policing in this state. In consultation with the Chief Commissioner bench marks should be established by which performance can be measured.
The CAA urges that the Victoria Police be returned to the strong and independent Force it once was.
by CAA | Dec 13, 2018 | Library, Uncategorized
13th December 2018
CAA has long advocated for a detailed inquiry into the Victoria Police. We have pointed out major deficiencies of leadership, policies, governance and ethics. Current disclosures have merely confirmed our stance.
The terms of reference of the Royal Commission into the affair involving police informer 3838 are out but they do not go beyond that affair.
However useful that may be it would not be sufficient to address the malaise we detect in the organisation.
A number of the higher echelon have departed, under pressure, and we are hearing of more imminent departures. The 3838 informer scandal has further disclosed a culture identified by the CAA . The government of Victoria has consistently ignored our advice.
A complaint made to the Chief Commissioner of Police misconduct MUST, by law, (The Victoria Police Act s.167) be investigated – by him, or at his direction. That is to say, the truth must diligently be sought as to the truth or falsity of that complaint. Misconduct is defined under the Act as including: “conduct which is likely to bring Victoria Police into disrepute or diminish public confidence in it.”
Yet earlier this year, a complaint of dishonesty against one of those higher echelon (imminently to depart?) was casually set aside by one of the Chief Commissioner’s right hand men, on the purported claim that information could not be released.
No information had been asked for; an investigation was asked for as is mandated, but refused.
The CAA has also lodged two formal complaints with the Chief Commissioner in relation to allegations concerning the behaviour of three Assistant Commissioners. The first complaint was diverted, as somebody getting excited on a key board and second was dismissed as having no basis in fact. Two of those Commissioners have now taken early retirement.
The Chief Commissioner’s principal adviser appears to have been implicated in the plot to protect a very senior officer, now implicated in the 3838 informer scandal.
Assistant Commissioner Luke Cornelius is on the public record as setting out the correct position – he properly asserted that every complaint against police should be he thoroughly investigated with integrity. He was a chief of the relevant internal investigations group, so he could hardly say anything else.
The problem is that Vicpol Command does not comply with legislated requirements and up until this time has done so with impunity or put into practice the very policies it publishes. That is, unlawful, dishonest; that is hypocritical; that is corrupt; that is symptomatic of conduct the High Court disapproved of in the 3838 affair.
The malaise is deep-rooted; the issue of how particular complaints were mishandled by Mr. Ashton’s office is fully documented, but it was a “red flag” indicating great dangers ahead that are now manifesting.
Time for the CAA to be heeded – a wider inquiry into Vicpol is well overdue.
by CAA | Dec 12, 2018 | Library, Uncategorized
12th December 2018
Rule 32.1 of the Uniform Solicitors Rules reads as follows: 32.1 A solicitor must not make an allegation against another Australian legal practitioner of unsatisfactory professional conduct or professional misconduct unless the allegation is made bona fide and the solicitor believes on reasonable grounds that available material by which the allegation could be supported provides a proper basis for a complaint.
Contrast the conditions placed on lawyers before they can complain about another lawyer with the conditions placed on police.
A lawyer effectively has to make sufficient inquiries in order to satisfy the “reasonable grounds” and “available material/proper basis” conditions.
Case in point: a lawyer hears rumours that 3838 is acting as a police informant. How does that lawyer satisfy themselves on reasonable grounds before making a complaint? It is an almost impossible ask, given the nature of the circumstances. Where does the lawyer get the material to form a proper basis?
Now imagine that a police officer heard the same rumours and said nothing. Several years later there is a Royal Commission and his or her inaction is exposed. Who suffers? The lawyer cites rule 32.1 and says “Sorry, I didn’t have reasonable grounds and had no access to material.” Where does the police officer hide? Nowhere!
Lawyers are officers of the court for life or until struck off the roll. Yet they do not carry the same positive obligations to expose professional misconduct of their peers as a junior constable. Should that remain the case?
It is suspected that 3838’s behaviour was not the well-kept secret the police gang of 15 thought. Yet no lawyer (besides 3838) will get a kick in the rump, because of rule 32.1. Will the junior police involved be so benevolently treated?
Why should lawyers be held to a lower standard than police?
by CAA | Dec 12, 2018 | Library, Uncategorized
12th December 2018
Once again CAA acknowledges with gratitude efforts of the Herald Sun newspaper, and in particular of Justin smith, (21/12/2018, p. 57) in pointing out the obvious, and ongoing, folly of our judicial officers’ sentencing practices.
Although we do not agree that the sentence meted out to a very, very negligent bus driver (who injured his passengers by crashing into a low bridge) was too severe, we fully concur that normally the sentences given to repeat, and dangerous, offenders are ludicrously lenient.
That is why, to some, the bus driver’s sentence seemed harsh. That this previously blameless man was treated as other, worse, offenders are not!
CAA has noted that some judges have recently felt it necessary to acknowledge the public’s strong disagreement with Victoria’s sentencing practices – that is, to acknowledge, and even to attempt to justify their practices – but remarkably to apparently take no further notice of public disquiet.
Perhaps they will take notice of Justin smith. They have clearly taken no notice of Parliament’s expanding use of mandatory sentencing rules, or the urgings of members of that Parliament, and certainly no notice of the statutory maximum penalties available to them; serious repeat offenders who have committed extremely dangerous crimes are repeatedly let off with a very strong talking-to but very weak actual sentence.
No wonder we have repeat offenders. There are clearly too few disadvantages in their chosen courses of conduct. They have learned.
Will our courts now listen, and learn?
by CAA | Dec 10, 2018 | Library, Uncategorized
10th of December 2018
We had an International Anti-Corruption Day on 9 December. Did you know that? To mark the occasion Victoria’s IBAC was a joint signatory to one of the most hypocritical, not to mention downright dishonest, and self-serving documents produced at public expense. It says this, among other things:
“It is a matter for each public sector leader to determine how they will respond to corruption. Will they exercise the leadership that is required and demonstrate an unshakable willingness and determination to address cultural problems that enable and support corruption? Or will they take another path and perhaps delude themselves in thinking there is no corruption in their organisation? Will they try to ‘hush up’ allegations of corruption, or will they build strong ‘speak up’ cultures? Will they deal with corruption and integrity issues quietly, internally, behind closed doors, instead of openly and honestly? Will they dismiss issues as ‘just a few bad apples’ rather than looking for systemic problems? Will they be more concerned about protecting their own or their agency’s reputation rather than exposing corruption and taking the actions required to build corruption resistant organisations?”
This comes from the organisation that deliberately chose to condone a systematic and long-lived cover-up of corrupt police who framed a citizen (and to lie about their purported reasons). This comes from the organisation that deliberately chose to turn a blind eye to the infamous Red Shirts Rort involving a clear conspiracy to steal money from the taxpayers by the very public sector leaders now being addressed.
We do not dispute the sentiments of the document from which this extract has been taken. We do not doubt that several of the co-signatories (Australia’s anti-corruption bodies) are decent, honest and honourable people, but we do say that in at least the case of Victoria the actions lag far behind the rhetoric.
Perhaps this is because so many of IBAC’s staff came from the dishonoured Office of Police Integrity, but there should have been ample time for that handicap to have been overcome – ample time for “a few bad apples” to be identified and discarded.
There is that word again – “integrity”. CAA has called for that trait to be the hallmark of our public institutions. We have advocated for public agencies to adopt this standard in all their activities and be tested against a bench mark.
To illustrate the point clearly, we assert that there has been little apparent and transparent integrity in the leadership of police responses to the Red Shirts Rort; there were clear attempts to ignore this obvious crime; there has been clear differential treatment applied to different classes of possible offenders; and there is apparent delay – dragging the chain – in finalising what should have been a fairly simple fraud investigation.
Did they think it would all go away after the election? Were our officials “more concerned about protecting their own…reputation rather than involved in addressing seeming “cultural problems that enable and support corruption”- it is all down to Integrity.
by CAA | Dec 10, 2018 | Library, Uncategorized
10th December 2018
Motor cars fitted with engine immobiliser has by and large become the norm for late model cars in Victoria.
Whether this has led to a reduction in car thefts is a moot point but what we know what it has done. It has increased the frequency of home invasions by perpetrators accessing the car keys.
And now police are calling for the public to hide the keys and not leave then easily visible near door or windows.
The unintended consequences may make this advice counterproductive.
Now the crooks will have to wake up the victims to locate the keys, good one VicPol.
There are a number of commercial tracking devices that owners can fit to their vehicle that can be tracked by their mobile phone to alert Police.
Another top idea, which will lead to an increase in phone theft along with the keys.
The Victoria Police is encouraging an increase of risk to the community not lowering it.
Overseas fingerprint recognition technology was installed in some high end vehicles to protect them. The problem was the thieves used the owners fingers to open and activate the cars. Whether the fingers were still attached to the victim was problematic – the initiative was soon phased out.
The CAA has for a long time proposed a system that will deal with all of these concerns and add substantially to community safety not detract from it.
The G-Tag is waiting; it only needs a genuine commitment from Government and Police to achieve the reality of a safer community not a more dangerous one.
by CAA | Dec 9, 2018 | Library, Uncategorized
9th December 2018
The sanctity of a human Life versus the sanctity of the Criminal Justice system, who wins?
When is it appropriate in our civilised society when the State knowingly sanctions actions, which could jeopardise a life?
For the first time we are torn between civilised values which form the foundation of our society and respect for the law (State).
These two values clash dramatically in the recent decisions handed down by the High Court of Australia in the Lawyer X Case.
The Judgement turned up some interesting findings that have left us very conflicted and we all should be concerned.
We believe in the sanctity of life but the courts have ruled that the integrity of the Justice system supersedes the anonymity of Lawyer X.
“The public interest in preserving EF’s anonymity must be subordinated to the integrity of the criminal justice system. “
The Court acknowledged and clearly understood the grave risk to this informer.
“To say so is not to overlook that, on the evidence before the courts below and now before this Court, EF and her children will be at grave risk of harm unless EF agrees to enter into the witness protection program. Nor is it to ignore that, thus far, EF has declined to do so, taking the view that Victoria Police cannot be trusted to maintain confidentiality and apparently that she would prefer to wear the risk than subject herself and her children to the limitations and burdens that witness protection would surely entail.”
We do not accept what Lawyer X or her Police managers did and agree totally with the High Court that;
“It is further not without significance that Victoria Police may bear a large measure of responsibility for putting EF in the position in which she now finds herself by encouraging her to inform against her clients as she did. “
The lines were clearly crossed and the role of a Royal Commission is to identify who did what and when.
Where there is a problem, no matter what Lawyer X did, her/a life is more important than the Criminal Justice system by any reasonable measure. That is why we have a Criminal Justice System supposedly designed to separate us from lawlessness.
At this point in time we are unaware of Lawyer X being charged with a criminal offence. In that context the High Court’s Judgement defies the tenet of our Justice System, ‘Innocent until proven guilty’, albeit that there is a possibility of charges at some stage.
At this time, this treatment is imposed on an innocent woman.
This decision will have a far-reaching negative impact on Policing in Australia both at a State and Federal level. Police informers can no longer expect absolute anonymity and now any court can find that the public interest in preserving an informant’s anonymity must be subordinated to the integrity of the criminal justice system. How that will now be interpreted by the subordinate courts will be interesting.
There is also the impact on National Security and the anonymity of informers in terrorism or other threats to our national interest.
Lawyer X provided a completely rational and reasonable excuse for not entering the witness Protection Program in Victoria. The experience of this informer would lead any reasonable person to conclude confidentiality within Victoria Police, essential for the program, has defects.
We are absolutely floored by the next part of the findings (remember these are not suggestions but findings at law).
“If she chooses to expose her children to similar risks, the State is empowered to take action to protect them from harm.”
That is saying that her Children can be taken from her by the State if she does not enter the Victorian Witness Protection Program – courts engaging in behaviours that would absolutely stun the average citizen.
Do what we say or you lose your children?
This ungodly mess surrounding Lawyer X was perpetrated by people who no doubt will be ultimately held to account. To sort all this out and avoid the criminals for whom this scheme was designed to control, benefitting from the misdeeds of others, will need a creative solution.
If the High Court is signalling that recruiting lawyers as informants is no longer on, then the Court may well need to say so in more definitive terms. Otherwise, police are likely to simply look for new ways around the current situation. Perhaps it is time for the Parliament to legislate in order to clarify matters.
As it stands, the law has become no clearer, the people Victoria have become no safer and they are now likely to be asked to foot the bill for what is likely to be a rush by serious criminals to exploit this unfortunate situation.
The consequences of this matter could well be horrific and impact on the safety of Victorians swept up in a new maelstrom of violence and a reticence for people to provide essential information to the Police will cause lawlessness to flourish.
All caused by the Criminal Justice system who are supposed to protect us not their values.
This matter must now be settled by the political class, the only authority with the capacity to resolve this issue with Legislation.
The confidence in the Justice System is of paramount importance but does it supersede a life?
WE THINK NOT……
by CAA | Dec 8, 2018 | Library, Uncategorized
8th December 2018
The Lawyer X exposé has brought into sharp relief the question of privilege and how it applies in our society.
The common use of privilege that we are most familiar with applies in our interactions with Lawyers, Priests, Police, Politicians, Journalists, and Doctors. Privilege is an important right that serves the society well, in general terms, and we would be a lot poorer without it, but where there is a problem where privilege and ethics collide.
At what stage do the rights of society transcend the rights of privilege, is that never?
In each of these examples you judge whether the Ethics out way the privilege.
A priest hears a confession that a suspected paedophile is excited at the prospect of a young nephew coming to stay with him. Should the priest inform the authorities?
A doctor hears from a patient that they are sick of life and want to end it. Should the Doctor alert Authorities and the family to allow intervention?
A Journalist has knowledge of an horrendous crime but claims privilege over identifying the source. Who’s’ rights have precedent, the community, the Journalist or the perpetrators.
Police are given information from an informer in relation to crimes being committed by very dangerous criminals. Is the protection of the identity of the informer more important than the integrity of justice?
In the later example the High court of Australia has recently ruled that the preserving aspects of the anonymity of a Police informer is subordinate to the integrity of the justice system. Does that ruling now effect all privilege?
It would seem on the surface that privilege is sacrosanct, well almost, depending on who you are or how loud your voice is.
A lot of the privilege exercised is not legislated per sea but is common practise within the profession and usually covered by the rules of that profession. Breaking those rules of themselves is not usually a criminal offence but if for example in breaking those rules the consequence perverts the course of justice, then there is criminality.
Additionally if maintaining those rules leads to criminal activity the question of Conspiracy by the Professional can come into the equation. Although to our knowledge never tested at Law the possibility is arguable.
The clash between privilege and ethics is a big one and must be addressed for the benefit of practitioners and the broader community. We have long passed the ability rely on sometimes obscure professional arrangements to deal with this matter.
Rather than Legislate, which would be a minefield of competing values, there is a need to establish an Ethics Authority to deal with any grey areas encountered by the professions. Staffed by graduates of the School of Life rather than stacked with those who may have graduated with only academic theories of life never experienced, will ensure the community values are balanced.
by CAA | Nov 28, 2018 | Library, Uncategorized
28th November 2018
The State elections are over and some folk are tempted to rule a line and say the Labor government has a mandate to move ahead – even to the extent of “ignoring” the past. But there remains the unfinished business of the infamous Red Shirts Rort.
Since that disgraceful episode burst upon the public consciousness there has been a decided stench of corruption and cover up surrounding it.
- The celebrated IBAC refused to properly investigate – to its undying shame.
- The Ombudsman did a good, but very limited job in the face of powerful government opposition.
- And even after the Ombudsman’s report was released the Victoria Police refused to do its obvious duty until forced to take some action by public opinion.
- Even then the police did not treat all suspects equally, but showed clear favouritism towards members of the Parliament who were said to be involved – and the Chief Commissioner could not explain this when asked.
- The delay in completing what seems to be a fairly simple fraudulent misappropriation (theft) of taxpayers’ money and falsification of public accounting records is inexplicable.
The elections are over but the stench lingers on. There was always a possibility that if the conservatives had won the election any subsequent action against the suspected politicians in the Rort affair, would be painted as some sort of pay-back. That is no longer possible – the conservatives did not win.
To remove the stench there needs to be firm and deliberate, and open action to bring the matter to a conclusion and show Victorians that the law has been applied.
That is what an investigation means – discovering the truth in accordance with legal specifications, in the interests of justice.
CAA again calls upon Mr. Ashton and our public authorities to demonstrate that the Red Shirt Rort affair has been thoroughly investigated with complete integrity.
by CAA | Nov 22, 2018 | Library, Uncategorized
11th November 2018
The issue of the “Red Shirts” has rapidly descended into a farce. It is no longer just an artifice.
That the investigators have allegedly not been given access to phone records and the Ombudsman’s files is shameful. The allegation that police investigators were given special instructions to not follow protocols with the politician suspects is outrageous.
That the principal architect identified by the Ombudsman has not been arrested, interviewed, and charged with the alleged offences is beyond comprehension.
This investigation process would seem to be creating more criminal offences as it progresses. If what is reported is accurate then the score card for ‘Perverting the Course of Justice ‘, Conspiracy with others to Pervert the Course of Justice’ and Misconduct in Public Office’ are raking up possible perpetrators on a daily basis, mostly within VicPol and possibly OPP.
The Public must now be beyond outrage.
The hot potato approach of referring the matter to IBAC is interesting given they have already declined to investigate the matter in June and can only be interpreted as a deliberate delaying tactic.
In all my experience I have never seen what should be a relatively straight forward investigation turned into such a dogs breakfast. Not in my view, by the investigators.
Vicpol’s action will inevitably lead to an inquiry where the truth can be established and no doubt careers ended.
For VicPol this is an ‘own goal’.
Kel Glare.
