SLUG-GATE EXOCET’S BLOW UP INQUIRY

by CAA | Aug 28, 2021 | Library, Uncategorized

28th August 2021

Only three witnesses were called at the Legislative Council Parliamentary Inquiry into the ICooks Slug-gate affair hearings on the 25th of August. Still, the quality and nature of their evidence was monumental and has a far-reaching impact beyond just the Inquiry.

The evidence and allegations made by these witness’s strike at the heart of our Parliamentary system and, in particular, the parliamentary inquiry process as a corollary to the ICooks matter.

The three witnesses who each came across as very credible outlined alleged lies told to the Inquiry by previous witnesses, and there were many of them. This was done clinically and dispassionately, and the only nexus between the three witnesses was the investigation of allegations against ICooks Foods, so they were genuinely independent.

They were, however, joined by the pain and loss caused as victims of this debacle. Two professional Environmental Health Officers were forced out of their employment, and of course, the damage wrought on Ian Cook, his company and employees were immense.

Overlaying these allegations rendering much of the evidence already presented to the Inquiry, at best questionable, is the attack on the parliamentary system by witnesses who are alleged to have blatantly lied to the Inquiry.

Without diminishing the impact of the whole affair on the victims, the way this Inquiry proceeds from here will critically impact our Parliamentary system.

We have good reason to believe that the evidence of these witnesses is sound, and evidence exists to support the allegations, so it will be tough for any recalled witness to deny the allegation without risk of exposing themselves to further jeopardy, contempt of Parliament and or the crime of Misconduct in Public Office.

Rights and Responsibilities of witnesses

In general, a witness must answer all questions put as fully and frankly as before a court, inquest, royal commission or board of Inquiry. Any person giving false evidence may be found guilty of contempt.

The committee Chair now has an unenviable task of dealing with the allegations because if they are not dealt with properly, lying to Parliamentary Inquiries will become endemic.

More significantly, the one person who is at the most significant risk of terminal political damage is the Chair.

As an independent, she is likely to suffer the electorate’s wrath if they are not satisfied that a proper and effective inquiry was conducted; the electorate will see her through the same prism as Justice Jennifer Coate, who conducted the Covid 19 – Hotel Quarantine Inquiry. Not a healthy proposition for Politician.

There is an obligation on all Upper House Members sitting at this Inquiry to support the Chair in what we would argue is a bi-partisan obligation to address the alleged lying as distinct from the issues.

This attack on the Parliament’s ability to hold meaningful and legitimate inquiries without manipulation by witnesses who allegedly lie is fundamental to our democracy.

Those named have every right to seek to be recalled and defend their original evidence; however, that comes at significant risk to those who did lie.

The investigation into the ICooks matter is comprehensive. As far as we are aware, the alleged lies referred to throughout this evidence are well supported by compelling evidence and can be proven. We doubt any of the witnesses who have been alleged to have lied will risk returning to the Inquiry as that may only deepen their demise.

If the allegations of lies are not adequately rebutted, the Chair supported by her committee must refer the witnesses to the Privileges Committee of Parliament to be investigated for contempt of Parliament and the Victoria Police for breaches of the Crimes Act.

After the allegations are investigated, Employees of the State may have committed a prima facia offence of Misconduct in Public office.

Lying to the Parliament has to be on the upper end of the scale for this offence.

ICOOKS CHRONOLOGY CONTINUED…

by CAA | Aug 24, 2021 | Library, Uncategorized

24th August 2021

On the eve of the Parliamentary inquiry resuming to further examine the ICooks, Slug- gate matter on the 25th of August 2021, it is worth understanding some of the background, which hopefully will make the evidence given at this inquiry easier to understand.

This is an intriguing and interesting story, but it started in 2007 when as yet unnamed people convinced the then Federal Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development to provide $9 million to build a kitchen facility.

This was accompanied by a $6 million grant from the Victorian Government Health Ministry and the then Health Minister.

To top that off, the Minister provided $.5 million as cash start-up capital and interest-free loans topped up seven times over seven years to a touch under $4 million.

Local Government, who ultimately numbered sixteen councils, owners of the entity Community Chef, chipped another $2.25 Million to help get this project off the ground, followed by near regular top-ups totalling just over $4 million.

It cost Tax and Ratepayers $17.75 million to open the doors and a further $14.5 million to keep them open made up of government and Semi-Government top-up grants and an end debt of $6 million with an unknown cost of taxation and other costs excused. This little jaunt cost somewhere north of $30 million, and nobody saw it happening???

The add on costs of putting workers on the unemployment queue and charging the local Government owners more than market rates for their services is probably a number not worth exposing; it would be so scary.

You have to wonder and question the ability of Auditors, Community Chef Management, the Board and the various Government and Semi-Government players and elected councillors that run into the many hundreds, yet nobody could see or chose not to see this whole business was a charade and a failure run on a smoke and mirrors management style.

In a commercial sense, this arrangement, one would say, was for some, manna from heaven, but it gets worse.

The owners of the business, the Councils, are also the regulators of the competitors in the market segment this new business was designed to enter, what a cosy arrangement.

What was the objective of this venture when there were no identifiable deficiencies in this market segment preparing meals for Hospitals, nursing homes and meals on wheels before the entry of Community Chef?

The CAA has been told Community Chef was to primarily provide additional employment during the GFC in the Western Suburbs of Melbourne.

This is a particularly curious rationale as the establishment of Community Chef with unparalleled advantages over all the other competitors and particularly when the owners are also the regulators of the industry. The opportunity for improper practices to become rife, and the ability to destroy competition moves into the realms of criminality

As Community Chef evolved and hired more people, more were put out of work as smaller competitors closed. The net effect would seem to be negative, adding to the overall unemployment numbers not decreasing them.

Community Chef also charged higher rates than the independent business in the competitive market and had quality control issues, driving some of their customers back to the independents.

Fast forward to today, and Community Chef no longer exists; it was sold for $1 to the Government along with its accumulated $6 million debt.

The graphic included, supplied by Community Chef to the previous Parliamentary Inquiry, makes for an intriguing read and gives a breakdown of the support they received.

Wasting more than $30 million raises some interesting questions,

• When a business has a guaranteed market share, charges over the odds for its services with exclusive access to its market, how does it lose that amount of money without the sceptre of criminality not being a serious consideration? Incompetence alone could not be that bad.
• Given that sixteen councils owned the business, and we can presume the expenditure of $4 million and operations of their entity was put to the elected councillors, how was the issue, an apparent serious conflict of interest, not addressed?
• How could this Council owned enterprise continue to operate when sixteen councils would have been exposed to this debacle and did not raise any concerns about the efficacy of this operation or withdraw from it?
• How did the Board of Community Chef not know the perilous nature of their business and take action?
• Where was the Auditor General who allowed this edifice and wanton waste of taxpayer’s money being swallowed by this entity to continue?
• Given this happened over an extended number of reporting periods (years), how was this company permitted to continue when it would appear to be insolvent, or did accounting chicanery protect it?
• When ample opportunity existed for the various Health Ministers to be aware of this matter, what action did they undertake to ensure that proper use was being made of such large grants that must have required ministerial approval?
• Where were the bureaucrats who were responsible?
• Who is responsible, the Government or the Councillors of the Municipalities (owners) that supported this venture?
• It could well be that there is a money trail that must be followed.

Many other questions need to be answered in this debacle that will take no less than a Royal Commission to get to the bottom and hold those responsible to account.

This is just one aspect of this matter, the other being the criminality involved in the treatment of ICook Foods as every effort was made to close them down.

We conjecture that the motivation for the crimes perpetrated on ICooks was driven by a desire to get hold of the patented texture modified technology, which had already attracted the interest and offers of millions.

If the Community Chef had succeeded the relief from crippling financial woes based on their track record would only be temporary.

Whoever was benefiting personally from Community Chef, a gift that just keeps on giving must all be identified and held to account.

This Parliamentary Inquiry must be the precursor to a Royal Commission; this enterprise’s depth, breadth, and audacity deserves nothing less

.

SLUG-GATE – THE CHRONOLOGY PART 1

by CAA | Aug 9, 2021 | Library, Uncategorized

9th August 2021

A David and Goliath story without equal.

What is the real reason for the prolonged and coordinated attack on ICook Foods, a family-owned business producing food for Hospitals, Meals on Wheels, and many Nursing Homes?

This treatment of ICook Foods, the victim, exceeds any reasonable food safety management is concerned as the bureaucrats at State and Local levels are charged with administering, this is far more sinister?

The CAA has pondered this matter since becoming involved in supporting Ian Cook and the shocking treatment he has received at the hands of this State’s Health Bureaucracies, and we are very confident the plot has been exposed.

To understand what has happened, the chronology of the events paints a picture in our view of unconscionable behaviours and alleged criminal activity on a monumental scale.

The patented process developed by ICooks is the big prize, and why should you even bother trying to replicate the technology if you can steal it from the inventor as some are clearly intent on doing.

As was first thought, this is not some commercial jostling over a market share.

The competitor, Community Chef, the Government-backed entity, has just changed the commercial rules in collaboration with the Government. The Health Department and the sixteen Council owners; simply do not put contracts up for public tender; they just allocate them to their own business. Competitive tendering is abolished, and Community Chef gets the vast majority of the available work destroying all the competition. ICooks was just one of a number of businesses to be dramatically affected by this strategy putting many out of work across a number of companies. Well in excess of those workers employed at Community Chef as part of the GFC employment strategy.

If the strategy was based just on unfair competition, Community Chef backers achieved their objective very early in the chronology, but they kept going, and the technology developed by ICooks was the apparent target and so crucial that criminality was an acceptable part of their strategy.

This is not the actions of one or two rogue operators but a planned and sustained attack, a conspiracy of a magnitude perhaps never before seen or exposed in this State. These crimes would appear to have been hatched well before the activities of the Health Bureaucrats, both State and Local, started their assault in 2018.

ICooks were putting the finishing touches on a number of very lucrative international contracts with UAE, Singapore, and many other countries keen to access this unique technology when the backers of Community Chef started their move.

The contracts under consideration were worth many millions of dollars which explains why the technology is so coveted.

Interest from an Aboriginal Co-0pertieve keen to provide this food processing technology to local community facilities in South Australia made a sizeable commercial offer for a part share in the business so that the process could be spread across many aboriginal co-operatives providing work and servicing community needs to ensure nutritional meals were supplied to local communities. Negotiations were advanced to the stage that a firm offer by the co-op was on the table and under active consideration by ICooks.

While ICooks were considering the offer from the co-op, plans were afoot by others to steal their technology. ICooks had no idea of what was to follow; they were unwitting commercial lambs being led to bureaucratic slaughter.

The Chronology.

13^th Dec 2018    ICooks Passes a rigorous inspection by Health Officials -no problems raised.

1^st Feb 2019      A greater Dandenong Council Health Inspector spends several hours sample testing at the facility – no problems raised.

4^th Feb 2019      An elderly patient dies at Knox Private Hospital of suspected Listeria. ICooks food was blamed for the listeria poisoning.  She had other comorbidities that caused her death.

18^th Feb 2019   Health Inspectors arrive en masse at ICooks for a thorough inspection. – No problems immediately apparent.

21^st Feb 2019   An independent Health Inspector tasked by DHHS finds that the elderly patient with suspected listeria did not eat any ICook food. Only food from the Knox Hospital Kitchen was not shut down by a health order. The officer reported it verbally to DHHS on the 21^st (Before the ICooks order was signed) and followed up with an email on the 22nd.

21^st Feb 2019   At 12.10 pm, ICooks receive notification of the impending shutdown order signed by the Chief Health Officer at about 11 pm that night, with the Official Order served at 4 am on the 22^nd Feb.

From this point, all the contracts worth many millions of dollars start to evaporate. Who stood to benefit from this? Who was waiting for ICooks to be liquidated to pick up the IT from Liquidators for chump change? We have no doubt there was a corporate structure in place waiting in the wings while bureaucrats did their thing to destroy ICooks, forcing them into liquidation.

28^th Mar 2019    ICooks ban lifted. It took 36 days for the error to be rectified when the DHHS knew before it was signed, to be erroneous—clearly designed to further pressure ICooks into failure.

29^th Mar 2019    The State Chief Health Officer nominated ICook Foods on John Faine’s Radio show while DHHS knew that ICooks Foods were innocent since February, a month earlier.

23^rd May 2019    Ninety-Six charges for beaches under the Health Act are served on ICook Foods and Ian Cook personally with fines ranging into the millions of dollars, including potential jail time for Ian. –

3^rd Oct 2019       All charges are withdrawn after five months. The Government legal team were anxious to negotiate a confidentiality settlement clause with Ian Cook; wonder why? We suspect these charges were only laid to achieve the outcome of silencing Ian Cook; it didn’t work. This action itself reeks of the criminal or civil Tort of Malicious Prosecution, a very serious offence.

All this precedes Slug-Gate.

What is very obvious by this stage is that there are many players in this artifice of criminal behaviour. From the get-go, serious crimes are being perpetrated, and that is before the farce surrounding Slug-Gate.

You would think that having been beaten at every turn, the agency management whoever they are, running this syndicated criminal activity would withdraw and lick their wounds waiting for the Civil repercussion, but you would be wrong; because then came Slug-Gate.

This indicates the desperation to satisfy the greed of the faceless people leading this endeavour. This also highlights the absolute power the agency management must exercise to place even more officials in the firing line to commit criminal acts to achieve their goals.

Unfortunately for all perpetrators, a dedicated team of people incensed by this outrageous assault on ICooks working Pro Bono on a nearly full-time basis put the information together to expose the culprits.

Leading this work are two Police Veterans, retired detectives, that have investigated this matter for nearly two years, meticulously compiling a trove of data that will be provided to Police to assist that investigation lightening the Police load.

As the Police investigation proceeds, the depth and breadth of the crimes committed in this saga will become apparent. Some players will realise their bureaucratic status will not protect them from the criminality that they have been led into.

It is now clear that many people will potentially be charged with serious crimes that could attract substantial jail time.

As the realisation hits, they are not protected; there will be a conga-line to the front door of Police Headquarters with individuals seeking indemnity from prosecution trading the knowledge they possess.

The perpetrators may have done the wrong thing, but now their focus will be on survival or lose everything through the civil and criminal procedures they must inevitably face.

As with all these investigations, it will undoubtedly work on the principle of two idioms for those involved, first in best dressed and he who hesitates is lost.

And the story of the Slug is yet to come.

ICOOK FOODS-SLUG GATE

by CAA | Aug 1, 2021 | Library, Uncategorized

1st of August 2021

Recently the CAA was contacted by a Police Veteran to consider looking at the issues surrounding the ICooks Slug Gate Affair that has received so much publicity.

It turns out the Slug Gate saga, as we know it, is only the tip of the iceberg of what is or was at play.

We have all been exposed to conspiracy theorists, and at first flush, this might be levelled at Ian Cook, owner of ICook Foods. After over two hours, including a factory tour, this event and the consequences to small business and our democracy was laid bare. Ian and his team have undertaken a meticulous investigation compiling a high-quality brief.

We formed the view that if the behaviour of our government bureaucrats, at State and Local levels as was directed at ICook and Ian, is how our government bureaucracies operate, then we are in deep trouble in this State, as the behaviour of these officials makes ‘Yes Minister’ look like a poor parity.

The level of apparent corruption involved, even shading the Gobbo affair, with tentacles stretching through many layers of officialdom and the apparent squandering of many tens of millions of taxpayer dollars fostering a failed rival business to ICooks and other businesses operating in this catering space is hard to comprehend.

It is tough to determine whether this behaviour is spawned by a belief of invincibility and protected privilege or just asinine, probably elements of both. But what is irrefutable is that there appears to be a cynical disdain for our laws on a monumental scale presumably, because the perpetrators, as with most crooks, believed they would get away with it.

Most of the suspects in this artifice have impressive titles and equally impressive salaries.

We concluded that the perpetrators must have known the illegality of their actions but continued regardless.

There are also indicators that those parts of officialdom charged with and responsible for monitoring government governance would seem to have either not grasped the magnitude of the problem, been deliberately misled or incompetent. Probably take your pick.

A pertinent question is how a failing company that has never made a  profit in its ten-year life can be sold to the government for $1 with its debts when the company has many lucrative Government contracts obtained without tender stretching forward for many years.

A company with sizable debts is not abnormal; however, the failure of its Board and management that operated a business without ever turning a profit over the company’s lifetime makes one wonder what the Board were doing and remarkably why they didn’t offer the business to the market.

The company was established with Government grants (No accrued start-up cost liabilities). With ongoing Government financial support and allegedly granted contracts without competitive tender for excessive periods, this would normally guarantee success, all bet it anti-competitive.

Competent management could have turned this company around very quickly, making the $1 sale without offering the business to the market outrageous.

The following two links provide you with a clearer picture of the facts surrounding this case and are undoubtedly worth a view.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rdk1K51QvAY

https://www.facebook.com/discernable/videos/843902266233060

The CAA Directors have decided the CAA will endeavour to assist Ian Cook in any way we can to help him right an appalling injustice and advocate for all of the many perpetrators to be brought to justice.

When we take a cursory look at this case, it is obvious there are a large number of possible perpetrators and their conspirators that may have committed a wide range of very serious crimes.

The alleged perpetrators come from a range of entities and at all levels within those organisations. They were either directed to, or on their own initiative, took actions or non-action that rendered their behaviours criminal.

The entities range from the sixteen Local Governments, owners of Community Chef, to the Health Department and other sundry bureaucrats, sub-contractors, consultants and advisors. There are also tentacles reaching into Spring Street and Federal politics.

Our advocacy will be targeted at all of these people being held to account, no matter how insignificant their alleged behaviour may seem or their current station in life.

We must stamp out this corruption.

(Information in this article was derived from various publications in the public domain.)

SERVICE DELIVERY – THE CENTREPIECE OF A GOOD ORGANISATION

by CAA | Jul 16, 2021 | Library, Uncategorized

16th July 2021

Another of the very vexed issues confronting policing is the issue of police Service Delivery.

The Community Advocacy Alliance (CAA) has regularly received anecdotal reports of service delivery failure by police members.

We suspect some of the issues raised with us are because there is no mechanism that the public feels confident about bringing the matter to VicPol attention.

A couple of examples.

1. The proprietors of an Asian Grocery in a shopping strip were so frustrated with the amount of blatant stealing happening in their store they resorted to enlarging pictures to paste on the shop front and throughout the store showing perpetrators clearly identifiable in the act. A shaming strategy.

The store owners had become sick of contacting the Police, who never attended. The local Station Commander was notified, and he contacted the shop owners and advised them to ring his station. The owners tried but found that extremely difficult and time-consuming as they had to wade through the myriad of options offered. They had no idea which would be the correct option to select. This was a small business with usually only the owner present, so hanging on a phone line for what seemed like an eternity was just too hard with legitimate customers queued up for Service.

2. A member of the CAA had to visit a police station. While waiting to be attended to, the person in front relayed a tale to the attending member on the not unsubstantial thefts that had occurred at his business perpetrated by an employee. The businessman was advised that those type of thefts are civil matters and was not a Police matter. No crime reports were taken.

At best, this was ignorance by the police member but more likely laziness and the knowledge that there would be no repercussions for his actions. Like in all matters involving behaviour, human or otherwise, unless there is a likelihood of a consequence for bad or non-compliant conduct, a correction is unlikely.

We have also received advice from a retired Chief Superintendent.

3. Traveling along a major thoroughfare at a slow pace because of traffic congestion, a vehicle charged out of a side street, turning left, sideswiping the ex-members car. The offending vehicle did not stop but took off at speed, weaving through traffic recklessly like a fleeing villain.

 Lo and behold, there just happened to be Div Van in the same traffic flow, and when the ex-member spoke to the members in the van, they claimed they didn’t see anything. Failing to even get out of the van, the members advised the ex to report it at the station as they were on their way to a burglary. The burglary was in the same area as where the offending vehicle had come.

The next day the ex, dutifully reported the incident at a Police station and handed over the number of the offending vehicle. The attending member made inquiries and advised the ex that the car that had sideswiped him was stolen. The attending member was clearly annoyed and did not attempt to justify the actions, or more precisely, the inaction of the van crew.

Any half-competent police member having only a moderate degree of situational awareness and experience should have suspected a link between the fleeing vehicle to the burglary. Of course, we have no way of knowing if it was, but most members would put a quid on it that it was the crooks.

Victoria Police has established a Service Delivery Command, and that is a very positive step; however, Service Delivery does not happen or is not measured at the command level but where the organisation interacts with the public, where the rubber hits the road.

There have been a number of corporate initiatives that seem to be of good value, but that is the wrong end to start to bring about change.

A couple of standout failures that, if rectified, would improve Service Delivery very quickly; the member’s attitude is one, but technology is the primary culprit.

Firstly, the telecommunications protocols set up of VicPol need a major overhaul.

We are strong advocates for the Police Advice Line (PAL), but unfortunately, the organisation saw this as a way to redirect all manner of issues away from the police stations.

Police stations got onto the wagon and designed answering services for calls offering a multitude of options to redirect callers within the Police Station. Always notably excluding the Officer in charge option.

The caller does not operate the station; the staff within it do, so all incoming calls must be answered by an assigned member, and they can redirect if necessary. In practice, this current approach has shades of the ‘send the fool further, and they will lose interest’ or alternatively ‘our work is too important to be answering phones‘.

The executive needs to make some calls to test the system. We suggest extending past Police Stations and try to ring somebody within the organisation using the police headquarters number. From a public’s perspective, a logical number in many circumstances. Provided the call is made during office hours and not during the one-hour daily shut down for lunch, they will find the operator unable to assist and, in our experience, exhibiting disinterest.

After hours, good luck. Not having an after-hours service is disgraceful in a State that now functions 24/7 and has done so for many years.

It may not be an issue for Police members; they have access to the police intranet to locate direct phone numbers. The public does not have a competent directory, online or otherwise. The online function at https://m.vic.gov.au/contactsandservices/directory/?ea0_lfz149_120.&organizationalUnit&6a9c1235-0bdc-401c-a080-dbbd19b5ac3c# only includes Command and refers only to the main switchboard. Bad luck if you want to talk to anybody else.

On the issue of a helpful directory, that is a matter that should be quickly resolved with accurate data with an online public directory.

The provision of mobile phones for members is another initiative strongly supported by the CAA; however, this has spawned a one-way communications system limiting effectiveness.  Caller ID numbers should not be blocked from Police phones; argued as a security issue, but the member can block any inappropriate caller at any time. Many members of the public will not answer calls with blocked IDs as marketing companies often use this to interact and harass customers.

Unfortunately, this problem was caused by Police operating in a Police bubble not understanding the community they serve.

Another technology, albatross, is demonstrated in most patrolling police vehicles. It is far too common to see the observer not observing but being a passenger, head down assumingly using an electronic device. This makes it look like Police are disinterested, not focused on the community they are supposed to service.

It is also not uncommon to see a parked Police car with both members, head down, engrossed in the issue at hand. We accept there has to be an element of this, but the overuse regularly observed is very concerning. Not only is the engrossed member not performing the observer role, but the Situational Awareness, or lack thereof, puts both members at substantial personal risk.

This behaviour must be curbed, whether their distraction is addressing correspondence, undertaking online training or keeping up to date with friends on social media. The use of headphones may help?

When addressing the Service Delivery issue, little progress will be made at the coal face while less than efficient members can take shortcuts and fail in delivering the police service with impunity, as is currently the case. It is not purely a supervision issue as Supervisors cannot be everywhere; this needs to be addressed culturally. Pressure from colleagues (concerned for their own safety) is the most effective way to solve this issue.

The Service delivery test is to identify if a member of the public experience’s dissatisfaction with the Police service and it be bought to the attention of the organisation in a measurable way.

Until that is achieved, all effort to fix the problem will be futile. A Police complaints or Service Delivery line is essential to identify where the weaknesses are occurring so that remedial action can be taken.

There is a long-held misconception, often trotted out as a quaint old-fashioned rationalisation, that has held policing back for decades. The belief that anybody that complains is ‘anti-police’.

We thought this nonsense was assigned to the Ark a long time ago, but behaviours today suggest the philosophy is alive and well.

A priority must be to establish a mechanism where members who fail can be held to account. Notations on their PDA would work.  It would not take long for the Service to achieve substantial improvements if a member knew that they might have to explain their actions and there are possible consequences for failure.

Good material in evaluating members for promotion or appointments.

SHOOTING GALLERIES MISS THE TARGET

by CAA | Jun 19, 2021 | Library, Uncategorized

19th June 2021

“The basic argument for the Flinders St site for the new safe injecting room boils down to one simple reason: the Flinders/Elizabeth St area is a heroin hotspot. But setting public policy on heroin availability and simply bending to the convenience of a transient drug culture, and the criminal trafficking and petty crime that fuels it, is not the answer”.

(Editorial Herald Sun 15^th of June 2021)

The concept of illicit drug shooting galleries in our community to service the needs of illicit drug addicts has two major flaws.

The unconscionable cruelty to addicts to placate to the addiction that has trapped them rather than cure it, and the absolute ignominy towards serving and former Police who regularly put their life on the line protecting society when dealing with the vicious criminal elements responsible for this insidious illegal trade. Not to mention the various Health professionals exposed regularly to danger.

Our only argument with the Herald Sun Editorial is its reference to ‘petty crime that fuels it‘. A lot of the crime involved is not petty, but rather serious crime, often very violent.

Making the whole argument about Shooting Galleries more enigmatic is that a former Police Chief Commissioner heads up the group looking to expand the shooting gallery concept.

We know the former Chief Commissioner, Ken Lay, once said, “You cannot arrest your way of the problem”. There is no argument that is sage advice; however, to completely capitulate, which establishing a shooting gallery does, is very disappointing, you would have thought he would know better.

The public debate about the Shooting Gallery in Richmond and the proposed additional Gallery in the CBD has been focused on the loss of amenity to others. Those concerns are totally reasonable and must be respected. However, the real problem the illicit drugs and the facilitation of access to illicit drugs by addicts, and more importantly, the associated criminality that funds the trade, has been generally overlooked.

The recommendation for a CBD Shooting Gallery originated from a review of the Richmond facility and more recently by a review conducted by the Burnet Institute of the Richmond gallery.

The latest research is proposed to be published in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine. If the ‘The Age’ reports are any guide, the research and conclusions drawn are problematic at best and the necessary peer review to publish should find this research unconvincing.

To conclude, from the Burnet research that the much-derided ‘honey pot effect’ is debunked, is a flaw in point.

Their research claims almost half, 41.7% of the respondents that use the Richmond facility live no more than two suburbs away. With only 12% of Richmond addicts using the facility. At 213 persons a day on average using the facility, only 25 come from Richmond. Therefore, the claims of a ‘Honey Pot’ effect are correct.

The shooting galleries attract users from all over, and with them, there is a trail of pushes following along to access the market concentration so conveniently established by the Government.

That shows irrefutably that a facility (if we must have one) in a surrounding suburb to the CBD will be equally effective. The Burnet figures clearly support that hypothesis.

Examining crime figures for Richmond alone serves no purpose with most addicts coming from other areas.  Addicts tend to commit crimes closer to home.

The scientific collection of discarded needles on consecutive days and Forensic analysis of discarded syringes near the Richmond facility will provide substantial empirical data as opposed to guesswork that most analysis currently is. A scientific approach may indicate whether there are different suppliers being used by addicts, the frequency and the type of drugs. If DNA can be extracted there will be a wealth of other useful information to clinicians and law enforcement.

Another problem conveniently overlooked is the danger on our roads of people shooting up then driving. Are there any safeguards for the community for this complication?

However, one would assume that is less of a problem in the CBD as access by cars is limited, but that means there is a strong probability a high percentage of users will access the facility by public transport and anti-social behaviour by drug-addled users on public transport will be a serious problem. The community forced to travel with drugged up individuals is not only very scary but also very dangerous due to their unpredictable behaviour. Passengers without the ability to withdraw from their presence, being locked in a train carriage with somebody on Ice, ‘off their face’, injected at the Gallery could end up catastrophic.

An unintended consequence caused by poor planning.

If a citizen is impacted by an imbecile under the influence of drugs administered in a Government facility, would they have recourse against the State who sanctioned it?

That the Richmond Gallery has saved over 20 lives is pure speculation by the Burnet Institute, the same institute that’s modelling on COID is wildly inaccurate. What is also very significant is that the reduction in Ambulance responses have dropped so marginally as not to be included in the statistics. Emergency Departments (Eds) also cannot identify any change in admissions, according to the Burnet paper as reported.

This dispels another of the justifications for a Gallery, that our Ambulances and Ed’s would be saved from the curse of addicts flooding their resources. Our Ambulances and Ed’s have not had any reprieve, so that rationale, along with the claimed absence of the ‘Honey Pot’ effect and predicted crime trends have been debunked.

If we need the facility (despite the fact that it condones crime), and we have our doubts, then locate it away from where our kids might frequent, or where the general public is forced to be exposed to the peripheral activities associated with these facilities. Using high-profile locations is wonderful marketing for the illicit drug tsars having their trade given a high profile.

We only hear of the alleged lives saved from overdoses. Still, we cannot locate any empirical data on how many addicts have been saved from their addiction, given their life back, hence the sound argument that the whole concept of a Shooting Gallery is to facilitate use, not reduce it.

With the State in the middle of a health, pandemic we wonder whether illicit drug addicts are regularly COVID tested and inoculated as they come into contact with health services. We do not fancy the chances of our contact tracing being effective with this cohort if the infection enters the illicit drug sphere.

The CAA has proposed an alternative https://caainc.org.au/legalise-drugs-careful-what-you-wish-for/ that addresses all the issues omitted by the current strategy, and until somebody starts to think ‘outside the box’, the drug problem will continue to escalate.

Have you considered joining our team?

by CAA | Jun 9, 2021 | Library, Uncategorized

9th of June 2021

If you would like to have influence and be part of a dedicated team then consider applying for the CAA.

As a guide to applicants, we expect all our members to be actively involved. We have a low tolerance for seat warmers who are prepared to spruik their version of profound intellect, only to turn up to the next meeting and repeat the performance – all wind and no substance.

The CAA is not the forum for those people, and although we encourage input and opinions from all our members, which is the strength of our organisation, we all need to put in, we have no room for passengers.

Our membership is drawn from both police and non-police backgrounds. We see our diversity as one of our strengths to advocate on behalf of the community. We exist for the community and, if we can make Policing better, then that is a positive seek.

We do not compete with any other volunteer or semi volunteer originations associated with policing or elsewhere but rather augment their function.

We have had some outstanding successes, mainly of activities well below the radar; however, that is not unsurprising from an organisation that does not seek credit per se but is proud of its role as an influencer.

The CAA has monthly meetings, followed by a social lunch. Most operations of the CAA are in the Teams, currently addressing Police Mental Health, Legislative issue, Drugs, Domestic Violence and Road Safety. Teams meet and operate between meetings generally electronically.

Most CAA members have substantial senior or executive experience in their discipline, which is suited to our work. However, previous rank or title has little bearing on the success of applications. The character of an applicant is the main attribute. The ability to undertake professional research and operate in a confidential environment are prerequisites.

All applications for membership are assessed under the rules of our constitution. The application form and details are on our website at caainc.org.au.

If you think you have the right profile, please submit your application for consideration.

If you have any questions, please contact the CEO at ceo@caainc.org.au.

POLICE VETERANS RECOGNISED AT LAST

by CAA | Jun 2, 2021 | Library, Uncategorized

2nd June 2021

There has been understandable interest in the issue of respect for veterans over recent years and although there has been plenty of hollow rhetoric nothing tangible of significance has been addressed.

That has now changed and there are matters of significance actively under consideration by the CCP.

The first, likely to be subject of an announcement in due course and the second is unlikely to be broadly publicised to ensure its genuineness and the personal nature is protected and that is commendable.

The first a proposal as submitted by the CAA is to have an Officer, senior in rank to any Veteran who passes away, contact the family for permission to attend the Funeral and deliver the Police Ode. Further VicPol to supply a VicPol flag as a pall. At the completion of the service the flag is to be retrieved folded and placed in a suitably inscribed envelope and presented to the family as a mark of respect and appreciation for the deceased service to Vicpol and the State.

When the logistics are sorted an announcement is anticipated and although it may not be precisely as suggested by the CAA it will be similar., however we appreciate that at the moment there are other competing priorities, so we have to be patient.

The second matter also under active consideration is a protocol where every member who retires is thanked personally and privately for their service. The CCP has already undertaken some of these calls to retiring members who have contributed over 40+ years (rank irrelevant) and his intention is to extend this throughout the organisation with the rank of the retiring member irrelevant, but the rank of the Officer tasked to contact the retiree based on the length of service of the retiree or whether the retiree is personally known to a member of the executive.

The CCP has expressed the view that even a member who has only served a couple of years and is retiring (ill health) must be thanked.

As this is personal and private do not expect a high-profile announcement for this initiative and that is deliberate by the CCP to ensure that the genuineness of the thank you, is not compromised.

The CAA compliments the CCP on his initiatives in this area and also thanks the efforts of one of our members, Jo Donovan who has been at the forefront in promoting both initiatives.

Ivan W Ray

(For and on behalf of the CAA Inc.)

Chief Executive Officer CAA.

Membership Applications

by CAA | May 5, 2021 | Library, Uncategorized

4^th of May 2021

Hi All

At the most recent CAA Board meeting, the directors presented to members a strategy to raise funds to make the CAA more effective.

Raising the subs for members as was agreed at the last AGM with the additional income barely covering our Insurance premium.

Currently, we service many non-members with up-to-date information of our operations and often receive input from them influencing our work.

We would respectfully request our supporters to consider either a donation or formally apply to join the CAA as a full or associate member.

No CAA member receives any salary for their effort, some working the equivalent of full time on the project.

Ironically, now having a Chief Commissioner, Shane Patton who views Policing through a prism similar to ours, has not mitigated our work but increased it.

To assist the CAA in broadening our reach please review the link at caainc.org.au re membership/sponsorship and consider becoming a donor or more formally involved.

There are no obligations under our constitution for members to attend meetings, that only applies to the directors.

Our time target is two months.

Regards

Ivan W Ray
Chief Executive Officer
Community Advocacy Alliance

MEMBERSHIP AND DONATIONS

The CAA has three classes to support our efforts to communicate on behalf of the community issues that directly impact them through failures in Policing and law and order more generally.

The CAA is a Not-for-Profit registered charity and relies on funding by its members.

It has been operating for six years and publishes articles and lobbies where necessary to further the CAA message in support of the community.

The CAA has no renumerated staff.

To assist us in communicating with the community, the following options are available.

Donations; $20 – $50 – $100 +

Donors of $50 and $100+ have the option of also applying for Associate Membership ($50) and full Membership (100+). For Application forms, please go to cainc.org.au

For donations, go to caainc.org.au and follow the prompts from the ‘Donating to the CAA?’  Banner.

CAA Donor

There are no mutual obligations on donations other than the CAA undertakes to direct all funds to its stated purpose.

CAA Associate member

Rights

• Attend any AGM or Special General Meeting.
• Receive Email advice of any published articles.
• By invitation attend any Directors meeting.
• By invitation, address the Directors of the CAA on any approved topic.
• Have articles presented for publication evaluated by the editorial team.
• Appear on the CAA Web site ‘About us’ without a biography.

Responsibilities

• Maintain Associate membership dues. Currently $50 P/A.
• Have satisfied Directors of good character.
• Not breach confidentiality under any circumstances.
• Unless expressly authorised by a Director/s for a specific function, not to make any representation on behalf of the CAA.

CAA Member

Rights

• Voting rights at any AGM or Special General Meeting.
• To be nominated by a full member for any Directors vacancy.
• Receive direct Email advice of any published articles.
• Can participate in CAA Teams-subject to the Team Leaders approval.
• By invitation attend any Directors meeting.
• By invitation, address the Directors of the CAA on any approved topic.
• Have access to a CAA nameplate.
• Have articles presented for publication evaluated by the editorial team.
• Appear on the CAA Web site ‘About us’ with a short biography.
• Can be identified as a CAA Member.

Responsibilities

• Maintain membership dues. Currently $100 P/A.
• Be nominated by a Full Member.
• Have satisfied Directors of good character.
• Not breach confidentiality under any circumstances.
• Unless expressly authorised by a Director/s for a specific function, not to make any representation on behalf of the CAA.

Any inquiries should be directed to the Chief Executive Officer at CEO@caainc.org.au

APPLICATION FOR MEMBERSHIP

Full Name              …………………………………………………………..…..….

Age                        ………………………….. DOB……………………………..

Phone contact- Mbl………………………… Other…………………….……….

Email Address   ……………………………………………………………….………..

Other Social media addresses

……………………………………………………………………………..

Address (physical) ………………………………………………………

……………………………………………………………………

Postal Address         ………………………………………….……………………..

……………………………………………………..…………

Current employment status

………………………………………………………………….

Referees

Referred by CAA Member………………………………………………………

Or

Two character referees external to the CAA

Referee 1      Name……………………………………………………….…………..

Telephone…………………………………………………………..

Email…………………………………………………………………..

Referee 2      Name……………………………………………………….…………..

Telephone…………………………………………………………..

Email…………………………………………………………………..

I agree to a Police Security check as part of my Membership application.

I wish to be considered for (please tick the appropriate box.)

Full Member                Associate Member

Membership Remittance

Full Membership                   $100

Associate Membership     $ 50

Payments via the Donation portal on the Web site.

Membership Fee paid   Yes              No            Date……………………

Applicants Signature…………………………………………………….

(COVID Rules apply, and an electronic signature will be accepted)

Applications to be forwarded to the Chief Executive Officer at CEO@caainc.org.au

All applications will be treated as confidential, and any and all information will only be retained by authorised directors.

Applications will be processed in accordance with the CAA Constitution.

CAA Constitution extract

8 Who is eligible to be a member

Any person who supports the purposes of the Association is eligible for Membership.

9   Application for Membership

(1)  To apply to become a member of the Association, a person must submit a written application to the Secretary of the Board stating that the person—

(a)  wishes to become a member of the Association; and

(b)  supports the purposes of the Association; and

(c)  agrees to comply with these Rules.

(2)  The application—

(a)  must be signed by the applicant; and

(b)  maybe accompanied by the joining fee.

Note

The joining fee is the fee (if any) determined by the Association under rule 12(3).

10   Consideration of application

(1)  As soon as practicable after an application for Membership is received, the Executive Board Directors must decide by resolution whether to accept or reject the application.

(2)  The Secretary must notify the applicant in writing of its decision as soon as practicable after the decision is made.

(3)  If the Board rejects the application, it must return any money accompanying the application to the applicant.

(4)  No reason need be given for the rejection of an application.

DRUG QUARANTINE – A NEW PARADIGM.

by CAA | Apr 28, 2021 | Library, Uncategorized

28^th April 2023

There is no argument, based on fact, that we are winning the war on drugs. If winning or losing was adjudged, we are not only losing but being smashed.

The benefit of the millions of dollars applied to the supply side of the illicit drug trade can only be described as relatively ineffective on any cost-benefit analysis. Equally, there is no effective broad-based proactive strategy to address the issue of users, the demand side.

Huge drug busts should not be the measure of success for law enforcement because, at best, it causes some disruption. But, as one commentator quipped recently, syndicates allow in their business model for law enforcement to have some success as well as being ripped off by other criminals. Still, the vast profits make this risk worthwhile.

We do not suggest targeting criminal importation of illicit drugs be wound back. However, to make the war on drugs deliver some impact on the illicit trade, we need to attack not only the product but the hearts and minds of users and potential users, and that is the demand side of the equation.

With reduced demand, the supply will ultimately shrink after initially creating an increased oversupply. As a result, the oversupplied product is harder to offload, forcing prices down, and the level of crime to maintain a habit fades.

Although we are not naive enough to suggest a strategy addressing the demand side would eliminate the drug trade, it will not, but combined with the attacks on the supply side; it is likely to markedly reduce the number of users and, to a degree, mitigate the problem The mitigation will be in direct proportion to the application of strategies aimed at the demand side.

Most current resources applied to the demand side are generally targeted at those entering or about to enter the criminal justice system. Unfortunately, there is little evidence that there is any effective intervention before this, and by the time users enter the Justice system, the chances of an effective diversion are severely diminished; it is too late for many.

The CAA believes that a strategy that involves early intervention is far more likely to be effective than waiting for the problem to substantially manifest.

The strategy.

We have come to accept that Quarantine is a very effective way to control contagions in the community. Illicit drugs arguably kill more Australians than the COVID Pandemic. We accept Quarantine for that lesser evil, so why not apply the same principles to Illicit Drugs, creating drug Quarantine facilities?

Populating a drug quarantine facility.

Anybody suspected of being under the influence or adjudged by Police or a medical practitioner on reasonable grounds to have ingested illicit drugs, and a drug test on-site returns a positive, these people can, by Health Order, be immediately placed in Quarantine.

What might a Drug quarantine facility look like?

A secure place where users can be medically assessed and held on a Health Order for up to fourteen days while they are evaluated and their health adjusted before being released back into society or the legal system.

The first function of the facility is to conduct a clinical assessment to confirm the presence of illicit drugs. A person found not to be under the influence of drugs must be immediately released from the facility after advising the Police if other Judicial obligations exist.

During this period, experts can work with the person to guide them to deal with any dependency or other health issues. They can access support if required and have them return to society in a better condition than they were, armed with how to escape their addiction and or lifestyle changes to remove the necessity of drugs before they become addicted.

Taking drug-affected people away from Hospital Emergency Rooms must be one of the great positives of this strategy.

We would argue that there is no reasonable opportunity for clinicians or others working in the shooting gallery environment to have any useful interaction with the addicts. That is probably because there are none, supporting the argument that a shooting gallery is a drug facilitation facility.

Users arrive desperate for their fix and leave on a high, so the argument that prevention work is carried out is a myth. That is probably why the most important statistic that these facilities will not publish is the number of addicts diverted from their addiction.

An addict or drug user in Quarantine would be absolutely focused on clinicians making medical intervention far more effective because of the nature of the facility.

What of the mechanics of this proposal?

A Drug Quarantine facility will need to be as secure as any other Quarantine facility with some added safeguards specific to the purpose.

The concept is to have strong security by a suitable agency and inside managed by Health professionals.

A drug-affected person who has allegedly committed a serious crime and is under the influence of drugs when arrested can be sent to the facility and be transferred to the criminal justice system on the expiration of the fourteen days for Justice processing.

It would be reasonable to presume that an alleged perpetrator will be much better able to deal with any matters being as healthy as can be achieved in fourteen days.

Where will they be located?

Drug quarantine facilities can be housed in the now redundant properties and buildings secured for the COVID pandemic. Repurposing these resources would be sensible and supported by all Victorians. The attraction of this approach would give Victoria a resource never before enjoyed should a wide-ranging pandemic ever eventuate in the future. The Drug quarantine facilities can be repurposed back for the duration of any new challenges. Short-term interruptions to the Drug service would have little meaningful impact on the Drug patient as their stay in the facilities are only short-term.

What benefits of this approach?

There would be a number of positives cascading from this initiative; we have listed a few.

• The significant and first impact will be on reducing drivers on our roads that use drugs and the lives saved. The effect community-wide will be almost immediate, and the deterrent effect profound.
• Illicit drugs impact domestic violence, and removing a drug-affected perpetrator from a violent domestic situation is a very positive capability that can also save lives.
• Drug users, particularly in their early foray into the scene, will be discouraged from further involvement.
• The drug scene will be driven underground, a real positive, to keep it away from our kids. Anything that makes drugs more difficult to obtain is a positive, as necessary as being socially derided.
• An addict may find that returning to the quarantine process as a repeat user may be the catalyst to encourage the person to seek a way out from their addiction, creating the motivation necessary to break the addiction.
• The stigma attached to the Quarantine facility will also be a substantial deterrent to would-be users. But, on the other hand, time out in the facility may be the early intervention that stops the cycle of rampant addiction.
• It is unlikely that Police would proceed with any criminal matters on the lower end of the criminal scale on users quarantined, exercising discretion and preventing many from entering the Justice system, consequently reducing court caseloads.
• Importantly, the maintenance and access to quality data for research purposes would start to achieve data that can be relied upon as the depth and demographic associated with the problem become evident to allow the development of more targeted approaches.

Why will Quarantine work?

Will Quarantine move all away from drugs? No, but the impact on their health and giving them a hiatus in their lifestyle might just have the desired effect for many. After fourteen days, they will have lost their position in the drug empire, so they will have to start again. Disruption can sometimes be more effective than the current options and should never be underestimated as a counter to an illegal problem.

Identifying and removing trigger points for addicts over fourteen days would act as step one to recovery, and with the trigger points identified, it can be the start of a way out.

Rehabilitation

We accept the arguments for rehabilitation and the lack of resources available to addicts; there does need to be an increase in these resources; however, pouring buckets of money into the rehabilitation of addicts will not solve the problem per se. The nirvana of a rehab centre on every corner would add to the problem, not diminish it, with the same impact as safe injecting rooms. They both play as a positive in the drug Marketing mix, not a negative, as should be the case.

The consequences of no action 

The community is only too aware that community leaders’ efforts to manage the drug issue have failed abysmally. There are no forward-thinking strategies that we know of, to overcome, or at the very least, achieve a reduction in the problem.

More Safe Injecting Rooms means more addicts and growth in the drug industry.

Make no mistake, the explosion of Safe Injecting Rooms is seen as a pathway by some towards legalisation of Illicit drugs; it is merely step one.

Separation of legal and health issues.

We must accept that while illicit drugs are a legal issue, addiction is a health one, and the separation needs to be understood.

Incarceration within the Justice system and given the innate ability of individuals to be innovative to satisfy human needs (including needs not listed in Maslow’s theory), we are not particularly confident that being in jail will necessarily mean no access to drugs.

While we strongly advocate the health aspect as essential to address, the criminal aspect must not be ignored.

Drug addicts do not commit a crime in some involuntary state, they may have strong urges to satisfy their addiction, but the offence is only the method to access the drugs. They are entirely cognisant that their actions are criminal. Often the crimes require planning, and that is not the actions of an addict in some involuntary state.

As we separate the health and the crime issues, the courts must separate the addiction from the offence.

If a person commits a crime to service an addiction, the addiction should be irrelevant to any penalty. Deriving some benefit to penalty before the Courts because of an addiction to an illegal substance, is in our view, objectionable.

Legalising/ decriminalisation of illicit Drugs

That is the holy grail for the drug industry and all the drug apologists who generally imbibe but do not want the hassle of potential criminal sanctions.

This is particularly an attitude amongst many elites who enjoy risk-taking but hold down very responsible executive positions.

Make no mistake, we are on the path to Legalising Illicit drugs. The strategy of creeping assumptions is well developed, with the end game not far away.

It started with the safe injecting Rooms. The legalisation of prostitution and now working groups looking at the of legalising drugs. We know what they will find and there will be little doubt that attempts to ram through legislation on this matter is nigh.

The working groups are looking at the how to, not the why.

It’s not just Quarantine as the solution.

A Quarantine program is but one part of the strategy; the other is public awareness campaigns. The Quit campaign that altered community standards is a standout, but in this case, targeting the young to make drugs socially unacceptable in that cohort would be imperative. Take the ‘Cool‘ out of drugs.

Recent research suggests thirty lives per year, plus countless injuries, involve drug-affected drivers.

The acting Police Minster Ben Carroll, referring to drugged drivers, was recently quoted as saying, “Any measure on our roads to save lives is worth taking”, and he is absolutely right. However, we need a new direction because what has been done to date has been a failure.

It is common knowledge amongst particularly young drivers that consuming alcohol and driving is too risky, but party drugs are undetectable (the integrity of this statement is questionable, in fact). So, they use drugs in lieu of alcohol with all the added risks—particularly the long-lasting effect of days, not hours.

The prospect of 14 days of Quarantine, if a driver is detected with drugs, would dramatically reduce the Drug Driver problem overnight.

What of the other issues?

This paper does not address the myriad of detail required to implement this proposal but proposes a concept that can be developed into reality in a relatively short time frame.

The quarantine approach to Illicit drugs is new and innovative, and, most importantly, infinitely measurable.

Victoria can become a world leader in this field by applying a commitment towards a solution for the illicit drug problem.

It is convenient that the government has two options currently available to implement the program by repurposing two Government facilities, the Quarantine facility at Mickleham and the Yooralla Building in the CBD.

Repurposing both facilities would receive strong community support and have almost an immediate impact.

WHY DO WE IMPOSE MORE SEVERE PENALTIES ON YOUNG DRIVERS THAN CRIMINALS?

by CAA | Apr 17, 2021 | Library, Uncategorized

18th April 2021

We often hear about the ills of society and in particular the failings of our youth.

We hear a lot less about solutions and almost nothing about what, as a society, we inadvertently contribute to exasperating the problem.

There is however uniform agreement that the most important strategies to help keep our youth on the straight and narrow is education and then employment.

If they do err, then the wisdom is that they should receive a diversion rather than a penalty; but paradoxically that argument is only applied to crime; traffic errors are excluded creating a circle of unintended consequences.

The CAA has argued for this directional change since 2017 but ignored, however, we are confident the new Chief Commissioner with a commitment to youth, crime prevention and community engagement will recognise the imperatives in this case.

See https://caainc.org.au/lose-your-licence-lose-your-life-4/ and https://caainc.org.au/lose-your-licence-lose-your-life/

We penalise young drivers to an extraordinary level compared to young people that commit even serious crimes like an armed robbery; and then complain that young drivers are turning to drugs and anti-social behaviour, a fairly hypocritical position we would argue. Even most recidivist young drivers never received any diversion when they first came under notice.

A new driver has but five demerit points in their point bank when they start driving. A time when it is perfectly reasonable to expect they will make mistakes. If they do, and they are booked then so be it, but it is the unintended penalty that needs to be urgently addressed.

Apart from being a new driver, most are also in the early stages of a career and the system is weighted heavily against the young people in the trades, where their ability to drive is essential to maintain their employment. In most cases, they cannot carry their tools of trade on public transport and that assumes that public transport services their workplace.

The inevitable outcome is that a three-month licence suspension serves as a penalty not often commensurate with the offence alleged.

Without work, a car loan and living expenses, the dire circumstances faced by our young provide an attraction to either ignore their suspension and drive or turn to crime to service their financial demise.

Sitting around with no work, no money and a car that is about to be repossessed (perhaps destroying any credit rating for future borrowing) provides an environment when even the best kids will be tempted to follow an easy solution, crime.

It will almost inevitably be in the area of drugs as the youth see no escape and look for escapism, drugs; that ticks two boxes (they think) solving the financial crisis and allows an escape from reality on a high.

The legal system should and must be reserved for recidivist offenders, and in the Road Safety space serious breaches.

It is argued by some, who do not understand young people, that if they are aggrieved then the legal system will deal with it. That presupposes that young people are willing to chance their arm by sacrificing more days off work if they even know how the system works and where they should start. Getting a Lawyer is cost-prohibitive and they would not know where to start for legal aid; but here is a better solution.

Victoria Police run a highly effective Cautioning Program for young criminal offenders, and it would only need policy, not legislative changes to include probationary drivers in this scheme.

It is cost-effective, is likely to have very positive outcomes and gives police the opportunity to talk with young people building bridges that often collapse when they are booked.

We can book them today and want their help tomorrow.

Only misguided officials would consider a fine and loss of employment a just penalty for low-level traffic breaches when a great percentage are mistakes rather than deliberate behaviour.

Compliance with the road rules is a lofty ideal but having the community actively supporting this ideal by a more nuanced and targeted approach is likely to succeed with the young, rather than the big stick that is more than likely going to do other damage while trying to land on the target.

The cycle of unintended consequences

Ron Fenton CPO – Open letter.

by CAA | Apr 11, 2021 | Library, Uncategorized

11th April 2021

Mr Ron Fenton CPO

Police Veteran

Dear Ron

Thank you

Thank you for your enthusiasm and unwavering drive and support of the CAA, particularly the Police in schools initiative.

I often despaired over the years of pursuing this initiative, and when the issues seemed insurmountable, it would be inevitable that you would call me.

Your enthusiasm was a welcome tonic, and with your sidekick Yogi as our mascot, although he didn’t say much, he was there. After a dose of your effervescence, I again, with greater enthusiasm, tackled the issues.

Even when it was obvious you were not well; you still pushed me to get you into a school in front of the kids, a joy that you had learnt many years before when you were a member of the police School Lecture Squad—a goal you recently achieved with aplomb when lesser men would have already thrown the towel in.

It was a great honour for the CAA to have you represent us at the first Police Veterans In Schools classroom session. We could not have wished for a better advocate.

As you move to another phase, we are confident that you will not be alone; not only will you be in our thoughts and sadly missed, we know that a fellow CAA member Vaughan Werner will be there to guide you.

I would not be a bit surprised if you two set up a branch of the CAA. You might have a bit of trouble recruiting volunteers, but conscripts will no doubt swell your ranks in the future.

To the CAA members who have helped and supported their colleague on this journey, thank you, and I know Ron appreciated it.

Ron, the appropriate salutation is not farewell but À La Prochaine.

Kindest regards.

Ivan W Ray

Chief Executive Officer

Community Advocacy Alliance Inc

POLICE DISCIPLINE – A HOARY OLD CHESTNUT

by CAA | Apr 11, 2021 | Library, Uncategorized

11th April 2021

Currently, rumours abound that a review of the Victoria Police Discipline system is underway. We would have thought it a low priority but something that does need attention.

Although the Community Advocacy Alliance (CAA) does not normally respond to ‘Scuttlebutt’, on this occasion, we make an exception because whether it is true or not is irrelevant. If it is true, then good; if not, there needs to be one at some stage.

The CAA has a view that the discipline system needs to be updated, but of far greater concern is the processes and techniques used by the police members responsible for the internal investigations.

This area needs’ root and branch’ reform, starting with admitting there is a problem, identifying whether the problem is a management one, and at what level, or a skills deficit in investigators.

Ironically, the Police Professional Standards Command (PSC) seem to be responsible for more breaches of professional standards than the general police service. But nobody seems to care as it inflicted on Police.

We have been shocked at the poor standard of investigations that have been undertaken by this unit that we would have expected to be by example at the pinnacle of professional standards.

We accept, however, this deficit was not created overnight, and previous administrations have a lot to answer for.

The PSC Command should stand above victimisation and poor investigation practices. If evidence of an offence is clear after proper investigation, then a process should be commenced against the police member, but if the evidence to support criminal or disciplinary charges is lacking or flawed, the PSC should walk away. The investigators’ emotions and views must be irrelevant; the decisions must be made on the evidence.

It is imperative that investigations are based on all available evidence, not just the evidence that supports the investigator’s hypothesis.

But to the rumoured review. The greatest risk, that a review of this nature presents is the methodology it uses.

There have been many issues that touch on discipline over recent years where the matters have been outsourced, where Police administration has avoided making decisions, probably because of a lack of skill.

Having external bodies, quangos, or authorities designing and determining Police policy is a shocking indictment on the inability of Police administrations.

You could be forgiven for assuming that these organisations are responsible for running the Police Force, given past experience; yet the Chief Commissioner runs the Police Force, and these organisations may be invited to express a view to be considered. However, the responsibility for policing this State unequivocally rests with the CCP, and he has the weight of the Police Act behind him and eighteen thousand-odd police members.

Concerning, in the rumour sphere, is that the people conducting the review are considering or are inviting input from these same agencies or authorities that have previously been given authority over the Force.

Subcontracting Force Management was a disgrace then, and we are confident that with the new Chief Commissioner, we had passed by those rubbish approaches, so we sincerely hope the ‘rumour mill’ is inaccurate on this point.

We have no difficulty and see merit in external input but not at the design stage.

It is imperative that the architects of a review of discipline procedures and policy start by designing a discipline system that best suits the Force. When that is complete and accepted by the Chief Commissioner, that is the time these eternal authorise could be invited to make submissions of any concerns, and that includes the Police Association who would clearly have a significant conflict of interest in being involved in the design phase.

There is a quantum difference between “What do you think our discipline system should look like” and “You are invited to comment on our revised discipline system”. The first option indicates indecisive procrastination at play, the second displays leadership.

The CAA has argued that the current system is full of grey areas where the evidence seems not to matter.

We have come across examples where Investigators have created a narrative or hypothesis, and then only evidence sourced to support that narrative is submitted. A disgraceful practice reflecting poor investigative skills and the lack of ethics of the investigator, but more damming of the quality and ethics of their supervisors who allow this to occur.

It will be interesting to see, if there is a review, whether some real experts with lived experience of the system are encouraged to have input; there are plenty of them around in the Veteran ranks.

That would be one way to correctly identify the flaws that everybody thinks exist.  A courageous move that would gain substantial respect and give strong credence to any redesign of the system.

The CAA has advocated that VicPol should consider introducing a Discipline Penalty Notice system (DPN) for minor disciplinary breaches.

Over recent years these minor matters have generally been overlooked or form part of a breakdown between managers and staff, leading to a lack of discipline throughout the organisation. Minor matters escalate rapidly if not resolved, and the DPN provides that solution.

To quote the Chief Commissioner out of context, “it is the little things that matter and can make a huge difference,” and that can be applied equally to discipline.

A DPN system covering a raft of matters will have a very significant and positive impact on Force discipline and members’ welfare.

A more disciplined force will see a substantial improvement in operational capabilities and outputs.

A DPN issued to a member takes away any angst or debate that reduces managers effectiveness, removes ambiguity, and encourages compliance on the spot rather than entering a convoluted process that is costly to administer and is a long way over the top for minor matters, creating a disincentive to act against miscreants.

There are a number of advantages of DPN’s if structured properly with a review provision and effective management of the issuing of DPN’s. A record of how many are issued and by whom and for what is an important safeguard against victimisation and also indicates whether the supervisor or manager is actually doing their job.

Once a mean average can be established across the organisation of DPN’s issued supervisors who are constantly above or below that average can be asked to explain. Most relevant if they are not meeting their KPI’s. If necessary, their management style can be adjusted.

Respect for Police is imperative to achieve good outcomes in Policing any community; it is counter-intuitive that Policing presents as an undisciplined organisation expecting the community to comply (exercise discipline) with the law.

Extending on the Chief’s comments that little things matter, the DPN system will correct many of the little things leading to a reduction in the bigger problems.

It is totally unreasonable to expect managers or supervisors to perform their task effectively without the necessary tools. We would not accept sending operational police into the field with out adequate tools, so appropriate tools should be provided for managers and supervisors.

The CAA believe the proactive deterrent effect of having this process in place will well justify the introduction.

The proposal for a Discipline Notice was submitted to VicPol in 2018 by the CAA.

Discipline Notice

2018

At the heart of every healthy and resilient organisation is its culture. A culture can wax and wane, but it is the culture that creates the environment for a successful, productive, and dynamic enterprise.

At its cultural peak, an organisation can be unassailable in its quest for success; at its worst, it will destroy that very same organisation making it circumscribed, insipid, racked with problems producing lacklustre results.

Many of the influences on the culture dynamic are very subtle, and others not so; however, to re-energise a negative culture takes a particular management skill.

One of the things we do know from our experience is that a culturally sound and dynamic organisation is not plagued by embarrassing leaks to the media because there are no embarrassments to leak.

Media leaks are symptomatic of a culturally weak organisation, and the problem is exasperated by ‘Witch Hunts’, focusing on the source of the leak, rather than energy directed at solving the issue leaked.’ Witch Hunts’ are damaging to the culture and used by management to divert focus from their ineptitude.

We recommend the Force adopt a Discipline Penalty Notice (DPN) approach to discipline within the organisation capable of dealing with eighty per cent of the discipline matters of the organisation.

The focus of this system is to correct behaviours, and if that fails, to provide empirical evidence to terminate the police member.

Former members who have been subject to the discipline where the abhorrent and unprofessional practice of Judicial Personnel Management was applied, including the disgusting practice of the, ‘Walk of Shame’, have all related a story which generally starts out with a rather benign issue that just escalates exponentially to where they are charged with criminal offences only to have them dismissed. A number of these stories we published.

The majority of ex-members we spoke to ultimately and successfully achieved redress through civil litigation. However, it was obvious in some cases that inappropriate action by some managers was ‘covered up’ by the confidentiality agreements negotiated for settlement. This culture of cover-up, not exposing anomalies in the behaviour and processes of Vicpol, goes to the detriment of the organisation.

The advantages of a discipline notice are:

1. The application of discipline can be closely monitored in both its application and impact, by location and individual managers, and will remove or readily identify examples of harassment and bad practices.
2. Managers will not need to negotiate, therefore avoiding the rationalisation debates that lead to conflict.
3. The system will be cost-effective by removing convoluted disciplinary procedures.
4. To free up resources dedicated to disciplinary matters to further bolster frontline policing.
5. To provide essential information for selection boards. Selection boards having access to notices issued against an applicant or where rank appropriate the number of notices issued by the applicant are both valuable inputs to assess any applicant.
6. Provide empirical data for any consideration of a member’s ability to remain in the organisation.

What might a Discipline Notice system look like?

The main components of the system should be:

• To recognise natural justice principles of fairness.
• To not be cumbersome.
• A period of three years without further breaches should see the expiration of the record of the original notice ( a prior).
• The penalties must be scaled. However, the temptation for high penalties must be avoided as the application of this process has broader implications than the monetary penalty.
• A right of appeal within a predetermined period, for example, seven days, must be provided to either a nominated Panel and or the Police Discipline Board.
• Fines ranging from $20 – $200 to discourage frivolous appeals.
• Penalties, when applied, must be recovered at the following pay period.(Unless hardship can be demonstrated)
• Line managers must be given real-time data on the use of this process within their span of command to enable action to be taken against misuse by subordinate managers.
• Notices must generally be issued at the time of the infringement; delaying the issuing minimises the effect.
• Once a Notice is issued, the onus will shift to the member to justify the breach on appeal.

The kinds of discipline offences that might be included are:

• Not being available and ready to start work at the rostered time.
• Ceasing duty before the allotted shift expiration.
• Presenting for duty with a hairstyle that does not comply with policy.
• Unkempt Uniform.
• Failing to maintain footwear in a serviceable and clean condition.
• Failing to wear headwear outside the precincts of a police building.
• Failing to properly brief fellow officers on matters likely to affect their performance of duty or adversely affect the public.
• Unauthorised access to material on the Police Intranet.
• Use of police IT resources for other than Police work.
• Abusive or belligerent behaviour in the workplace.
• Making racial or sexist slurs or gestures.
• Failing to report to superiors incidents of harassment, bullying or sexually inappropriate behaviour of others.
• Failing to comply with a supervisor’s reasonable and lawful instruction.
• Failing to complete required correspondence in a timely manner.
• Failing to follow up on a report by a member of the public.
• Failing to be courteous or compassionate to a member of the public.
• Failing to maintain Police equipment in a serviceable condition.
• The unauthorised release of information to the media.
• Asleep on duty.
• Failing to perform the allocated rostered duty.

These are but a few matters that can be dealt with under this process. There is no doubt many more that can be added to the list — the more added, the less need for specialist investigators.

This process will be a huge step in moving decision making from a centralised system closer to where the action causing the breach is played out and empowers line managers to take greater control of their area of responsibility and creates accountability.

With this proposal outline, we are confident that a small, committed team could have this system operational in a reasonably short period. The success of the program will be the implementation with deliberate acceptance that once it is operational, there will be the need for adjustments until the best process evolves.

Trying to make it perfect before implementation will assign this initiative to a premature grave.