The Herald Sun of January 7, p16, quotes Canadian Government figures of 49,000 deaths from opioid abuse between January 2016 and June 2024. This is a spine-chilling message for Victoria’s Labor Government, which has enthusiastically embraced pill testing at music festivals and has demonstrated a consistent determination to continue with a “harm minimisation” strategy that is a total failure in curbing the use of illicit drugs.
The North Richmond so-called “Safe Injecting Facility” that has so devastated the lives of local residents is a further example of Labor’s disregard for the many adverse consequences of catering to drug users at the expense of the community.
Canada’s experience ought to be warning enough that Victoria is headed in the entirely wrong direction with its current illicit drug policy.
It is time for the vast silent majority to realise that they have the power to force change. If Labor won’t listen, the only remedy is at the ballot box to support any political party that will.
The media headlines scream the plight of Melbourne’s affluent leafy suburbs and the burgeoning crime rates affecting the wealthy areas of Melbourne.
The Police are just as quick to quote statistics allegedly disproving any neighbourhood concerns, accusing them of over-egging the problem. The difficulty with that approach is that Police are trying to second guess how the community feels. If they don’t feel safe, all the statistics in the world will not enhance their eudemony.
As reported, the residents of Middle Park are hiring private security guards to patrol their neighbourhoods to help keep their streets safe. Other private security companies have already been patrolling areas in Werribee, Wyndham Vale, Camberwell, Hawthorn, Toorak, Brighton, Caulfield and Balwyn for months.
What concerns the CAA is that with nine or ten communities already hiring security, what of the suburbs that cannot afford this approach? Are they metaphorically kicked just down the gutter?
With the growth of private security services, communities deem it necessary for their safety because of Police ineffectiveness; the risk of litigation against Victoria Police must be considered a reality, particularly if all of the aggrieved communities join together with those who cannot afford security and pursue a class action against VicPol for lack of service. Apart from a class action, the group may form a serious voting block, developing clout with a political bent.
Victoria police, for its part, quotes crime statistics to counter the arguments of lack of Police service, and therein lies the problem. There are numerous excuses, but admitting failure is not one of them; it would, however, be a good place to start.
Victoria Police just doesn’t get it.
Policing in Victoria has lost touch with its primary function, preventing crime. That there are many arrests and successful police operations does not address the crime issue in its broadest context; arrests are only the measure of the failure of policing to prevent crime.
The CAA has spoken with many police executives and is disappointed that they do not even know or understand the basics of policing.
Over time, the Force has manipulated the narrative of proactive policing to encompass any action that the police perform; in other words, investigations are considered proactive, and this phenomenon is not restricted to a couple of outlier senior commanders but to command as a whole led by the Chief Commissioner.
The proactive, reactive conundrum example is that a Police patrol tasked with a particular function to apprehend felons in a given area at a given time is classified incorrectly as proactive; it is active policing. Alternatively, Police tasked with reducing criminal activity in a given location is proactive policing; any crime detected as opposed to prevented is coincidental.
The difference is not too subtle. If a police operation is focused on trying to catch crooks, hiding behind bushes to catch them out has success. Their success is measured by the number of arrests, but do those arrests translate into crime reduction?
The most relevant assessment of Police effectiveness is not the number of arrests but advice from those whom policing is asked to deliver its services, and that is not the crooks and not the politicians. It is the victims.
To better understand the proactive reactive conundrum, the actions of a previous Chief Commissioner, when confronted with a strong recommendation to close a Country Police Station, come to mind.
The recommendation was based on the lack of arrests and the lack of crime reports over an extended period, inferring that the police member was lazy, incompetent or both. This particular station had the worst statistical data used as a benchmark for Police performance for the State.
The Chief Commissioner denied permission to close the station but directed the report authors to clone the police member as he was achieving the perfect record of any police station in the state.
There was no arrest because crime and crime reports were absent—the ultimate proactive policing model. That police member was involved in over twenty community organisations. The impact was that no one in his area wanted to let him down by committing offences.
Another classic example is the Police Highway Patrol (HP) working the Hume Highway out of Seymour one easter.
Renowned for the high accident rate, it was not abnormal to have a couple of fatalities over this period.
The Seymour HP patch was Kalkallo to Euroa. The Seymour car initially drove to Euroa, turned around, put on the car warning lights and drove south to Kalkallo ostensibly as a visual emergency vehicle.
The HP then returned to Euroa with the flow of traffic and then repeated this process for the duration of the shifts over Easter. The rationale was that the vast majority of vehicles using this part of the highway would have been exposed to the police car.
All hell broke loose when the Seymour HP supervisor at Benalla compiled the statistical returns after Easter.
The number of bookings by each office showed a stark disparity between the two offices.
At that stage, Benalla had the infamous HP member known to the truckies as 1080, as deadly as rabbit poison, and his sidekick 540, only half as bad.
The bullocking came, and it was severe including threats that the Seymour HP would be kicked off the Highway back to a station, and on it went. Eventually, the Sergeant took a breath when he was reminded that there had been no fatalities between Kalkallo and Euroa for the whole of Easter, but on his Highway, Euroa to the NSW border, they had three.
That is a classic proactive versus reactive approach to policing. The Benalla crew had heaps of bookings achieved by all sorts of creative techniques, but does that justify the three lives that could possibly have been saved had a proactive approach been adopted?
The supervisor never raised the issue again, and the Seymour HP member was not rated down on annual assessment.
Victoria Police has lost the ability to understand the essential policing role and refuses to address the anomaly in the Force strategy; we suspect predominantly through ignorance; however, when Senior Command doesn’t even know the difference between proactive and reactive, what hope do the subordinate officers and troops have of implementing proactive strategies?
The test should be not what the command thinks but what the public thinks and what type of policing they want because, currently, they are paying out the billion-dollar bills for a Force failing to deliver the outcomes they are employed to provide. The Force could well do with a decent injection of accountability to the community it is supposed to serve.
The advent of communities employing their own security to achieve a level of safety that police are not providing strengthens the argument that police in this state are failing.
If you have any doubts as to this failure, ask yourself why, if we are told there are all these crooks being caught, why do we feel less safe, and why are there more vicious and disturbing crimes being committed?
The CAA membership is growing through disenchanted members of the public angered by the lack of Policing effectiveness – we are heading for a crisis of lawlessness, and the community is acutely aware of it. Victoria Police seem to be in denial of the inevitability.
We already have a number of community members joining the CAA who are disenchanted with the status quo, whether it is the residents of North Richmond near the drug injecting room, A crime spree at a local Bingo Hall in the west, retailers in St Kilda dealing with drug addicts, community group in Dandenong being bullied by Local government, NSW Tobacconist being threatened by unlawful tobacco cartels, one punch victims in Eltham, a single small business owner in Croydon, issues with forest areas of the Yarra Valley, problems for night clubs in Prahran, or problems with Police corruption.
The CAA gives all these people who are disenchanted by policing a voice.
We have given Victoria Police ample opportunity to address their and others’ concerns. Still, there is a definite lack of enthusiasm on behalf of the Force to do its job.
There are many success stories; however, a typical response is to blame the victim, which is the lowest form of responsibility rejection, and that is, more often than not, from very Senior people who should know better but do not.
Perhaps we can assist the public in coordinating security services or provide advice and guidance in their situations.
With over 400 years of executive police experience in our group, we will surely be able to help.
If anyone is interested in assisting the CAA in helping yours and other communities, contact us at info@caainc.org.au.
The loss of Police shifts may be a major issue for Victoria Police, but it is devastating for the public.
The Austrian Newspaper reports on the 31st of December 2024 on the Victoria Police Annual Report, which indicates that the loss of operational Police shifts has grown to 200,000 from 2024, a 12% spike.
As scary as this headline number is, the reality is that global statistics of this nature enable the actual causes to be hidden.
The impact of attending Traumatic events is well-overplayed; police for generations have all been faced with traumatic experiences, none more horrendous today than Police have faced in the past.
We defy anybody to find a serving or former police member who does not experience flashbacks to a trauma they have been exposed to. These events are with the Police for a lifetime, so managing them is the key.
Police are ordinary people doing an extraordinary job, and the risk that their experiences can overwhelm them is acute; however, how these ordinary people deal with exceptional circumstances sets them apart.
Searching for a solution has spawned an exponential growth of support services across the organisation, but the problem continues to escalate.
As a strategy that is a failure.
Ploughing in more resources will inevitably lead to growth in shifts lost, not a reduction—the self-fulfilling philosophy syndrome.
The spawning of an industry designed to assist Police victims of alleged work-related trauma has grown so large that it now self-generates its own demand and need, bordering on touting for business as the inevitable competition for services increases.
This clearly shows a need to look more closely at causes that may be considered a no-go zone for Police Command.
There are obvious causes, and solutions are embedded in each.
The role of the Police Association in promoting Trauma and PTSI as a major part of the convoluted industrial action is not helping the Police members they allegedly represent.
It does, however, elevate the severity of the problem to near a contagion level- reminding older Police of the contagion at one stage of Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI); everybody seemed to catch it.
The Police Association needs to urgently settle several ambit claims so that the workforce can return to some normality and the more contentious claims can be resolved later after the Force recovers to some degree.
One of the most effective methods to ensure the phenomenon continues at pace is the reinforcement among members of the dire state of their trauma exposure.
Continual exposure to the impact on mental health of trauma, in many cases, will promote the severity of a symptom looking for a name. Every foible experienced by Police is neatly packaged as PTSI, Trauma-related. Managers can then bundle up the issues affecting the Police member, tie it off in an apocryphal sack and stick it in a corner. No longer their problem.
The role of Police managers in this process cannot be highlighted enough. It is how the management handles staff that has a direct correlation to outcomes. Critically, this must be accurately measured.
There is broad anecdotal evidence that the trauma a member experiences is not of itself the cause for members not coping but rather the performance or lack thereof by managers throughout their chain of command that is the real cause.
This could quickly be resolved by setting benchmarks or key performance indicators on all ranks above Senior Sergeant, where the incidents of Trauma-related impacts on their staff are measured.
The span of control of everybody above that rank will quickly identify which managers are failing in this area to allow for targeted remedial action by the manager or their environment.
A lack of accountability has infected the Force, and this might be the first step in returning to an environment where staff may develop confidence in their managers by them being held to account.
The Force is not the only organisation with issues with management structure stifling the operations of the organisation.
It has been reported that the Australian Defence Force (ADF) has problems similar to those of VicPol, particularly in staff retention.
The allegations indicated that the ADF management structure is bloated and that decision-making is drawn up from the frontline operatives. Ironically, it is the level of decision-making in the ADF that much of its proud history was built on. Empowering soldiers to make their own decisions.
The similarities with VicPol are significant as recent governments have eroded the independence of the role of Constable of Police, removing discretion and applying legislation that tries, unsuccessfully, to regulate the human function of Police in an environment that is actually unable to be regulated.
As with the ADF, destroying the soldier’s and police’s ability to make decisions and achieve job satisfaction directly adversely affects the organisation’s performance.
This relates directly to the recruitment advertising strategies of both organisations. The high-grade, high-gloss recruiting advertising sets a scene to encourage recruits; however, if the reality conflicts with the advertised image, therein lies the retention issue where recruits quickly become dissatisfied that the advertised careers are not what happens in reality.
Management accountability at all levels is the key to a solution. The issue is not how many senior managers are in the organisation but what is it they do. Solve that, and the overall organisation will again prosper.
To manage PTSI, coping methods of informal and formal design must be promoted, and seeking professional help must be downgraded to service only in extreme cases. It’s not the first stop.
A simple management technique is the metaphorical Filing cabinet approach.
A well-constructed four-draw filing cabinet has one unique feature- only one drawer can be opened at a time.
The metaphoric cabinet can store life/police experiences in an order that suits the individual.
The bottom draw is where the worst traumas are stored and are generally of a historical nature; the next draw-up has mid-term trauma, with the current issue needing attention in draw number one, moving them to draw number two due to the passage of time or significance.
That means only one trauma can be dealt with at a time, as you cannot open two draws at once, and you cannot inadvertently open the number four Trauma draw.
The key is that the member is left in control, although triggers may still exist.
Police are ordinary people who do extraordinary things; therefore, the risk of psychological damage is higher. However, focusing on management skills and promoting coping mechanisms rather than rushing to fashionable diagnoses would reduce the number of lost shifts and improve the welfare of all members.
Identifying the managers who lack personnel management skills in this area will become very obvious once the concept that they are accountable sinks in.
Measured by their pushback and inane rationalisations, they should immediately be encouraged to review their career aspirations. They are not fit to command.
Victoria Police are off to Court to battle the current industrial dispute with the Police Association.
This dispute involving pay and conditions has dragged on for far too long, which points to intransigence on the side of both parties.
The unfortunate part of this dispute is that the real victims will be the public.
There is no doubt that given the public discourse on crime at the moment, either the administration of Victoria police has got their priorities very wrong, or the police members themselves are not performing at their optimum effectiveness.
It has been reported that the force is substantially understrength, creating disquiet among the rank and file, which is totally understandable. This problem didn’t happen overnight; it has been festering for a long time and has now manifested into a major issue.
Poor recruiting practices and creating a top-heavy organisation are all the failings of the force administration.
If the Force has been trying to address the issue, there is no evidence that they are succeeding in recruiting or retention, the other key driver affecting police numbers.
Ironically, it was not that long ago that the Force dispensed with two senior ranks, Chief Inspector and Chief Superintendent, based on efficiency.
What this did was cause a fractured hierarchal structure where senior people were promoted, not having served at the various levels of command, to hone and develop their leadership skills, as was the historical case, leading to ordinary commanders at the highest levels.
The plethora of commanders at the top end of the organisation has caused the organisation to slow to a snail’s pace as each commander seeks to eke out responsibility and or relevance, stagnating creative management and the development and function of the organisation.
Moreover, the growth in the number of senior people has literally exploded contrary to the intended outcome of removing ranks.
The impact apart from the poor organisational performance is most felt at the coal face of Policing, and that translates into the reduced capacity of the organisation to perform its function, and the people suffer poor service delivery.
For every additional senior officer position, apart from that individual position being removed from the operations, their support staff will also be drawn from the frontline.
These numbers may seem small, but collectively, it is probable that ancillary staff could staff another police station.
There are any number of drivers to address retention, and among the most obvious is a lack of job satisfaction.
This industrial imbroglio will substantially negatively impact retention the longer it drags on.
Staff retention is not only impacted by bad management but also by government intervention in the police role based on ideological values rather than pragmatic outcomes.
The State would not be in the position it currently finds itself in had these issues been recognised and addressed.
On the other side of the ledger, the rank and file, represented by the Police Association, according to media reports, has shown no intention to compromise in this dispute and lacking from that side and never uttered in public discourse is that dirty word, productivity.
The public support for police, which has stood up surprisingly well, will tend to wain when they are put at risk because this dispute drags on. This is not helped by being reminded continually by police vehicles daubed in graffiti.
Public support is easily lost and very difficult to recover, making it imperative that the Chief Commissioner and the Secretary of the Police Association find a way to resolve the dispute soon.
All the Association demands are well and good; however, the Association has boxed itself into a corner where to compromise it will lose face, as the dispute drags on their position is weakened. And that, for some, will be translated into weakness rather than pragmatism to end this dispute.
The longer the resolution takes, the greater the risk there is to recovery in the relationship between the command and the frontline troops, which may become fractured beyond repair.
It is now time for the Chief Commissioner and the Secretary of the Association to meet one-on-one and thrash out a deal that can be taken to the Government.
The legal approach where the protagonist fires salvos from safely behind the lines of silk robes will more than likely exacerbate the dispute, irrespective of what the courts find.
How this dispute got to this stage is unclear. Still, we have confidence that without interference, the Chief Commissioner and the Association Secretary are well capable of thrashing out a resolution – time for leadership so direct contact with each other’s nemesis can resolve the impasse.
There is no adequate expression to describe the youth problem in this State.
Is the problem with the Police, the Courts, the juvenile legal services, the schools, parents or the mishmash of the government departments?
Quite clearly, the problems are with all of them. They all have one common denominator: they are not accountable in any tangible way for their failures.
It would be an interesting challenge to examine the performance of each resource and determine its effectiveness. Unfortunately, the spin doctors would have a field day explaining why their organisation is faultless; it will invoke the ‘it is him over there’ syndrome.
It truly is a mishmash when you ask Google AI to determine which Government department is responsible for youth-
The Department of Families, Fairness and Housing (DFFH) in Victoria is responsible for youth, and the Minister for Youth is Natalie Suleyman MP. The DFFH also supports the Minister for Children and the Minister for Disability.
The Commission for Children and Young People (CCYP) is an independent body that promotes the safety and well-being of children and young people in Victoria. The CCYP’s vision is to respect and defend the rights of children and young people.
The Department of Justice and Community Safety Victoria supervises children and young people in the criminal justice system.
Notably absent from CCYP’s charter is the promotion of the obligations and responsibilities of children that must go with protection of their rights.
It is not some aberration that the offences being committed by youths have been climbing in intensity for some time, highlighted by the level of violence currently being reported daily.
It is fast becoming a war zone out there.
What has become even more obvious is that the current systems, programs and strategies for keeping youth to be safe and away from violence and crime are not working.
Youths armed with machete-type weapons taking on Police at a Christmas Carol’s service has got to be the absolute last straw.
It would also not be a surprise if we found out the perpetrators responsible for the firebombing of the Jewish synagogue last week could well be the work of juveniles.
Juveniles again running amok in the CBD highlights the ever-present danger to all citizens by this crazy state of affairs.
There have been, and there will be, inevitable deaths as a result of this behaviour. Recently, it has become perilously close to being reality when a juvenile involved in a home invasion tried to attack a young mother who had a two-month-old baby in her arms. The baby suffered severe head injuries.
That the incident happened in another State is irrelevant but demonstrates the major danger of violent juveniles. They do not consider any consequences that deter them from this violence.
Many years ago, a highly respected trainer of police recruits, Les Harly, an ex-Olympic boxer, repeatedly warned recruits that the most dangerous perpetrator they would confront with a gun was a juvenile because they would not consider the consequences of pulling the trigger.
This is sage advice today as police will inevitably confront armed teenagers not with machetes as is the current favoured weapon, but guns.
The consequence of unchecked escalation of violence.
Still, the underscored effect on families whose safe haven, their home, is regularly violated is the most impacted and has the longest severe effect on the families.
Where do we start?
Our civic leaders of all political persuasions must first acknowledge there is a problem.
Then, a team must be assembled to advise on how the issues can be addressed.
As complicated as the problem first appears, the solution or solutions are easy to identify as the activities of the juveniles themselves provide the answers.
If a child is told not to put their hand in a flame but ignore the advice, then the pain of the burn will dissuade them from ever trying it again; there is a consequence for the action.
If they play on the roadway and ignore parental advice, with the parent resorting to dragging them off the road, the lesson is learnt: there is a consequence for their action.
Considering solutions from the top down would always fail, but we never expected the spectacular failure we are currently witnessing. The terrifying part of this trend, and like all trends, it will continue to escalate, is the current trajectory bodes very poorly for all of us, including the youth.
The arrest of a juvenile perpetrator is the closest we come to a consequence of their actions; however, the impact of the arrest is diluted by the legal process that follows.
While the judiciary believes their actions are compassionate and balanced, what they think is irrelevant as much as they won’t admit it. The key is what the perpetrators believe, being lectured doesn’t cut it.
The imperative is that the perpetrators understand that there are consequences for their illegal activities that are not palatable to them, irrespective of what the judiciary might consider appropriate.
What the judiciary might consider a consequence is useless if the perpetrator does not see it that way.
All the words directed at juveniles by the judiciary are just white noise to them, and anyway, their lawyer speaks for them, so in their eyes, it doesn’t impact them.
The youths consider walking out of Court, whether on bail or with a non-custodial sentence, as ‘I beat it again’. No matter the threats and lectures they are given during the process.
There is also the phenomenon promoted by older criminals that allows the youths to be recruited for crime; the nothing will happen if you are caught’ principle.
Many young people are aspirational to climb further up the criminal pecking order and share in the rewards, albeit ill-gotten, and this is a serious motivator.
The other motivator for youth is the influence (bragging rights) within their sphere, and that can become all-encompassing for younger people driving their lives. That there are no consequences for their behaviour has built their ethos.
In either of these two examples, the common denominator and drivers are the lack of consequences other than the risk of being arrested, and even that is diluted because the Courts do not fulfil their function as the community intends.
Some time ago, a high-profile person working in the youth space for a respected youth organisation reacted to our suggestion that as part of an accountability strategy, parents could, in consultation with the Police, have young people lose access to their mobile phones as part of the Police cautioning program for a period.
The response we received is a demonstration of how some with a socialist ideological bent view punishment or consequences as irrelevant and only promote more antisocial behaviour.
The person became very indignant at the suggestion and claimed that it was absolutely the wrong approach because all the young person would do was act out until they got it back.
Doh! That response proves the suspicion that many working in the youth space do not understand their role. Giving into the youth is the antithesis of effective youth management. Rewarding bad behaviour will never work.
The issues are monumental, but unless a new approach or an old one in part is re-introduced, then the consequences really do not bear thinking about.
This headline most former and serving Police find very hard to accept, arguably a contradiction of our Police motto, ‘Tenez le droit’ or ‘Uphold the Right’.
How can the Force operate when some are unprepared to ‘Uphold the right’ by labelling their colleagues ‘Scabs’?
The Police Oath is also worth a read,
‘I [ insert name ] [ swear by Almighty God/do solemnly and sincerely affirm ] that I will well and truly serve our Sovereign as a police officer in Victoria in any capacity in which I may be appointed, promoted, or reduced to, without favour or affection, malice or ill-will for the period of [ insert period ] from this date, and until I am legally discharged, that I will see and cause the peace to be kept and preserved, and that I will prevent to the best of my power all offences, and that while I continue to be a police officer I will to the best of my skill and knowledge discharge all the duties legally imposed on me faithfully and according to law.’ [Victoria Police Act 2013, Schedule 2]
Interestingly, the Oath says nothing about exemptions for industrial action, and if industrial actions breach their Oath of Office, what consequences will be applied to members who engage in breaches? Have they renounced their allegiance to the Oath? With renouncing their Oath, how can they remain a ‘police officer in Victoria’?
Police turning on their own is also anathema in policing and unheard of, with the only likely loser the Police Association, or Police Union as it has now morphed into.
Allegations that the Police Association has moved too close to the government are born out in this dispute where the Association is generating angst against the Chief Commissioner, not the Government, who is responsible.
When the push for changed rostering arrangements to a four-day week with extended shift hours was rejected by the majority of Association members, the Association took the ‘Voice’ approach. Irrespective of how you vote, ‘we know best’, and that’s what we will pursue.
That approach is straight out of an ideology playbook.
The Police Association did not read the room well, and they are rushing to an outcome that may not be in the best interest of the community or the Force and, in particular, its members.
Unless the Police Association tempers its behaviour, the likelihood of a breakaway Association that will accept the will of its members cannot be discounted.
The word ‘ugly’ has been used to describe the current imbroglio in this industrial dispute, which can only be sheeted to one side.
Whoever is behind the attempt to destabilise the Police Force, they are succeeding, and the drivers may not all be within the Police ranks but outside with agendas that benefit them.
Identifying the external entities that would benefit from a damaged Force doesn’t take much imagination. It was very clever of the Government to allow the blame to be shifted from them to the Chief, but they are the ones responsible – they hold the purse strings.
The other part of this dispute that has become unacceptable is the attack on the Chief Commissioner.
Much of this dispute is beyond the control of the Chief and dictated mainly by budgets. The critics demanding that he resolve the matter are generally ignorant that the government is holding the reins, not the Chief; those reins are called the budget.
Regardless, the Chief has broader responsibilities than acquiescing to Union demands. He must operate a Police Force now and into the future, and if he doesn’t have the budget, it would be irresponsible for him to grant the Union’s demands.
We support the wage claim for the Police. They certainly deserve to be highly paid for the job they do; however, that high pay rate should not extend to those who are not on the frontline, and it has always been an anathema that some Police avoid the frontline but receive all the benefits of those protecting us. Although backroom jobs are essential, the operational function is the priority.
Rather than a general pay raise, reviewing and extending specific task allowances would be more equitable and provide a better chance of accommodating them within budget restraints.
The key will be implementing a narrow band of the term ‘Operational’ extending from Constable to Inspector but only applying to those staff who are actively ‘Operational’.
Supported by a well-managed Force Reserve, the organisation’s efficiency can be maintained and even improved within reasonable budget restraints.
Many will be disappointed that their non-operational role does not enjoy the pay scale of those on the front line.
However, a solution is available to all Police classified as non-operational: move to a frontline position.
As Victoria Police face the triple-edged sword of budget cuts, a dearth in recruiting, aggravated by a massive rise in the population, these colliding pressure points can inevitably hurt the most vulnerable in society with a systemic drop in police operational capacity.
Any hope of an improved visible police presence any time soon is forlorn.
There is also a temptation for the review announced by the Chief Commissioner to slash and burn.
That will translate into whenever there is a failure of police service delivery, like police not arriving when called, or your local police station is closed, the excuse will be ‘budget cuts’.
Although the excuse may be reasonable, if you’re hanging from a cliff by your fingernails, budget excuses won’t wash.
We have to hope and rely on the Chief Commissioner that his chosen team has the creative acuity to achieve objectives with innovation and creativeness that improves the organisation’s service whilst satisfying the competing pressures.
There is a direct correlation between a falling capability over many years and senior police leadership or lack thereof, and the current industrial imbroglio. All industrial disputes are not only about money and conditions but what also gains traction is a workforce that considers itself under siege because of poor leadership.
In the case of the Police, this is not something new or necessarily caused by the current administration but something that has not been addressed for over a quarter of a century by consecutive administrations that failed to identify the issue, ignored it or relegated it to the too-hard basket, hoping it will go away.
The unfortunate development of the corporate bubble and executives feeling they are elite are just some of the indicators of the current industrial impasse.
The Force review, now mooted, will create a temptation to amalgamate functions, particularly at the coal face. However, they have been tried before and failed the absolute ‘Service delivery’ test.
The focus must be on the senior administration, which has become effectively bloated, inefficient, and ineffective. Failing regularly to accept responsibility is a major concern pandering to the; ‘it’s all their fault, not ours; philosophy.’
This review will undoubtedly be the defining issue of Commissioner Patton’s tenure. He must get this one right.
The whole issue is not helped when Police executives do not appear to know the difference between ‘Service Delivery’ and ‘Service efficiency’, a fundamental and critical knowledge necessity.
This review will undoubtedly be the defining issue of Commissioner Patton’s tenure. He must get this one right.
‘Service delivery’ must always trump ‘Service efficiency’. The organisation’s being is to provide a service, in this case, policing. It is a management role to deliver efficiency in providing that service; however, if efficiency reduces the service, that is marked as a management failure.
The test to any change by this review must pass the ‘Service Delivery’ maxim.
Everybody interested in Policing must assist, whether current or former Police and the combined skills and support for the review is more likely to achieve a better outcome than obfuscation.
The CAA has, for some time, promoted the concept of establishing a Police reserve, which is not dissimilar to the way the military reserve is structured.
Any former member of the Force could apply, as well as some serving members where, due to circumstances, a full-time commitment is not feasible.
The former members of good character could apply to be re-employed in stations and other functions to relieve operational members back to the street.
The reserve members would be reinstated at their previous rank and renumerated in accordance with the current level for that rank/position.
Reserve members would not exercise line command but could advise junior members.
They could perform many functions, and their reinstatement as a particular class means they are again employed by VicPol and would automatically become sworn members unless they have chosen to abrogate their oath.
Reserve members would be employed in consultation with the applicant as many would not be interested in full-time employment but in an arrangement to fit in with their new lifestyle. This is best achieved by a ‘Positions available’ concept.
Serving members may be encouraged to join the Reserve to suit their situations rather than losing them altogether. Some members may need to work less than a five-day week, which they can achieve by transferring to the Reserve.
There is a myriad of other issues that need to be debated and resolved, but the force having the capacity to fill full-time vacant positions even with more than one reserve member and acknowledging that the Reserve members have capacity limitations, the alternative of just leaving the position vacant doesn’t help anybody, particularly the community. A Force Reserve is also cost-effective.
Above all else, the Force must resist the temptation to lower standards to attract more recruits.
This approach is short-sighted, and the negative impact will be felt for decades, where with the current thrust of the three-edged blade, we can only hope, it is short-lived, comparatively.
It is time for action to rein in the abuse of the Committal process in Victoria.
Therefore, with minimal disquiet, we welcome the changes proposed by the Government’s Attorney General Jaclyn Symes, as reported in the Herald Sun on the 29th of October.
Most of our concerns lay with the failure of the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, and these changes, increasing the Power of that Office, may be proven detrimental to the administration of Justice in this State.
The acknowledged dichotomy of the role of that Office in determining whether prosecutions should proceed through the Committal process or whether the matter should be dealt with as a direct presentment to a Higher Court for trial seems never to be based on pragmaticism, which should be the core of the decision-making process.
The activities and performance of the Director of Public Prosecutions have never been far from controversy and, on occasion, have been operating not in the best interest of the administration of Law in this State—a view caused by a void in the rationale of the decision, accountability.
Examples where the DPP’s Office has made questionable decisions that would seem not to be in the best interest of Justice include,
The travel rorts of two politicians.
The decisions around the Pell matter.
Any number of matters associated with the Lawer X fiasco.
Decisions relating to the Red Shirts rort, and
Aspects of the COVID Hotel Quarantine fiasco resulted in 768 deaths and 18,000 infections.
In these matters, the lack of anybody being held to account before the law, with one exception, the Pell matter, where the High Court determined that the actions of the office of the DPP had perpetrated a grave injustice, raises the suspicion that the DPP’s Office is exercising bias.
In the Pell matter, the architects of this injustice should have been held to account before the same law they attempted to manipulate for their purposes.
Another common denominator has been the conga line of key players responsible for these debacles being promoted to higher office. A cynic may argue that you need to make a mess of what you are responsible for to get ahead, ending up with people promoted to the level of incompetence.
It is no wonder that many in high office in this state were promoted despite their apparent failures and are now responsible for guiding Victoria, by any measure, into decline.
A brave and welcome change where the DPP was required to give a reason for decisions not to prosecute would go a long way to improve the accountability of that Office. That would ensure the decision is based on the Law, not some other influence.
The Judiciary are required to provide reasons for decisions, why not the DPP, as letting the light in avoids misconceptions of the office’s function.
The publication of decisions and reasons does not hamper the independence of the Courts, so it would not hamper the independence of the DPP.
The Victorian Law Reform Commission (VLRC) also called for Victoria’s Director of Public Prosecutions to take charge of more matters earlier and for police to take a back seat in prosecuting indictable offences.
For the DDP’s Office to play a more significant role, taking charge of criminal cases earlier is a retrograde step that will open up the legal system to corruption, as placing too much power in one entity inevitably creates, particularly if that entity is not accountable.
The idiom of ‘power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely’ will be the inevitable outcome.
Moving from a preliminary advisory role to ‘taking charge’ is blatantly an attempted power grab and is of great concern. There appears to be no boundary to what the ‘take over’ may mean, which is very dangerous.
There has been a tendency in many serious matters to involve the DPP’s Office very early in the investigation, which makes us wonder to what end. Is that an abdication by investigators of responsibility?
It is a question of the risk to the impartiality of the investigation process that is a bother.
This is moving the role of the DPP lawyers from advisers to taking charge, which will hurt law enforcement, not enhance it. Investigators are being led to capitulation of their accountability to the Chief Commissioner in favour of the bureaucrats.
What is often conveniently overlooked in this issue is the role of the ‘Hand Up Brief’ introduced in 2009 by the Criminal Procedures Amendment Bill, and much of the media focus of that time argued that the Hand Up Briefs could eventually eliminate committal proceedings. But that would adversely impact the employment of Lawyers, so nothing was ever done.
The DPP’s office has always had the option of a Direct Presentment, but it is rarely used, and there appears to be no legal reason other than the adverse impact on Lawyer’s employment.
Removing Committals will not adversely impact the defendant’s right to a fair trial; however, it will make the legal system more efficient, reducing time served for prisoners on remand who we must remember have not been convicted of the offence with which they have been charged and the unacceptable delays in administering justice through the Courts for victims seeking closure on criminal matters. These delays are not a few weeks but can be years.
The idiom of ‘Justice delayed is justice denied’ is very apt.
Ironically, this call from the Victorian Law Reform Commission in the Herald Sun on the 31st of October has drawn a somewhat predictable response from the Victorian Bar Council, ‘Victorian Bar warns against Victorian legal system overhaul’ is its own goal as their response in favour of the retention of this archaic legal practise exposes their bias in protecting the ‘status quo’ and Lawyers hip pocket.
Data from the Law Reform Commission website solidly supports what we all know: that the Committals process has well-passed its use-by date. And for the well-being of our legal system, it must be disposed to a safe place in history.
3.4 Each year, around 3000 criminal cases commence in the committal stream of the Magistrates’ Court and pass through some or all parts of a committal proceeding.[237]
3.5 Of these cases, roughly:
30 per cent are heard and determined summarily in the Magistrates’ Court.
A case can only be determined summarily if all indictable charges are withdrawn or discharged and a magistrate grants an application for summary jurisdiction, which, if granted, means the case will be determined according to the procedure outlined in the Criminal Procedure Act 2009
30 per cent are committed to the County Court for sentence following a guilty plea.
30 per cent are committed to the County Court for trial, following a plea of not guilty,
four per cent are committed to the Supreme Court. Of the cases committed to the Supreme Court, approximately 14 per cent are committed for sentence following a plea of guilty.
With 900 cases dealt with by Magistrates, which could be achieved administratively instead of a hearing, somewhere in the region of 2100 cases are committed to a higher Court or nearly 100% of all criminal committals are sent to the Higher Courts for determination.
On that matrix alone, what is the point of a committal process?
These findings, however, are an outstanding testament to the capabilities of Police investigators, the quality of their investigations, and the briefs they submit for prosecution.
There will also be some credit claimed by the prosecutors of the DPP’s Office; however, the best prosecutor cannot’ turn a purse back into a pig’s ear’, no matter how clever.
The role of the DPP should be to assess the validity of evidence presented to them by trained investigators – the Police.
A significant problem with Law reform is that the future employment advantages of Lawyers are foremost in any decision. The VLRC risks, in part, putting ‘the fox in charge of the hen house’ as the Victorian Bar Council confirms.
With approximately 3000 criminal cases to go through some form of committal proceeding each year in Victorian magistrate’s courts. Eliminating committals will save the state millions of dollars that could be directed to expanding the higher courts to improve justice overall by radically speeding up the administration of law.
The role of the DPP should be to assess the validity of evidence presented to them by trained investigators. If the Law Reform Commission has its way, it won’t be long before the DPP does investigations, which is the next logical step, and the police will be relieved of the task -. Rue the day.
The Chief Commissioner launched a force-wide review in late October ’24 to consider redundancies of hundreds of non-critical roles and the potential amalgamation of command divisions.
This review, motivated by the necessity to reign in the cost of Policing this State, is welcome news for not only that reason but also to reduce the burdening excesses of a bloated command and senior ranks and the proliferation of non-critical activities that have evolved, drawing police from their primary function of maintaining law and order.
The CAA has long argued that the structure of the executive branch of Victoria Police was not serving the organisation well.
Starting over a decade ago, the removal of two senior ranks below the Command level and the explosion of executive positions took off and became the norm.
The ranks of Commander, Assistant Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner have had their span of control and functions seriously depleted by the vast growth in their numbers, with each new appointment carving out relevance. That relevance comes with support staff and resources, and they are drawn down at the expense of frontline policing.
Each of these positions costs the State and the police budget millions of dollars in recurring expenditure for no greater outcomes from the organisation as the crime rate attests.
The inefficiency of this approach is evident in the decision-making process within the organisation.
As part of the ‘relevance carving’ of these executives, the decision-making within the organisation is drawn up to fill the allotted purpose of the new positions.
That adds to inefficiency in the command-and-control process. Decisions originally made at a lower level, much closer to where the impact is felt, are being drawn up to make some of these appointments relevant or given purpose.
Not only is this inefficiency writ large, but it also has a deleterious impact on those at the coal face trying to make policing work, only to find that they have to spend much of their time working out who the issue should be addressed when they used to be able to resolve it at their level.
This whole process has a very ‘Weeties packet’ feel about it, where the appointments over this period are akin to drawing the lucky coupon from the Weeties packet rather than demonstrating management and leadership capability.
Many may argue that the Police should not have their budgets impacted because of the adverse impact that will have on the community; however, if conducted with vigour and integrity, this review will attain a long overdue clean-out, achieving greater efficiency and building overall force morale, and in turn, improve operational performance.
There is, however, a significant problem that will be very challenging for the reviewers: the willingness of many police to give up their 9-5 positions, which attracts all the financial benefits available to police on the front line without the inconvenience of shift work or the inherent dangers of front-line policing.
In an address some time ago, the Chief Commissioner highlighted that most new Police Recruits lasted about four years on the street before seeking a non-operational position.
This phenomenon is very alarming and, in essence, puts the vast majority of police on the street who are relevantly in-experienced, where the most experienced must be there to service the public and nurture the newbies for policing effectiveness.
After just four years, a Police member who is dedicated and works hard may, with some luck, have completed a third of the journey to being an influential police member.
Four years of service is barely out of apprenticeship compared to many other trades and professions. This period should be designated post-probation, with some restrictions not applied to police who have served longer.
Part of this review must look at this issue and restructure the system. Members of less than six years’ service should only be relocated from their initial appointed position at the discretion of the Chief Commissioner.
Essential to maintain and improve service delivery, the development of a Police Reserve can be a cost-effective way of improving Police productivity while improving the Police culture, which, for several reasons, has been in decline for some considerable time.
The CAA will shortly publish a paper describing what a Police Reserve might look like.
In a new documentary, Port Coquitlam, teens describe how safer supply drugs are diverted to the streets, contributing to youth drug use.
CAA comment;
Victoria is inching towards the concept of ‘Safer Supply’ for drug users supposedly aimed at reducing the harm of the illicit drug trade, however as Canada is experiencing this strategy is a failure as it promotes drug use, particularly among teenager’s hood winked by the ‘Safer’ reference in the strategy – no drugs are safe.
There is pattern developing where governments are blind to the consequences of fashionable strategies when they are just playing into the hands of the drug cartels by promoting ‘Safe’ as a part of the illicit products.
There is little doubt that every drug pusher in the country can leverage off the Government ‘Safer supply’ mantra as a means of encouraging vulnerable young people to experiment.
The Video ‘The invisible Girls’ should be compulsory viewing for every politician in this State to ensure we do not follow any further the Canadian error that costs young people their lives and helps promote illicit drug use.
Madison was just 15 when she first encountered “dillies” — hydromorphone pills meant for safer supply, but readily available on the streets.
“Multiple people walking up the street, down the street, saying ‘dillies, dillies,’ and that’s how you get them,” Madison said, referring to dealers in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.
Madison says she could get pills for $1.25 each, when purchased directly from someone receiving the drugs through safer supply — a provincial program that provides drug users with prescribed opioids. Madison would typically buy a whole bottle to last a week.
But as her tolerance grew, so did her addiction, leading her to try fentanyl.
“The dillies weren’t hitting me anymore … I tried [fentanyl] and instantly I just melted,” she said.
Kamilah Sword, Madison’s best friend, was just 14 when she died of an overdose on Aug. 20, 2022 after taking a hydromorphone pill dispensed through safer supply.
Madison, along with Kamilah’s father, Gregory Sword, are among the Port Coquitlam, B.C., residents featured in a documentary by journalist Adam Zivo. The film uncovers how safer supply drugs — intended as a harm reduction measure — contribute to harm among youth by being highly accessible, addictive and dangerous.
Through emotional interviews with teens and their families, the film links these drugs to overdose deaths and explores how they can act as a gateway to stronger substances like fentanyl.
‘Not a myth’
Some last names are omitted to respect the victims’ desire for privacy.
Safer supply aims to reduce overdose deaths by providing individuals with substance use disorders access to pharmaceutical-grade alternatives, such as hydromorphone.
But some policy experts, health officials and journalists are concerned these drugs are being diverted onto the streets — particularly hydromorphone, which is often sold under the brand name Dilaudid and nicknamed “dillies.”
Zivo, the film’s director, points out the disinformation surrounding safer supply diversion, highlighting that some drug legalization activists downplay the issue of diversion.
In 2023, B.C.’s then-chief coroner Lisa Lapointe dismissed claims that individuals were collecting their safer supply medications and selling them to youth, thereby creating new opioid dependencies and contributing to overdose deaths. She labeled such claims an “urban myth.”
In the film, Madison describes how teen substance users would occasionally accompany people enrolled in the safer supply program to the pharmacy, where they would fill their prescriptions and then sell the drugs to the teens.
“It’s not a myth, because my best friend died from it,” she says in the film.
Fiona Wilson, deputy chief of the Vancouver Police Department, testified on April 15 to the House of Commons health committee studying Canada’s opioid crisis that about 50 per cent of hydromorphone seizures by police are linked to safer supply.
Deputy Chief of the Vancouver Police Department, Fiona Wilson, testified on April 15 during the House of Commons ‘Opioid Epidemic and Toxic Drug Crisis in Canada’ health committee meeting.
Additionally, Ottawa Police Sergeant Paul Stam previously confirmed to Canadian Affairs that similar reports of diverted safer supply drugs have been observed in Ottawa.
“Hopefully, by giving these victims a platform and bringing their stories to life, the film can impress upon Canadians the urgent need for reform,” Zivo told Canadian Affairs.
‘Creating addicts’
The teens featured in the film share their experiences with the addictive nature of dillies.
“After doing them for like a month, it felt like I needed them everyday,” says Amelie North, one teen featured in the documentary. “I felt like I couldn’t stand being alive without being on dillies.”
Madison explains how tolerance builds quickly. “You just keep doing them until it’s not enough at all.”
Madison started using fentanyl at the age of 12, leading to a near-fatal overdose after just one hit at a SkyTrain station. “It took five Narcan kits to save my life,” she says in the film.
Many of her friends use dillies or have tried fentanyl, she says. She estimates half the students at her school do.
“Government-supplied hydromorphone is a dangerous domino in the cascade of an addict’s downward spiral to ever more risky behaviour,” said Madison’s mother, Beth, to Canadian Affairs.
“The safe drug supply is creating addicts, not helping addicts,” Denise Fenske, North’s mother, told Canadian Affairs.
“I’m not sure when politicians talk about all the beds they have opened up for youth with drug or alcohol problems, where they actually are and how do we access them?”
Sword, Kamilah’s father, expressed his concern in an email to Canadian Affairs. “I want the people [watching the film] to understand how easy this drug is to get for the kids and how many kids it is affecting, the pain it causes the loved ones, [with] no answers or help for them.”
Screenshot: Dr. Matthew Orde reviewing Kamilah Sword’s toxicology report during his interview for the filming of ‘Government Heroin 2: The Invisible Girls’ in March 2024.
Autopsy
Kamilah’s death raises further concerns.
According to Dr. Matthew Orde, a forensic pathologist featured in the film, Kamilah’s toxicology report revealed a mix of depressants and stimulants, including flualprazolam (a benzo), benzoylecgonine (a cocaine byproduct), MDMA and hydromorphone.
Orde criticizes the BC Coroners Service for not following best practices by focusing solely on cardiac arrhythmia caused by cocaine and MDMA, while overlooking the potential role of benzos and hydromorphone.
Orde notes that in complex poly-drug deaths, an autopsy is typically performed to determine the cause more accurately. He says he was shocked that Kamilah’s case did not receive this level of investigation.
B.C. has one of the lowest autopsy rates in Canada.
Zivo told Canadian Affairs he thinks a public inquiry into Kamilah’s case and other youth deaths involving hydromorphone since 2020 is needed to assess if the province is accurately reporting the harms of safer supply.
“That just angers me that our coroners did not do what most of Canada would have done,” Sword told Canadian Affairs.
“It also makes me question why they didn’t do an autopsy, what is our so-called government hiding?”
If the media reports are accurate, Herald Sun 3rd of October 2024, VicPol must be hugely embarrassed or tone deaf.
The report quoted a Police spokesperson as saying,
“The end of the financial year is traditionally a time when police choose to retire but this year’s total of 261 who left the organisation in July and August is well up on the 220 of the same period last year.”
The statement itself has no problems, but what is incredible is that the issue of a drop in police numbers in the set time frame is ‘traditional’, so the Force knows it’s going to happen, and given the other figures, it seems highly improbable that the Force has been able to manage this phenomenon.
Hiring extra professionals to help with the backlog of Police applicants is at best, a band-aid and any impact on reducing the backlog and training these applicants will not yield meaningful results for over twelve months.
However, the problem of a lack of Police and the adverse impact on the community is here, and now, waiting twelve months for an uptick in the ability of the Force to respond adequately to community needs is unacceptable.
Victoria Police should explain their breakdown in service delivery to the victims, who police have failed.
Given that the staffing level peaks and troughs are a known factor the failure in this staffing area is best described by the idiom.
“Insanity is repeating the same mistakes and expecting different results.”
-Often incorrectly attributed to Einstein
For a number of years, the solution, in part, has been available but apparently never really properly considered , most probably because of misconceptions about the vast number of former police members’ attitudes to policing, which a very few loud naysayers promulgate.
Retirement – “the ability to do what you want because you want to, not because you have to”.
The vast majority of former police are very proud of their Police service and the values of policing. While the former Police, by Legislation, are no longer Sworn members, the vast majority have never denounced their oath but continue to honour it.
Contrary to perceptions, there are literally thousands of former police who, with little training, could augment the Force staffing demands to flatten out the peaks and troughs. And they are not all old; substantial numbers left their police career to raise a family and for other personal reasons whose circumstances may have changed.
The recent survey in support of a former member, Dr Ray Shuey’s integrity ‘bells the cat’. The myriad of comments made during the survey by former members should be compulsory reading for anybody in the command structure who doubts how much integrity is valued by former Police and the community.
There are hundreds of veterans who could be a valuable resource if used properly.
Many names on the list remind us all that VicPol was so highly thought of in times past as the preeminent Police Force in Australia that many members were encouraged to leave for other Policing agencies in Australia, with some attracted to overseas Law enforcement.
It is noteworthy that when VicPol was at its peak, the incidents of PTSD were markedly lower, bordering on rare. Make of that as you will.
With the right incentives, these retired members of all ranks could affect relief for front-line police of a raft of duties that do not require physical prowess, but their experience and life skills, plus a stellar police career, equip them well to backfill vacancies, particularly at stations.
Their bodies may be worn, but their mental acuity is a resource worth harvesting.
Equally, many non-operational positions could be filled by former police, relieving police of these duties to move to the operational function.
Former Police would generally not be looking to return to full-time work, but many would be interested in short-term casual arrangements that fit in with their new lifestyle.
The former Police, re-sworn, could carry out most inquiry/watchhouse functions and be a valuable mentor for some younger members.
A pragmatic evaluation of position functions could identify hundreds that could be tagged as suitable to be backfilled even to deal with relatively short-duration issues like the current Pro-Palestinian discourse or an emergency, natural or otherwise.
One substantially positive outcome from this approach is taking pressure off frontline police members and their managers trying to provide an effective Police function for the community, which can also reduce the impact of stress causing PTSI.
Sometimes, more maturity in a police environment can positively affect morale.
The recent push for a four-day week imbroglio might be resolved by providing serving members with the opportunity to move to a Police Reserve where their personal situation or lifestyle can be accommodated. Why lose them completely?
Never uttered in the same breath are the policing numbers and the crime rate.
Closely examining crime trends may show that the number of operational police corresponds to the crime trends. An effective Police Reserve force will positively impact the crime rate by injecting a vast knowledge base of experience into the organisation and allowing more police back on the street.
Before formulating a view on this missive, we suggest you return to the above Idiom. If this is not the solution, offer a better one than Insanity.
It would be very interesting to know how many ex-members would consider returning to VicPol, even on a part-time basis, provided the conditions were appropriate.
The attached survey form is not a commitment but an expression of support for the concept of a Police Reserve.
Surprise, surprise, the State has lost control of juvenile offenders.
The crime Tsunami CAA predicted almost ten years ago is well and truly upon us; what we didn’t expect was that the government’s ineptitude would contribute to fuelling the severity of the tsunami.
A massive spike in criminality by juveniles has made this State arguably the most dangerous in which to live, with the safety and sanctity of our homes being eroded daily by rampaging out-of-control youths. Not to mention the attacks on businesses.
Our safe haven bolt hole has all but disappeared.
The oft-quoted line of ‘you can’t arrest your way out of this problem’ rings very true, and a government that tinkers around the edges in the crime space is unquestionably the cause.
Law enforcement can only do so much, and we know they are trying their hardest, but with limited police resources, inept, ineffective courts, and the failing of so-called professional support services, all come at a considerable expense to the policing of the rest of the community and even more egregious, a huge cost of the failed development of our youth into meaningful contributors to our society, a penalty so severe it fades other sanctions into paltriness.
The latest tinkering with bail laws will have little impact because the primary cause of this imbroglio is the Courts lacking accountability in their role and the poor performance of individual jurists who operate without answerability. The influence of woke ideologies is a significant culprit embraced by gullible jurists.
Just as the government touts its latest reforms to bail, the impact of lifting the age of criminal responsibility is yet to be fully realised.
To aggravate a dire situation, the government has announced closing many of the children’s courts.
That will push out even further the current wait for justice, making truth of the adage ‘Justice delayed is justice denied’. Denying justice hurts victims and perpetrators alike.
When coupled with the age adjustment, the closing of the courts is no more than a cost-saving exercise. A cynic may argue that this has always been the plan. Raise the age of criminal responsibility to reduce court traffic and then shut the courts because they are inefficient – they are inefficient at administering the law, as the crime tsunami attests, and that should be the focus. Courts like any other entity has obligations for service delivery, how does making the courts less accessible improve the delivery of court services?
The combination of these two government actions means we will have more crime as there is no enforceable intervention in criminal behaviour of young children to prevent them from a further life of crime being ingrained in their psyche.
It has not gone unnoticed that all the advocates who promote the age of criminality changes are strong on the emotional rhetoric but near mute on the alternative process for managing out-of-control kids. Perhaps the advocates should talk sternly to the kids on the street to solve the problem. Good luck with that.
There is a lot of noise in the Northern Territory (NT), where the government has recently reversed the lifting of the age of criminal responsibility. Noise from advocates claim that little ten-year-olds will end up in the infamous Don Dale youth centre.
Notably, the rest of the community made the noise to reverse this decision at the Ballot box. It’s funny how, on social issues, the advocates never accept they may be wrong. As remote as the Youth Centre option is, it would be a last resort to protect the community and the child.
Even with the NT crime rate amongst young perpetrators, the courts are the arbiters of punishment, so the chances of a child going to prison are remote.
But back to the crime issue in Victoria because it is at a critical stage.
The solutions, in no particular order, are;
Provide financial incentives for homeowners to improve security – physical barriers, not just CCTV, which record after the fact and are so prolific that they have little preventive value. Criminals, including kids, are inherently lazy, and if entering the house is more complex, they will be discouraged from trying.
Make the Courts and jurists accountable for performance. This does not impinge on the independence of the Judiciary but at least makes their performance effective against reasonable benchmarks.
Introduce a Police Reserve to release operationally competent police from non-operational roles to bolster front-line numbers, allowing for better and more effective proactive policing. Stopping crime before it starts.
Review the role and accountability of the Children’s Commission.
The current Commissioner’s CV exposes extensive and severe conflicts of interest at play to the degree that would make the appointee unable or unwilling to help young people without the influence of an ideological bent.
The silence of the Commissioner in the current crisis speaks volumes.
Liana Buchanan is the Principal Commissioner for Children and Young People
Liana Buchanan commenced as the Principal Commissioner for Children and Young People in April 2016. (Coincidently, not long before the CAA warned of this current crime Tsunami). She also sits as a part-time Commissioner of the Victorian Law Reform Commission.
Liana has a background in oversight and system reform for people experiencing disadvantage, with a strong focus on family violence and sexual assault. Before she was appointed Commissioner, her roles included the Executive Officer of the Federation of Community Legal Centres, where she led the peak body for Victoria’s 50 community legal centres, and the Director of the Office of Correctional Services Review, where she was responsible for monitoring Victoria’s corrections system. Liana has also held legal and policy positions with a social justice focus in a number of agencies, including the Victorian Equal Opportunity Commission, Department of Justice, Office for the Status of Women (SA) and Women’s Legal Service (SA).
It seems Ms Buchaman is only a part-time Commissioner for Children and Young People, and with her career focus on social justice values, this conflict is absolutely counterintuitive to what this role should be about – protecting the young and vulnerable.
Instead of remaining silent, the Commissioner should provide leadership to resolve the problems inflicted on our youth.
It is an apt time for a root and branch reappraisal of the various functions and roles in the non-coal face operatives supposedly working to help police in this war, a reality that is approaching fast.
Police are being sent to fight a war without logistical, legislative or political support, and that is unconscionable, for the Police, victims and youths alike.
In Response to our late friend and colleague, Dr Ray Shuey’s expert witness report into the long-running saga of the Andrews’ collision with a boy on a bicycle, Andrews released the following statement:
“This so-called report was commissioned by lawyers on behalf of their clients who are seeking money through the courts by suing their former lawyers.”
“We are not a part
y to this legal action. We did nothing wrong. This matter has already been comprehensively and independently investigated and closed by Victoria Police and integrity agencies.”
“We will not dignify these appalling conspiracy theories by commenting further at this time.”
Andrews refers to the report by Ray and then immediately denigrates it and by implication Ray, as a “conspiracy theorist”.
The members of the Community Advocacy Alliance and Ray’s family, friends and former colleagues take great umbrage at the besmirching of the reputation of a former outstanding member of the Victoria Police and fine citizen who worked literally on his dying day in the interests of others.
The CAA has been assured that if we can gather one hundred expressions of support from people who knew Ray as a person of impeccable integrity, a major Melbourne newspaper will take up the cudgels publicly on Ray’s behalf.
We ask you to complete the support document, and if you are a member or former member of Victoria Police, we ask that you add your Registered Service Number.
Your support shall remain confidential.
In Support of Ray Shuey
For your chance to stand up for Ray Shuey, fill in the form below. Please provide your Victoria Police registered number if applicable if you are a member or former member.
Support Dr Ray Shuey
433 signatures Goal: 500
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500
To read Ray Shuey’s full report, click the button below:
The insatiable appetite for money by governments as much as the crooks has fuelled the tobacco wars, and new taxes proposed are only going to increase criminal participation in this lucrative Black Market, a market driven by demand that will only expand.
As criminal enterprises have developed a strong network to distribute their products due to government inaction, it is inevitable that items with high tax regimes or other restrictions imposed by regulations will become the target as criminals expand their wealth creation networks.
With announcements that the taxes on cigarettes are set to rise, as will the taxes on alcohol, the expansion of the current ‘Black Market’ is guaranteed.
What has happened?
Many of the players in the Tobacco Black market are, or were, heavily involved in the Drug trade, but they have found addicts are not a reliable or secure source of finance. Drug addicts are schemers, so income is challenging to secure, and intimidation doesn’t always work for desperate addicts.
The cost of distribution with many drugs passing through multiple dealers, each taking a cut, usually in the product, can work out expensive, hitting the bottom line of the primary players or financiers.
It is much easier to intimidate small business owners to sell illegal tobacco.
The potential for severe penalties for serious drug crimes also has the principals of criminal enterprises looking for safer havens to do (illegal) business. The risks, in many respects, outweigh the advantages. However, crooks, being crooks, are addicted to money and power, so any profitable enterprise is a target.
Law enforcement has an uphill battle to try to control this crime because of a lack of will on the part of successive governments that have historically tried to ignore the problems in the hope they would go away or at least not hurt their electoral fortunes.
The first real inkling that organised crime was moving to a black-marketing model was their move into the Gymnasium sector, where they could not only reap profits but also recruit the necessary enforcement muscle and provide a ready distribution point for illicit drugs. Moreover, this area was unregulated, giving them unfettered access.
By and large, they avoided the alcohol market as it is well regulated, and generally, the nightclub scene has been spared for the same reason. Gambling, although never far from the criminal minds, has not provided fertile opportunities on a large scale.
Inevitably, other vulnerable markets will soon be exploited, given that criminal enterprises have established a ‘retail mechanism’ to market their black-market wares.
Illicit products, literally sold out of a car boot, have insufficient scale to be worthwhile; however, working under the guise of a legitimate business can scale up the market size and develop a loyal following that can be exploited further.
Some prominent and not-so-obvious enterprises will, if not now, eventually attract the criminal element running the black market.
Obvious future targets.
Pharmaceutical products- compounded knock-offs being the most obvious, but there are many more.
Petrol – although regulated, there will be effort targeting the resource to exploit any weaknesses, loyalty cards being the most obvious.
Food consumables- already legitimate retailers are hit hard by criminals stealing their goods. With the growth of the criminal’s access to customers through their black-market retail outlets (tobacco stores), shop stealing is set to rise dramatically.
Feeding into this phenomenon is the rise in the age of criminal intent to twelve years, and recruiting children under twelve will escalate because they cannot be prosecuted. Many eight- to twelve-year-olds are well capable of shoplifting quality targeted products in retail stores and supermarkets to be sold on the black-market. When they get older, they become ideal users and or dealers to service the drug trade.
Electronic devices – as the cost increases in the Mobile phone market, this will drive many to seek (latest) cheaper alternatives, and the black market is somewhere to go. This will undercut the major phone industry players and avoid taxes like GST.
There are, however, many more opportunities than listed here, but constant vigilance to control the criminal trade needs a special focus.
Much black-market trading is initially driven by financial pressure on some community sectors, while huge profits attract others.
Although there is no disputing that this is a law enforcement issue, enforcement cannot be achieved without the government’s direct intervention to ensure that law enforcement has the tools to do its job.
Although much of the focus is on Policing as the lead agency, which is fair enough, it would be foolish to assume they can do it on their own, an unrealistic expectation.
The Courts have a role to play, as do the other government agencies as well as the legislators, and to have any chance of controlling, let alone removing, this scourge of society, there must be a master plan, and all agencies held to account for it’s implementation.
Given the current fiscal pressure on their budgets, one would expect governments to be very keen, so the financial argument is compelling.
But it is not only the government budgets; these costs hit every taxpayer.
The excise and other taxes on tobacco have, without question, driven the astronomical growth of the tobacco black market.
A pack of legal Marlboro cigarettes will cost close to $60. A similar packet of illicit tobacco can cost as little as $15. With the newly flagged increase in the coming months, they will be close to $100 per pack.
Based purely on a financial rationale, it would be of more significant economic benefit to governments if they could achieve the lion’s share of taxes at a lower rate as customers move back to legitimate businesses, with a much lower tax regime rather than the profits (taxes) going to the criminals.
The loss of GST revenue alone should be justification for the government to lift its game.
To achieve the most significant impact, without fanfare, the shock to some criminals for a radical price shift at extremely short notice will be enough to destroy many of their business models. Even the cost of a container of cigarettes is a big debt if their income stream is severely damaged without time to adjust. Many criminals are importing multiple containers, so the damage of being unable to move that stock will be extreme.
To try to minimise costs, the criminal hierarchy will be forced to come out from the protection of the shadows. Forcing them to expose themselves as they reduce underlings to prop up their bottom line. This will greatly help the Police to identify them.
The argument that constant price hikes through taxes would achieve a decline in nicotine consumption, benefiting the whole community and taking pressure off the health system, has been exposed in recent media as a myth.
There has been an easily argued rationale for increasing the price of cigarettes based on the health argument that the dearer the cigarettes, so reducing the number of people who can afford to smoke automatically follows a correlation between price rises and user decline.
However, nicotine in Melbourne wastewater has remained stable for the last decade. This contradicts the claims from governments and health groups that putting the price of cigarettes beyond the reach of the masses will reduce nicotine use. That has now been shown to be a myth.
If meaningful inroads to destroy the criminal enterprises, which are undoubtedly very large, are to be achieved, a coordinated effort is required, and marketing principles should be at the fore.
It is well past time for the Police procedures at demonstrations to be reviewed before a police member is killed in the line of duty. While that death may be honourable, it will be a cold comfort to the member’s family and colleagues, and to know that it was avoidable will make it even more tragic.
The CAA has proposed the introduction of water cannons for crowd control in Victoria, predating COVID.
Demonstrators should go home with a wet tail rather than an injury from allegedly non-lethal bullets and or respiratory issues from chemical crowd control techniques, and the police have a better chance of going home uninjured.
But Government inaction has now seen many police injured in the latest disquiet.
There has been a pattern in the management of the police response to demonstrations over the last decade or so, and the greater the direct conflict between police and demonstrators, the greater the likelihood of injuries on both sides.
There has been a plethora of full-time special police units established to deal with public disorder and special response units in recent decades, these units have been established at the expense of police on the street where the community needs them.
Demonstrations are infrequent and generally of short duration, making it very difficult to justify all these full-time specialists. Especially when calling the Police to get help is so problematic, and the public gets all the usual excuses when there may be hundreds of police twiddling their thumbs between public disorder incidents.
Rather than all these full-time specialists and the resources that support them, police at the Coal Face, who volunteer, could be trained up and continue in their regular policing roles and called upon when needed. Keeping Police Stations Open and police cars on the road improves the overall police service.
The surfeit of ‘police anti-riot kits’ on display during these most recent demonstrations is unbelievable. Still, it has not saved over twenty police being injured thus far, and the demonstrations are ongoing.
We have no truck with the rabble currently wreaking havoc in our city, but the Police, again, are the proverbial punching bag. Police do not deserve to go to work to cop the disgusting treatment meted out by an unlawfully assembled mob.
It would not surprise us if, after the dust has settled, injured police members consider taking a class action with a massive damages suit.
All the risk to the Police could have been substantially mitigated if the Force and the Government had listened to the CAA and acquired a Water Cannon capability.
These vehicles are not cheap, so if cost is an issue, the resources could be shared with other states, as most demonstrations of note have a substantial lead-in time to allow for the vehicles to be moved to where they may be required.
The cost offset against the substantial reduction in the number of police required at a demonstration surely makes a sound business case.
Based on the cost of police for the latest demonstration at $30m, water cannons could reduce the police members’ commitments by 1/3 and would have saved $10m, sufficient to provide more than one water cannon with ongoing operating costs well offset from future demonstrations.
The bottom line is that the police would be placed at a lesser risk of not engaging with violent thugs physically. The crowds can be quickly moved on with minimal harm to police and the miscreants.
In Israel, it is reported that they regularly use water cannons with a novel variation. Dye is added to the water so they can identify perpetrators to round up later. Not a silly idea.
In a conversation with a former Police Commissioner, he was asked why the Water cannon in that state had been disposed of. He answered that the device was old, which was fair enough, but his other reason astounded us. It hadn’t been used in years.
Perhaps the fact that they had one meant that the cannon’s mere presence was a substantial deterrent.
We are also surprised that the Police Association has not been vocal on this point, given the lack of water cannon’s adverse impact on members.
There is little doubt demonstrators will start using chemical sprays and other weapons to counter the Police in the future; however, being drenched to the skin will dissuade many from their endeavours. If that doesn’t work, a water cannon can knock them off their feet.
Using water instead of firearms and chemical weapons for crowd control is a far more effective and humane way to control those bent on unlawful mob behaviour.
Having to go home after a demonstration saturated to the skin would be very uncomfortable indeed and likely discourage many from returning, no matter how dedicated they are to their cause.
That they may be covered in bright dye that is not easily removed would extend the deterrent effect dramatically as they try to resume their everyday lives, not to mention they would also be waiting for a knock on the door as police round up perpetrators post-event.
It has been reported that the morale of the Police is at an all-time low. Contact with serving members by the CAA confirms the low morale issue; however, if the morale issue is to be addressed, it will not be solved by pay increases; that is not a silver morale bullet; the problem will still exist.
To understand the issues at play better, the Hawthorne Experiment sets out the issues well.
“The studies concluded that tangible motivators such as monetary incentives and good working conditions are generally less important in improving employee productivity than intangible motivators such as meeting individuals’ desire to belong to a group and be included in decision making and work.”
Although we strongly support the need to increase Police salaries, the underlying causes of low morale must be urgently addressed.
Whether a four-day week or an extra 15 minutes per shift, any move to decrease productivity has a knock-on effect, reducing staff availability and aggravating morale by increasing the load on on-duty members.
Looking from outside the force, the central issue seems to be not how many Police are in the organisation but how they are used and, importantly, how often good work is acknowledged.
It is evident that a significant shift in the current approach to policing is needed.
Around 2010, the force transitioned from a proactive force engaging with the community to a predominantly reactionary force, using arrests as a measure of success.
This shift in approach has clearly not served Victoria well. It has contributed, among other factors, to the increase in crime, particularly among juveniles.
Over fourteen years, which included in 2016, prophetic warnings from the CAA of a crime tsunami, particularly a youth crime tsunami, successive administrations have ignored or have been incapable of heeding our advice.
It is no wonder that morale is low with front-line staff so stretched as to make a very rewarding job into a drudgery with job satisfaction, a major job morale issue, almost eliminated.
No matter what the excuses, the reality is the problem must be shared amongst the force executive for poor leadership, and they should face the brunt of criticism.
The CAA believes that although a lot more can be done to address the issue, the current Chief Commissioner, Shane Patton, has at least tried to address some of the anomalies in management strategies and applications. However, it does appear that he is facing headwinds from a number of senior officers who have perhaps a Neanderthal inclination to Policing; a clean-out is absolutely overdue.
The morale problem must be adequately exposed so it can be addressed; to do that, an examination of the issues must be undertaken. Whether internal or external, it has little consequence as long as the process is totally transparent and capable of taking sworn evidence.
Some of the issues that must be examined are’.
Force discipline – Policing is or should be a disciplined force given its dangerous function. Supervisors in the field and elsewhere must be respected and trained and, collectively, insist on discipline from their subordinates; being their best friend doesn’t cut it when a situation turns to muck. There are no problems with being friends off duty, but that relationship must change once on duty.
Allocation of resources – There is something dramatically wrong with the management function when some Police stations can have high numbers of Police beavering away on computers. In contrast, neighbouring communities have no police to keep their local station open.
Situational awareness – as often seen in the media, apart from police engaged in an incident, there always appear to be many police acting as onlookers. While it is not wrong to have the backs of the police directly involved, nobody has the backs of all the police audience to the action. This is dangerous and exposes the Police to unreasonable danger. The lack of supervision or poorly trained supervisors at incidents is a major failure.
Organisational review/audit – there does not appear to be an effective review and audit process for the operations and management of resources within VicPol. This is a grave anomaly, and problems cannot be routinely identified and addressed, feeding into the declining morale problem.
Other issues need addressing; however, the most important is the Review as the most efficient path to not only lifting morale but also supporting the Chief Commissioner and bringing Victoria Police up to best practice standard of a modern police force.
Another insightful article from Break the Needle in Canada. It is becoming uncanny as these articles relate to the identical issues and fallout from drug use and abuse in this state.
We can easily transpose Nelson for Richmond as the issues are not similar but identical.
They have both gone down the path of harm minimisation and are paying a very high community social price.
The power of these articles is they allow the obverse argument to be published, giving a balanced account of the situation, and allowing readers to form their own views, something the pro-drug lobby will not tolerate.
The tired old chestnut of “Drug addiction is a health issue, not a crime” was again trotted out, and its use is disingenuous.
Addiction per se is a health issue, and on that, there is no argument, but the behaviour of the addicts while under the influence is more often than not criminal, as is the sourcing of their drugs of choice. As are the behaviours that the addicts and all users indulge in facilitating their access to illegal products.
The problem with the Health argument is that it implies that all the other criminal and anti-social behaviours of users and addicts are somehow acceptable or excusable, arrant rubbish.
By Alexandra Keeler
“Just the other night, we had an intruder in our yard,” Kirsten Stolee recounted, her voice unsteady. Her two daughters often watch television with their windows open. “He easily could have gotten inside,” she said.
Stolee lives in Nelson, a picturesque, mountain-rimmed town in BC’s Southern Interior that is struggling with rising public disorder. Some residents, herself included, say that local harm reduction initiatives – which appear to be operating without adequate accountability and safety measures – are responsible for the decay.
Near Stolee’s house, one can find the Stepping Stones emergency shelter alongside the former Nelson Friendship Outreach Clubhouse, which used to provide support services for individuals struggling with mental health issues before being abandoned late last year.
When the clubhouse still operated, supporters claimed that it provided clients with a space to socialize and partake in “art, gardening, cooking and summer camp” – but critics countered that it was a drop-in centre for drug users. After the provincial government announced plans to open a supervised inhalation site at the clubhouse early last year, local residents protested and had the project, and eventually the clubhouse itself, shut down.
Although Stolee supports harm reduction in principle, she opposed the opening of the inhalation site on safety grounds. The incidents near her home were concerning: an assault just outside her window, a drug-addled individual stabbing a pole with scissors, people carrying weapons on the street in front of the site. When her daughter’s phone was stolen, it was eventually recovered from a man at the clubhouse.
Although the clubhouse is closed, Stepping Stones continues to operate and has been similarly chaotic. Stolee watched a suspected drug dealer attack one of the residents there, and learned that another resident had made an inappropriate comment to her daughter.
She has also observed fire hazards near local homeless encampments, including a burning electrical panel and abandoned fires, and says that local drug users “play with fires” on sidewalks and streets. She finds these incidents concerning, as BC and Alberta have recently been ravaged by large wildfires and Nelson’s downtown is filled with historic wooden architecture.
Calling the police seemed unhelpful. In one case, officers dismissed her concerns about a man who was carrying large rocks, considering him non-threatening. However, the man was later arrested for assault and for using these types of rocks to break into a gas station.
Gavin Halford, a representative of Interior Health, the provincial agency which oversees most of the region’s harm reduction programs, stated that his organization “does not tolerate or condone any form of criminal activity, including trespassing.” He claimed that Interior Health has taken “a number of steps to increase security at the Clubhouse,” including increased signage, lighting, video surveillance and on-site security services.
However, the acquisition of 24/7 security services was facilitated by Stolee’s partner, after Interior Health told him that no such options were available. The partner also alleges that he was told by local police officers that Interior Health asked them not to enforce the “No Trespassing” signs around the clubhouse.
Stolee’s family has since invested $1,000 into security upgrades such as video surveillance and fencing. “We have baseball bats and pepper spray by our front door and a bat under the bed,” she said, noting that she wrote a letter to BC Premier David Eby detailing their experiences, which received no reply.
Kari Kroker, another neighbour of Stepping Stones, said that downtown Nelson has experienced a noticeable decline as open drug use and trafficking have proliferated, including sales to youth. “The alley behind my house has become a place of screaming and chaos,” she said, expressing frustration at how some drug users have told local children that using drugs is a form of “play.”
“I’m all in favour of putting more money into this situation, but I think we’re going the cheap way,” said Kroker. “I don’t see the province doing much to solve this. I don’t see rehab and supports for people. We need rehab. Where are the facilities to support people?” She believes that the town’s social fabric is fraying and that “harmony has been completely undermined.”
Tanya Finley, owner of Finley’s Bar and Grill and Sage Wine Bar, is an outspoken critic of provincial harm reduction policies and a leading figure in N2, the local residents’ association. She says that human feces, drug dealing, broken windows and home invasions are daily issues in her community: “Our eighty-year-old neighbour, who had just had surgery, had a brick thrown through her window.”
Finley says that her activism has had personal and professional costs and that, after she wrote a newspaper article advocating that homeless individuals be relocated to more suitable locations, a harm reduction advocate urged for a boycott of her business on social media. This led to a decline in sales and caused some of her employees to worry about their job security.
N2 was formed earlier this year after the province attempted to open the aforementioned supervised inhalation site. Local residents believed that the location of the site was unsuitably close to several youth facilities and that health authorities had, in contravention to Health Canada guidelines, failed to adequately consult the community.
“We were lied to deliberately and continuously,” said Kroker. “We found out later that this had been in the works for almost a year.”
Early efforts to address public safety concerns were undermined by accusations of NIMBYism and inadequate responses from government authorities. After N2 was formed and took collective action – such as letters to officials and media engagement – officials began to take these concerns more seriously and temporarily halted the opening of the inhalation site.
Polly Sutherland from ANKORS, a local harm reduction organization, acknowledged friction with the community but said that deteriorating public safety is largely due to limited resources. “We need more staff hours… We have the expertise and compassion for these individuals. Just give us the resources to do our jobs, and we will get it done,” she said.
She said that high rents have worsened homelessness and dereliction, and that mobile services could mitigate the concentration of public disorder in certain areas.
Nelson’s Mayor, Janice Morrison, who has had 35 years of experience working in healthcare, emphasized that municipal authority over healthcare is limited and argued for improved communication with provincial and federal agencies, which she believed needed to provide more funding.
“I think ANKORS is totally correct in that they need more staff hours and more resources,” she said, while stressing the importance of funding existing roles, such as community safety officers and outreach workers. “Drug addiction is a health issue, not a crime,” she said.
Morrison also criticized Interior Health for its inadequate community consultation regarding the placement of harm reduction sites. “They’ve had a hard go of it in their area,” the mayor said, referring to these sites’ neighbours.
Despite public safety challenges, Morrison noted that Nelson has made progress with operating several safe injection sites and would soon be adding 28 supportive housing beds. She remained committed to finding solutions despite persistent funding difficulties. “I’m ready to hear the solutions, and to support anyone with viable ideas,” she said.
The CAA has long promoted a similar scenario for this state, arguing that kicking those suffering substance abuse or any impairment that removes their acuity to manage themselves into the gutter and walk away is effectively what we are doing in this State and is a disgusting treatment and disrespect for human life.
The drug apologists try to falsely claim the moral high ground, claiming that Harm Minimisation saves lives. How does facilitating the pumping of some questionable drug into an addict’s veins help the addict? It may be okay for them today, but what about tomorrow?
We aggravate the situation by creating an alleged safe injecting room that does nothing to address the issues of the user. How perpetuating the adverse effect that drugs have on people by providing government support in the furtherance of their addiction or risk-taking is incomprehensible.
We can learn a lot from Ontario; they have been there and are now plotting a way back.
Ontario’s decision to close safe consumption sites near schools and daycares comes in the wake of a bystander’s death and class-action lawsuit.
By Alexandra Keeler
In a dramatic shift in policy, Ontario is closing 10 safe consumption sites located near schools and daycares, citing public safety concerns.
“Our first priority must always be protecting our communities, especially when it comes to our most innocent and vulnerable — our children,” said Ontario Health Minister Sylvia Jones at an Association of Municipalities of Ontario conference in Ottawa on Tuesday.
Safe consumption sites, which enable people to use illicit drugs with sterile equipment under staff supervision, will be prohibited from operating within 200 metres of schools and child-care centres after March 31, 2025.
The province also plans to introduce legislation to prevent municipalities from establishing new consumption sites, requesting the decriminalization of illegal drugs or participating in federal safe supply initiatives, a health ministry press release says.
Safe consumption sites have faced mounting scrutiny in the wake of community feedback highlighting their effect on public safety.
“We’ve noticed a real change from 2021 onwards,” Andrea Nickel, a parent who lives near a safe consumption site at Toronto’s South Riverdale Community Health Centre, told Canadian Affairs in May.
“At the beginning of last year it just escalated out of control.”
Unacceptable danger
Ontario opened its first safe consumption site in 2017 with the aim of reducing overdose deaths and providing users with a gateway to treatment. Today, there are 23 safe consumption sites across the province, 17 of which are provincially funded.
KeepSIX, the safe consumption site in South Riverdale, is among the sites facing closure. Last July, Karolina Huebner-Makurat, a local resident and mother of two, was fatally shot during a gunfight outside the site. Her death prompted Ontario to conduct two reviews of the centre and to also review the 16 other provincially funded sites.
A review of keepSIX conducted by the hospital network Unity Health Toronto and released in February recommended improvements in security, community relations, law enforcement communication and staff training. It did not recommend closure.
Drugs found by a child in the South Riverdale neighbourhood. (Photo provided by Andrea Nickel.)
The second review, released in April and conducted by former health-care executive Jill Campbell, also opposed closure. It advocated instead for expanded harm reduction and treatment, enhanced security and increased mental health support.
In March 2024, two South Riverdale residents launched a class-action lawsuit against the operator of keepSIX and all levels of government, Canadian Affairs reported in May. The lawsuit alleges the site has exposed the community to unacceptable danger.
The site’s proximity to daycares and schools and its role in exposing children to illicit drugs and used needles are at the heart of that case.
Reacting to this week’s announcement, South Riverdale parent Andrea Nickel said she is supportive of the site’s services. “[But] it is not unreasonable to ask that they are balanced with community safety, specifically kids’ safety.”
South Riverdale’s response cited the centre’s role in reversing 74 overdoses in 2023.
“Every overdose reversed is a life saved,” Anne Marie Aikins, a public affairs consultant at AMA Communications, said on behalf of the centre.
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‘Devil’s in the details’
In Tuesday’s address, Ontario’s health minister also announced a $378-million investment to establish 19 new Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment Hubs (HART hubs) across the province. These recovery-focused hubs will offer social support services and employment assistance to individuals struggling with addiction.
They will not provide supervised drug consumption, needle exchange programs or the “safe supply” of prescribed controlled substances.
“The devil’s in the details with these things,” said John-Paul Michael, an addictions case manager in Toronto who has extensive experience in harm reduction and lived experience with substance use.
“Everyone I know in the harm-reduction community is very much in favour of having better access to treatment, better access to detox, better wraparound care,” he said. “The problem becomes when it is at the expense of other evidence-based care.”
Michael says safe consumption sites are often the only form of health care available to individuals struggling with addiction. Eliminating them would leave these individuals without support, he says.
“Safe consumption sites are essential for saving lives, particularly for those who may never seek formal treatment,” he said. “Eliminating these supports disregards the value of human life.”
Michael is also concerned about the reduction of needle exchange services, which are crucial for managing HIV and Hepatitis C rates and lessening the burden on emergency rooms.
“Community-based nurses at [safe consumption sites] provide basic care that can prevent emergency department visits and potentially severe outcomes, such as [intensive care unit] stays,” Michael said.
The province will soon seek proposals to establish up to 10 HART hubs. Priority will be given to proposals that aim to transition existing safe consumption sites — especially those facing closure — into HART hubs.
“[T]he likelihood is that [these transitions] would happen very quickly,” Health Minister Jones told reporters on Tuesday. “The other applications — it will depend on what they bring forward.”
I’m not sure when the “ helping community” is going to get it through their heads that helping people stay addicted is not helping them. When addicts have their substance of choice freely available and someone to make sure they don’t die, what possible reason would they have for doing the hard work of getting clean? Users are interested in one thing above health, family, even food: the next dose.
The evolution of Policing in Victoria and elsewhere has seen the introduction and division of policing function into two distinct genera. Proactive and Reactive. Prior to the 1980s, reactive policing was the norm.
When proactive policing philosophies were introduced, most police initially treated the proactive philosophy with disdain and distrust, claiming they were being made to go soft on crime; dogged police leadership prevailed.
Over a remarkably short period, in terms of policing history, the concept most derided became accepted as most thinking Police came to understand its effectiveness.
The definitions of the two theories are simplified by the National Institute of Justice in the United States,
Proactive Policing
The term “proactive policing” encompasses several methods designed to reduce crime through prevention strategies and stands in contrast to conventional “reactive” policing.
Example 1 – Proactive functions – foot patrols
Foot patrols are one of the most effective proactive strategies often maligned as old-fashioned; although if undertaken by experienced police, it has an outstanding positive effect on the community and an equally disincentive on crime.
Over the last decade or so, the effective foot patrol police appear not to have received the focus and training this policing tool deserves to maximise its effectiveness. Some police have clearly had no training in the art of foot patrol; they end up seeing it as an opportunity to stroll around engaged with their partner and not the community.
Apart from a lack of training, the ineffectiveness of competent supervision is a significant contributor.
This untrained, unsupervised approach raises the issue of Police safety. Being engaged with their partner/s dramatically diminishes the most important survival skill: situational awareness.
In the past, newly graduated police spent their initial policing on foot patrol of Melbourne CBD one-up. The only accoutrements were their baton and handcuffs, so learning situation awareness was a critical survival skill.
Whether it is two up patrols or more, as is now the norm, the public is excluded from contact as police-to-police interactions act as a barrier to public discourse and, in equal part, raises substantially the risk to the police by inattentiveness to their environment, increasing the danger of being targeted.
Whether it is a regular patrol, engaging with children in their schools, dealing with aged care issues, or interacting with community groups, allowing a spasmodic approach to develop reflects poorly on management rather than the members concerned.
The other key element of Proactive policing is consistency. So sometimes, management must ring-fence the proactive function to gain the effectiveness it can deliver.
Reactive Policing
For the most part, it responds to crime that has occurred.
Example 2 – reactive policing.
A good example is the current media dubbed ‘tobacco wars’.
There is no argument that this requires a reactive response, and that is occurring; however, the ‘wars’ have escalated to a level where, despite their best efforts, regional reactive approaches are not stemming the problem, and the demand for a more assertive and a more coordinated approach was needed.
A Task Force has been established to target the problem.
The response is appropriate in the circumstances as the problem exceeds the capacity of a proactive approach; however, the claim that this Task force-targeted approach is proactive is a misnomer.
Targeting a crime that has been committed is a reaction to the crime; therefore, this function is reactive and should not be confused with proactive.
Unfortunately, the cause of this ‘war’ has not been addressed, so the chances of police ending it are minimal at best.
The problem has evolved through the greed of successive governments, which raised tobacco excise to exorbitant levels under the guise of a health initiative.
With the loss of excise and the costs associated with the criminal activities of the black market, it is probable that the government may end up earning more income from the sum of the majority of tobacco sales at a much-reduced excise than from only a small proportion as it currently does.
From a health perspective, it is highly improbable that smoking will rise to the levels of years ago; the community has moved on from that social habit.
This would disrupt the black-market business model. Additionally, coupled with a licencing scheme for retailers to sell the product, it could sound the death knell of this criminal endeavour overnight.
Remove the profit from criminals and solve the problem.
Reluctance to implement a solution must draw our attention to who benefits, and whether corrupt practices are at play, and by whom.
From a community perspective, the concept of eudaemony is better achieved through proactive policing supported by reactive policing than the other way around.
Focus on stopping crime before it happens rather than picking up the pieces after.
The proactive model in policing theory has and always will have its detractors. The temptation for Police leaders to use proactive resources to focus on reactive functions is often too great to ignore. What they fail to understand is that proactive policing is a slow burn.
Interruptions usually set it back considerably, and the overall benefit for short-term reactive functions is questionable and lacks management foresight. The price of these interventions can be just too high and reflects poorly on the understanding of the proactive philosophy.
Piecemeal proactive activities will produce piecemeal to mediocre results. A management-focused commitment to the principle is needed for the proactive function to be effective.
In the past, every police member seeking promotion had to demonstrate their understanding and contribution to the proactive philosophy.
Those police who have been involved in Proactive policing during their careers will vehemently defend the concept, having experienced first-hand its effectiveness in reducing crime and social disorder.
When proactive policing was introduced, management found that the police’s eagerness to become involved led to many initiatives driven from the bottom up rather than those imposed from the top down. These initiatives were highly successful and contributed substantially to police welfare at the time, as they owned the programs. Blue Light Discos is a prime example. They were conceived at a local police station to become a National and International policing phenomenon.
Coincidentally, police Post-Traumatic Stress, although referred to then as just Stress, diminished compared to post-administrations that have stifled these initiatives. Read into that what you will.
Enlightened management encouraged and guided the initiatives, but sadly, two decades ago, an ill-informed and incompetent administration all but dispensed with those programmes.
We are confident that if you asked the community that police serve, they would encourage police to expand the prevention policy and prevent crime.
Proactive vs. Reactive is not an either-or proposition but an overarching police philosophy that, if managed correctly, will benefit the community and the police by delivering the services of a modern approach to law enforcement.
There is a tendency for Policing to default to the pre-1980s style of policing, a trend that must be altered.
Magistrate Brett Sonnett, as reported in the Herald Sun, has strongly criticized the Police for charging offenders accused of serious offences on summons. This practice could potentially impact the safety and security of the public.
However, the current revolving door in relation to bail in some courts poses a far greater safety risk for the public.
His Honours blast was misplaced.
We have no knowledge of any organised stance or policy within VicPol to use summons more widely. Still, it must be remembered that the Constables’ decision in this process is exercising their Common Law right of discretion.
Police constables are not soldiers working to the beat of the Courts or anybody else’s drum, and the Courts must be more careful when challenging the right of a ‘constable of police’. Common law discretion is territory the courts may find has a sting in its tail.
The issue of bail has been contentious, with the community expressing significant concern about the courts’ interpretations. The public is disturbed by the frequent release of violent offenders on bail, to the extent that the chances of a prisoner being remanded in custody are akin to winning Tatslotto.
The most current example of a seventeen-year-old allegedly responsible for the death of a young doctor was granted bail and within hours breached the bail conditions and, then returned to court, was inexplicably granted bail yet again. Apparently, allegedly killing somebody is insufficient reason to refuse bail.
As much as some in the judiciary see the hierarchy of courts as boundaries not to be crossed, the public sees the Courts as one entity. If one jurisdiction develops unacceptable practices in the community, all court jurisdictions are tarred with the same brush.
His honour should have a good look at the performance of Magistrates and Judges relating to the bail issue across the Court system. Where there is a propensity to bail violent or other serious offenders in a high proportion of the matters before that jurisdiction, take action, and then the Police may have more confidence in bringing them before a Court by arrest.
The police’s propensity to use a Summons rather than apply to a Court for remand is a symptom of the court’s failure to read the public’s concern.
The government blames the Courts, and the Courts blame the Government, but like the Police, the Courts have discretion in interpreting the legislation.
Mr Sonnett should show more respect for the police, as they deal with these offenders and their victims on a daily basis. This contrasts with the judiciary, which only sees perpetrators in the sterile Court, and even then, the defendants are represented by their Lawyers.
The judiciary is generally shielded from the public, and they are not generally exposed to the community outrage over the bailing processes currently in vogue.
Therefore, it is inevitable that the police will continue to exercise their discretion to proceed by summons until the Court’s do not so readily bail recidivist and violent offenders.
It is clear that the Police have lost confidence in the Courts. In the collective years of experience of the former Police members of the CAA, amounting to some four hundred years, this is the first time in memory that the Courts, by their actions, have caused Police to lose confidence, not so much in individual Judicial officers, but in the broader court function.
The police’s lack of trust in the Courts reflects the community’s attitude as a whole; the police are just opening the window.
Mr Sonnett could do well directing his energy toward rebuilding the long-term trust the Police used to have in the Courts; repairing that will go a long way to rebuilding community trust.
The current media discussion of placing cameras in all courtrooms to remove the judiciary’s anonymity and create accountability for their work has some merit.
Letting the light in is sometimes the best sanitiser.
The community is tired of this continual waffle about getting tough on Youth crime. They want action, not words.
As victims accumulate at an alarming rate and the youth cohort becomes more violent and brash, the government’s rhetoric becomes more hollow and meaningless.
How many times do we hear that there is no problem, it is just a small cohort, or we have the lowest youth crime figures in Australia only to be told the next day that the independent Crime Statistics Agency has debunked the government claims?
Yet again, this headline – appeared in the Herald Sun on July 21, 2024
ALLAN GOVT SET TO STRENGTHEN VICTORIA’S YOUTH BAIL LAWS IN A CRACKDOWN ON CRIME
Suggesting that the government is dithering would perhaps be an understatement because the changes they are considering will be to the Youth Justice Bill before Parliament.
If passed, this Bill, some 900 pages long, will make the current situation look benign. Yong people will have no barriers or accountability to control their criminal behaviour.
Astoundingly, the drafting of this Bill took five years: five years to rewrite the laws regarding youth offenders and five years to mess it up completely.
The CAA has examined the Bill and were shocked at its ineptitude, particularly,
not one reference in the 900 pages to any effort or strategy to avoid children becoming involved in crime in the first place,
a focus solely on diverting children from the legal system no matter what they do,
victims only received very scant references and no consideration,
children are treated like disposable commodities as there is no mention of protecting a child for themselves, a concept too difficult for the architects of the Bill to contemplate,
the real kicker was the complete avoidance of any reference to accountability by young offenders.
This Bill is so bad that our critique ran to ten pages,
The bill also lifts the age of criminal responsibility, initially to twelve and later fourteen, currently ten years. This alone makes the bill a joke as while the ideological dreamers may hold sway over the government, the Crime Statistics Agency has children aged 10 or 11 years old recording a 52.6 per cent spike in the number of offences committed, and they want to make those offences go away by classifying those perpetrators as exempt from prosecution.
The age changes may help the shocking statistics but won’t help the children or the victims, but neither of them matters much when statistics are under pressure. One result that can be guaranteed is that the number of victims will increase exponentially.
Try and explain this drivel to a victim of weapon-wielding children in this age bracket or explain why there was no intervention of the younger children to steer them away from further crime. By age thirteen, their behaviour will be entrenched and nearly impossible to divert.
To aggravate the incompetence, the government proposes legislating the Police Cautioning Program, which has successfully diverted thousands of children from its inception many decades ago.
This program is arguably the most effective mechanism developed to divert young people from crime, but being good makes it a target.
The proven adage of ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ should apply.
Police arrest the thieves, and courts release them. There has to be a better way.
That way is what the CAA calls the G-Tag (Electronic Vehicle tracking).
If the Government won’t bring the Courts into line to do their job, then the community will have to take action.
Every day, we are told of yet another shocking crime or string of crimes to which a Motor car is central, but the government sits on its hands and takes no action apart from the odd manipulation of statistics to deflect criticism.
First and foremost, the judiciary has failed, and its role now must be evaluated based on the ineffectiveness of its penalties by Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).
The Key indicator is the primary function of a sentence: general deterrence. However, this has been lost in the mire of so-called diversions, few of which divert the offenders from more crime.
If a judicial officer’s adjudication is below a benchmark performance (KPI), and particularly if the sentencing fails to achieve the primary objective of deterring others, then they need to explain their failure, and where that failure is consistent, they should be removed from the bench.
The reality is that if the circa 20,000 cars and other vehicles that are stolen annually and used by criminals were made unusable for their criminal activities, the theft of cars would drop dramatically, and with it, the crime the vehicles facilitate.
There would not only be a massive crime drop but also a massive impact on car owners’ safety and reduced cost, as the dramatic drop in Victorian fleet thefts would force insurers to lower premiums as the risk factors diminish.
The Courts have failed to reign in crime and blame the government, which, in turn, accuses the Courts.
Additionally, the Government has been made aware of an alternate plan since 2016 but considers the plan not even worthy of discussing with the CAA.
The problem with the plan we agree, challenges the status quo, but the status quo doesn’t help the thousands of victims; the G-Tag will.
There is, however, an alternate option: bypassing the government.
The alternative is providing the private sector with the opportunity to implement the G-Tag.
A subscription service to protect vehicles would be cost-effective for owners who could offset some of the cost with reduced premiums from insurers and provide a disabling capacity for vehicles if they are stolen, which could be a viable alternative to waiting for the government.
The money this would save the State purse by reducing crime and processing criminals would justify some relief for those who subscribe to the G-Tag service.
The security industry already operates control rooms that monitor security equipment, and some companies monitor the movement of ankle bracelets, so providing a G-Tag service would not be a significant technological step.
Although technology is unlikely to stop a vehicle from being stolen as soon as the owner is aware, the car can be disabled, making it useless for the crooks.
Most high-end vehicles already have the technology built-in, and other vehicles are relatively cheap to equip.
The disruption to the crook’s plans would deter them from stealing any vehicle with a G-Tag sticker on the window.
The G-Tag can put a vehicle into ‘limp home mode’, reducing its maximum speed to 80 KPH, and then disable the engine when it is safe.
The police can be notified of the incident and organise an interception coordinated with the use of the vehicle’s disabling capacity.
One distinct advantage is that thieves are unlikely to have the opportunity to torch the vehicle, destroying evidence.
A negotiation with the E-Tag operators could make this concept more viable.
It is a big challenge; however, if we wait for the government, it will never happen, and the crooks will continue to operate with gay abandon, and victims will continue to be put at risk because of government inaction.
Whether you are an Uber Driver or a Mum on the school run, we must lift their protection.
The CAA calls on entrepreneurial businesses who might be interested in exploring this concept to contact us at info@caainc.org.au
Yet another insightful article from Break the Needle.
We are thankfully not at this stage yet, but the efforts of our politicians and the trajectory they have put in place lead to some inevitability that we will as they push the failed ‘Harm Minimisation’ approach they have embraced – ‘Safer Supply’ will be the inevitable next step after safe injecting facilities and pill testing interventions that promote drug use.
The Canadian experience highlights the failure to recognise or accept that early
intervention is the only process that can reverse this trend from ruining lives.
Addiction physician Dr. Sharon Koivu has seen the effects of safer supply programs in her clinical practice and personal life — and is sounding the alarm
Having worked on the front lines of Ontario’s opioid crisis, she views these programs as a catastrophic failure.
In an extended interview, Koivu explained the unintended consequences of these programs, which offer free tablets of hydromorphone — an opioid about as strong as heroin – to vulnerable patients with a history of addiction. While advocates of safer supply claim it mitigates the use of more dangerous illicit substances, there is evidence that most users divert — that is, sell or trade — their hydromorphone to acquire stronger substances.
Safer supply was first piloted in London, Ont., in 2016, before being widely expanded across Canada in 2020 with the help of generous federal grants. While the program looked good on paper, Koivu, who provides comprehensive addiction consultation services at a London-based hospital, saw a different reality: her patients were destabilising, relapsing and fatally overdosing because of safer supply.
Koivu says that “one hundred percent” of her colleagues working in addiction medicine have noticed safer supply diversion. Some patients have told her they have been threatened with violence if they do not procure and divert these drugs. She estimates that, because of safer supply, tens of thousands of diverted hydromorphone pills — also known as “Dilaudid,” “dillies” or “D8s” — are flooding into Canadian streets every day.
For context, just two or three of these pills, if snorted, are enough to induce an overdose in a new user.
This influx has caused the drug’s street price to crash by as much as 95 per cent. While 8-milligram hydromorphone pills used to sell for $20 each several years ago, they can now be bought for as little as a dollar or two. These rock-bottom prices have ignited a new wave of addictions and relapses, and lured opioid-naive individuals into experimenting with what is essentially pharmaceutical heroin.
Koivu estimates that 80 per cent of her opioid-using patients now take diverted hydromorphone.
“The biggest harm is that we’ve turned on the tap and we’ve made everything cheap, which is leading to a large increase in the number of people becoming addicted and suffering,” she said.
“It is the most serious issue that I’ve seen in my lifetime.”
Safer supply programs seem to regularly overprescribe opioids without considering patients’ actual needs, Koivu says. Patients have come into her hospital with prescriptions that provide 40 eight-milligram hydromorphone pills a day, even though they can only tolerate 10 pills.
‘That attraction is horrific’
Throughout the first few decades of Koivu’s career, almost “everyone” in her patient pool developed addictions due to childhood traumas or from mishandling opioids prescribed for chronic pain.
Since the advent of safer supply, the origins of new opioid addictions have shifted toward social or recreational exposure. Concerningly, this exposure often occurs in patients’ adolescent years.
“I’m seeing an increase in youth becoming addicted,” said Koivu, who has had patients as young as 15 tell her their addictions began through diverted hydromorphone.
“Almost everyone I see who’s started since 2018 started recreationally. It started as something that was at a party. It’s now a recreational drug at the youth level.”
Parents often seem completely unaware of the problem. Some have told Koivu they overheard their children discussing the availability of “D8s” at their high schools, only to later realise — when it was too late — they were referring to opioids.
“You can’t walk into your house with a six-pack of beer. If you’re smoking weed, people can smell it. But you can walk into your house with a lot of [tablets] in your pocket. So, it’s cheap, really easy to hide, and is even called ‘safe’ by the government. I think that attraction is horrific.”
“Our youth are dying at a higher rate … and we have a lot more hydromorphone found in [their bodies] at the time of death.”
While safer supply programs claim to make communities safer, Koivu’s lived experiences suggest the opposite. She used to reside in London’s Old East Village, where the city’s first safer supply program opened in 2016, but moved away after watching her neighbourhood deteriorate from widespread crime, overdoses and drug trafficking.
“I moved there to support a supervised injection site,” said Koivu. “Then I watched that community drastically change when safer supply was implemented. … I would go for walks and directly see diversion taking place. Homelessness is very complicated, but this has absolutely fuelled it in ways that are unconscionable.”
Koivu characterises the evidentiary standards used by advocates of safer supply as “deeply problematic.” She says many of the studies supporting safer supply are qualitative — meaning they rely on interviews — and use anecdotal data from patients who have a vested interest in perpetuating the program.
While Koivu has been blowing the whistle on safer supply programs for years, her concerns largely went unnoticed until recently. She has faced years of harassment and denigration for her views.
“When I came to say I’m concerned about what I’m seeing: the infections, the suffering, the encampments … I was literally told that I was lying,” she said.
Last month, the London Police Service provided the National Post with data showing that annual hydromorphone seizures increased by 3,000 per cent after access to safer supply was significantly expanded in 2020. The newspaper has since raised questions about why this data was not released earlier and whether the police stonewalled attempts to investigate the issue.
Koivu considers herself a lifelong progressive and has historically supported the New Democratic Party. But she is concerned many left-leaning politicians have ignored criticism of safer supply. Many seemingly believe that opposition to it is inherently conservative.
“I went to a hearing in Ottawa of a standing committee to talk about addiction,” she said. “We had five minutes to give a talk and then two hours to answer questions, [but] I didn’t receive any questions from the NDP or the Liberals.”
Although Koivu believes safe supply can play a role in the continuum of care for opioid addiction, she says it must be executed in a meticulous manner that prevents diversion and emphasises pathways to recovery.
“It needs to be part of a comprehensive strategy to help people get their lives back. And right now, it’s not.”
Above all, it is Koivu’s experience as a mother that drives her to criticize safer supply. One of her sons struggled with opioid addiction as a young adult. Although he eventually recovered, the experience could have killed him.
“Had this program been around … my family could have been another statistic from an opioid death. That drives me. Because it’s very real, and it’s very personal.”
To say the CAA has deep concerns about this Bill and the adverse impact it will have on raising youth crime in this state is a gross understatement.
What is generally not well understood is that this Bill is ‘the foot in the door’ for further introducing the concept of ‘Restorative Justice’, a monumental change in how Justice is dispensed in this State.
A plan that promotes ideology over pragmatism.
Significant changes included in this Bill include the plethora of conferences and committees required to manage each offender instead of the concept of punishment and accountability, which has been whitewashed out of this Bill.
Preventing young people from committing crimes in the first place is not even mentioned.
Effectively, a child can take a position where they will not comply with any processes available to the Courts or any other authorities under this Bill, and nothing can be done about it. No punishment can be applied, regardless of the child’s actions.
We suspect that the majority of the community and many politicians do not understand the consequences of this Bill, and none of them are good.
Why wasn’t the community advised of this change? We are unaware of where the Government of the day achieved a mandate for such a severe and monumental change to the principles of Justice.
It took five years to draft, underscoring the difficulty and, given the outcome, incompetence displayed in the principles that have evolved to form this Bill.
This Bill will continue to stoke crime, not diminish it.
‘A committee was formed to design a Horse ( the Bill to Reform Youth Justice), but they came up with a camel ( no ordinary Camel but a two-humped Bactrian Camel with three legs).’
With all the effort of five years, the Bill as presented does not address the issue the community now faces and is riddled with extreme socialist ideology and drafted by a committee that has no understanding of the people they are supposed to be protecting. It will feed the crime wave.
The Bill misses the mark by a long way.
Central to the flaw in this Bill is the assumption that children under thirteen (13) cannot form criminal intent.
This assumption isn’t based on any empirical data and flies in the face of the reality of the evolution of human development.
Over the last two decades, the development of young people has accelerated faster than any other preceding era.
The speed at which this has occurred is most evident in the last ten years when evolution achieved warp speed, driven by two significant factors: Nutrition and Technology.
The ‘canary in the coal mine’, the juvenile crime surge, generally ignored, has seen the accelerated crime rate by Juveniles and the failure to recognise the changes that were occurring in front of us all.
Nutrition
The impact of a higher level of nutrition in recent times must be seen as positive as young people will probably grow up healthier than their predecessors, but with that nutrition comes increased physical development. It’s not an issue until you realise that young people, on average, are taller and better developed physically than their predecessors. A phenomenon that immature minds can and do exploit.
Technology
Technology continues to accelerate at warp speed, and young people born in this era are the ones who maximise its use. They are more connected and have access to more data than previous generations ever dreamed of. This massive influx of good and bad information has developed young people’s mental acuity well beyond the perceived norm. This has happened without comparative life skills development.
They, therefore, lack the ability and maturity to process and analyse this physical development effectively, leading them to emulate others without understanding the consequences or ignoring the consequences because there are none.
Impact
Today, a 10 – 12-year-old is the equivalent of a 13–15-year-old ten years ago.
The Bill is headed in the wrong direction and should instead be lowering the age of criminal responsibility, not lifting it, particularly when the child understands what they did was criminal.
Lifting the age of criminal intent to 12 years before children can be charged with a crime, irrespective of their development, is a recipe for increased crime. Waiting until they are older before any legal intervention can occur entrenches the child further into crime, making efforts to rehabilitate them from crime much more difficult.
Early intervention will reduce crime and improve the chances of young people developing without the stigma of exposure to Legal processes.
Why do we have to wait until a young person is climbing the hierarchy of crime before any action is taken?
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