PLAN 100……..

 “Addressing Law and Order for all Victorians”

  Prepared by K. Glare and I. Ray

For the

Community Advocacy Alliance.

              The Community Advocacy Alliance (CAA) has previously identified the magnitude of the “Crime Tsunami” facing this State and has also commented on some of the most obvious causes.

This document is designed to provide a basis for building a workable strategy to redress the trends. This document has been prepared with the information available in the public domain and through consultation with serving and retired Police and the broader community, including victims.

The document covers broader Law and Order issues beyond Policing, and Policing can be broken into three general categories: effectiveness, efficiency, and morale.

These three important facets of Policing are the key areas that must be addressed for policing to serve the community as effectively as possible.

The argument of “policing is different” just does not wash anymore, and service delivery needs to be a priority, and the Police performance needs to be held accountable back to the community through the Annual Report and quarterly reporting, coupled with the Crime statistics.

If Service delivery falls below par, the Chief Commissioner needs to explain why and how he proposes to rectify the matter.

The other argument that there are “different pressures” on modern policing also does not wash. Sir Robert Peel, when designing the principles of modern policing over 100 years ago, which have stood the test of time, did not envisage the motorcar, technology, the impact of drugs, or a raft of other new issues arising since the principles were designed.

It is inconceivable that Victoria Police will continue on the current strategies that got us where we are now, in a ‘crime tsunami’yuryu`, particularly when neighbouring States with comparable community demographics (that operate more in line with Peel’s Philosophy) are reducing their crime rates with fewer police per head of population. We accept that trends can be fickle, but a consistently rising crime rate in Victoria has evolved that has not been seen in other States. To reverse this trend, there does not seem to be a plan, feasible or not, just a few isolated, incidental adjustments. It needs somebody to stand up and take responsibility.

Implementing the contents of this document is the fastest and best way to reverse current Crime trends, which have evolved over nearly twenty years, but will still take time to resolve.

The community is demanding change of a systemic and profound nature immediately. The demands are becoming more strident and show no sign of diminishing, but the reverse.

To make a difference and start the recovery process:-

• REFORMING AND MODERNISING THE POLICING FUNCTION:

 Service Delivery:  Policing is no different to any other service provided to the community by the government or the private sector. It is totally reasonable that the community can expect a certain level of delivery of that service set against benchmarks, so that management and the community can have confidence in the organisation.

We now live in a fast-moving digital world where things happen now, not when the service provider feels like it, so archaic approaches to service delivery must be modified.

One of the most disturbing things that the Community has fed to us is the alarming number of times that police do not respond to calls for assistance, and when they do attend, it is alarming that people are often told, “Nothing can be done,” or “it is not worth chasing up as nothing will happen”.  Although anecdotal, there is sufficient consistency to accept that there is a major problem.

Additionally, the lack of feedback after contacting the police, either as a victim or witness, is also alarming. Examples of victims of violent crime living in fear, not knowing whether perpetrators have been arrested, are common, and a response time to an aggravated burglary of forty minutes without explanation, and examples of Police not responding at all to serious incidents are common and a disgrace. These matters are serious to the victims and the community, but they would appear not serious to the police.

If Policing is to be effective, it needs the support of the community. Current strategies border on treating the community with disdain, and that must be addressed.

1. The failure of Service delivery: This can be traced to a problem of accountability and a lack of clear standards in the allocation of tasks. Tasks are currently and traditionally allocated to crews by vehicle call signs rather than to individual members. Allocating a task to an individual member will allow management to properly supervise the process. This simple procedural adjustment to give members ownership and responsibility will dramatically improve service delivery. The ability to identify how individuals are performing is a management bonus.
2. Response time benchmarks: An urgent need exists to establish benchmarks for standard response times to jobs allocated by a priority hierarchy. Despatch times need to be measured against call received times and the time the allocated resource arrived at the call (Code 1) – not just the time the call was dispatched, because there is then no way of determining whether or how long the resource took to attend the job. Allocating tasks to an individual member will allow management to monitor the response difficulties more accurately.
3. Activity returns: Setting out the action taken and, critically, the callback by the responsible member to the originator of the call or the victim is a critical part of the process, and no job should be marked as completed until this is done. The supply of Mobile phones to all police, as recommended elsewhere, will assist in this task, as members engaged in any static duty would be able to follow up complainants without the necessity to be in the Station.
4. Additional intelligence: Intelligence derived by further contact with complainants is an immeasurably effective Policing tool.
5. The Police Advice Line: The activation of the Police Advice line 11444 ( – the number originally chosen for the high recall value) should be reactivated as a matter of urgency. The Community is being told not to use 000 for non-life-threatening cases for ambulances, and this should also apply to the Police. When you talk to the community, as we do, there is confusion about where to ring for what service. Local Police stations are often unmanned or switch to a convoluted and confusing message, particularly if the caller is under stress. It should not be the community that has to sort out who they should talk to for which service. The process must be simplified. For emergencies, ring 000; for all other Police matters, ring 11444. A protocol for these calls to route the caller to the appropriate place, which may be the local Police Station or somewhere else in the organisation, will streamline the telephone service delivery at least. Replace existing switchboards with one.
6. Role of Local Area Commanders and Station Commanders: Extending the role of Area and Station Commanders to achieve a pre-determined number of random calls to complainants and or Victims is required to assess the performance of individual Police under their command. That is the only way that proper evaluation of their performance can be assessed.
7. Victim information protocol: A protocol to keep victims informed in relation to investigations needs to be established and managed. Assigning benchmarks and a mechanism to monitor standards has to be developed.
8. Phone Protocol: Phone contact with any organisation is usually the first avenue of contact, and it is therefore essential that a protocol be put in place and managed for dealing with phone contacts. It is not acceptable that calls to Police Stations, in particular, are answered by naming the Station – the person answering the phone should have the good manners and professionalism to identify themselves and be accountable for the conversation
9. Business cards for members: Essential and efficient individual business cards that can be handed to victims and or witnesses are necessary and feed into the image and service delivery of the organisation. The use of generic cards with handwritten details should be abolished for no other reason than being very unprofessional.
10. Computer Aided Despatch: Releasing CAD data to the public through the Victorian Crime Statistics Agency will hold Victoria Police to Public Account for issues, for example, instances of erratic or dangerous driving calls to 000 and action taken.
11. Maintaining Service Delivery Standards: At a sub-district level, a public meeting to discuss Law and Order issues as they impact the local community must be undertaken quarterly in line with the release of Crime Statistics and Community satisfaction survey levels. An organisation without feedback lives in a vacuum, which will always be detrimental to its good operations.

 

• THE COMMISSION OF REVIEW

Commission of Review: Every organisation benefits from periodical reviews, and when an organisation is struggling to achieve best practice, an independent review is essential for the health of the organisation. To address fundamental philosophical attitudes that must be altered will be challenging. A competent Commission of Review can achieve this.

Modifying entrenched values, however difficult, must be achieved rapidly. A properly structured Commission of Review will not only provide guidance for the Government and the Chief Commissioner but also give confidence to the community that their concerns are being addressed.

1. Undertake a Commission of Review: Establishing a Commission of review of policing in this State and other issues that the Commission identifies should be implemented, which could include Judicial practices, Corrections procedures or principles and activities of other Government Departments as they relate to the Law and Order issue.
2. The independence of the Chair: The effectiveness and credibility of the Commission to the Police and the public will require great care in the selection of the Commission Chair. Examples of competent independent persons include recently retired New South Wales Commissioner Scipione or a suitably experienced former senior police officer. The independence, politically and from the current command, is essential.
3. c) Timing of the Commission: The Commission needs to commence as soon as possible, reporting back to the Government and the Chief Commissioner progressively.

1. The process: The process of the Commission will be as important as the outcomes for altering entrenched values and the current mindset of the organisation, and needs to be coordinated with the Coghlan Inquiry.
2. Adopt a Proactive Policing Philosophy: Adopting this philosophy is not contrary to but an essential part of the Victoria Police Mission Statement.
3. Modify current strategy: Importantly, there is a need to modify, not dispose of, the “Sophisticated Management Index” tasking experiment. As its current application is counterproductive to effective policing.
4. Broken Windows Philosophy: Introduce the ‘Broken Windows Policing Philosophy’ as the guiding principle of Policing in this State.

https://www.manhattan-institute.org/pdf/_atlantic_monthly-broken_windows.pdf.

1. Structural Review: Review the management structure of the Force to ensure that there is no accountability splitting and there is a direct line of accountability from the Chief Commissioner to the most junior Constable. Every manager needs to be accountable for the operation of the command with which they are entrusted without exception.
2. Performance-based management: Implement Performance-based management at all ranks across the Force, measured by KPIs, with the Chief Commissioner having the ability to move or sanction non-performers.
3. Benchmarking: Establish Benchmarks and KPIs to measure targets in Crime, Traffic, Public Order and Personnel Management for each Manager/Unit and hold them to performance account.

 

• EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES

The emergence of new technology, almost on a daily basis, provides exciting opportunities for improving the efficiency of Policing. With the technology comes risk, and without stifling progression, sensible efforts to protect police and the organisation must be applied. Equally, the technology must only ever be an aid and, at all costs, avoid the error that allowed statistics to become the management.

1. The G-Tag: Pursue with vigour the Community Advocacy Alliance G-Tag proposal as a major Road Safety, Crime prevention and Community Safety initiative. Coordination with Federal initiatives, if necessary, of GPS tracking.
2. GPS: The prolific applications of Global Positioning Systems (GPS) technology both commercially and privately will ultimately attract crime, and although not currently evident, it is sure to occur, and that could be catastrophic. It is absolutely critical that the Government and Police take a leadership role in managing and, in part, controlling its use rather than it being left to develop in an ad hoc fashion as it is rapidly doing now. Leadership now will avoid catch-up strategies in the future, which may prove too difficult to effectively implement.
3. Mobile technology: Immediately issue all Police members with an appropriate Mobile Phone with the normal smartphone capabilities and the ability for audio, video and still photography to be automatically encrypted and uploaded to a centralised safe repository where the material can be secured and retained for future reference.
4. Emergency APP: Phones to be fitted with an emergency ‘App’ to protect members on and off duty and location facilities permanently enabled, but with a modified geolocation feature.
5. E-Training: Expand and develop sophisticated training for Police in the use of Social Media platforms and how to prevent and investigate Cyber Crime.
6. Broader Crime Command E-Training: Members of the Crime Command must be exposed to detailed training in this area, favouring broader training and cyber policing responsibility rather than specialised tasking.
7. E-Crime specialists: An e-crime specialist unit for advanced technical advice would still be required, but this unit could be primarily unsworn staff.
8. Personal E-Security Training: A component of all training must include personal use and the risks to members and their families in the use of Social media. Police email addresses and other interactions by Police with other social media platforms must be subject to training and a realistic policy.

 REALIGNMENT OF POLICING PHILOSOPHIES

Operational realignments – Moving operational decision-making closer to the coal face with accountabilities and performance-based management.

2016. Backfill Police Stations: As a priority, backfill all Police stations to their authorised personnel strength as of 1^st of June 2016. Cancel all secondments, temporary duty or other off-station functions and commence a review of staffing levels at all stations.
2017. Downgrade statistical influence: Immediately downgrade the influence of statistic gathering and tasking by statistics and leave tasking to Station and Unit Commanders (retaining access to statistics as a management tool), whose performance is measured against the applicable benchmarks and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Review the Station cluster concept.
2018. Management by KPIs: Have Station and Unit Commanders provide weekly progress reports towards achieving their KPI targets.
2019. Task group re-evaluation: Re-evaluate all special task groups, task forces or other similar functions and apply a cost-benefit analysis, overlaying other considerations for their existence, that analysis to be biased towards outcomes over financial cost.
2020. Review non-operational sworn Police functions: Immediately review all non-operational positions currently filled by sworn members with a target of a twenty five percent reduction in sworn police fulfilling non-operational roles.
2021. Using sworn Police in non-operational roles: For specific resource requirements of a temporary nature, require that sworn police in non-operational support roles be first call over Stations for planned major and unanticipated events.
2022. A Force reserve Unit: Establish a Reserve Unit for Victoria Police where those who have not met performance targets (of any rank) can be transferred to allow them to adjust to the organisation’s requirements and provide opportunities for more skilled individuals to fill the vacated positions.
2023. One-up patrols: Investigate the feasibility of one-up response units for stations equipped with additional vehicles to allow for members of a Shift Section to each have a vehicle to respond to routine calls for assistance under the direction of a Supervisor. This will allow for a substantial increase in the flexibility of resources to deal with operational demands. Not to be interpreted as reducing Police numbers, as the proposal is numbers neutral, but each member has a vehicle. The impact of two members arriving at an incident is magnified if there are two Police cars. The Los Angeles Police Department has adopted this strategy.
2024. Foot Patrol priority: Where possible, introduce foot patrols to major shopping precincts or other appropriate places.
2025. Managing members on restricted duty: Quarantine a limited number of positions for members who want to work part-time or for other non-health-related restricted duty personnel, so the integrity of the Station Roster is not compromised, which puts undue stress on other members. Backfilling part-time positions to ensure the integrity of the unit or station’s service delivery is essential.
2026. Impact on Prisoners on remand: Establish the impact of Police procedures on the length of time that prisoners are held on remand. Ensure that Victoria Police are not the cause of excessive delays in bringing perpetrators to justice, to enable Victoria Police to be vocal on this issue.

 IMPROVING MANAGEMENT

Introduce performance-based management: 

 To move the Force to a performance-based management model, a good place to start is with the selection process for entry to and promotion from within.

1. Selection Boards: Immediately reintroduce or restructure Selection Boards for Applicants to join the Force, chaired by an Officer of a minimum rank of Inspector. Ensure those conducting internal Selection Boards and Panels are of Officer Rank and, where possible, at least two substantive ranks above the rank of the applicants.
2. Performance of Board Members: Board performance to be monitored so that results may be a consideration in the future promotion of Board members themselves. Consideration for Promotion must be weighted to the performance of the applicant’s current/last or previous Commands, measured against KPIs, with personal attributes of lesser weight.

The most reliable measure of future performance is past performance.

1. Review Promotions criteria: Immediately review the promotional criteria to ensure that it aligns with the proactive and accountability paradigm of Policing.
2. Performance Review Panel: Establish a Performance Review Panel to advise the Chief Commissioner on the performance and suitability for retention of all Sections, Operations and Branches of Victoria Police. This review should be ongoing and provide alternatives, advice and recommendations based on the core principles of Policing and the ability of Victoria Police to meet its KPIs. The former Police Inspectorate performed this function in the past and was extremely effective.
3. Promotion based on past performance: The establishment of appropriate KPIs and a culture of performance-based promotion relying on the past performance of applicants. Commands to evaluate suitability for promotion will rapidly aid the germination of a culture around this principle.
4. Consequences for non-performers: As important as it is to change culture for it to be truly effective, there must be consequences for non-performers and those who work actively or passively against the principle. The concept of a Force Reserve dealt with elsewhere will address this issue.

 DISCIPLINE

 Discipline is essential to a police organisation, and that area needs adjustment to improve the coerciveness of the police, particularly in high-stress environments.

1. Victoria Police, by its nature, is a disciplined organisation, and therefore it is essential to reintroduce Drill to the training of Recruits. Once trained in the concept of Drill, it stays forever and is a major contributor to discipline and the ability to work as a team, often in a hostile environment. If additional time needs to be added to the training, it would be well justified and improve the overall ability of the organisation, for which discipline is essential. Discipline is important not only for the cohesive performance of the organisation but also for the safety of Police members.

Self-discipline grows from being subject to external discipline.

1. Random Drug Testing: Introduce more rigorous random illicit drug testing for the police. Enforce zero tolerance for Police who test positive to illicit drugs. The initial response should be one of providing support and treatment for any drug issues. If the Police member fails to take advantage of the services offered, they should be (subject to the clinician’s advice) immediately moved from sick leave to suspension. Suspension without pay and referral to the Victoria Police disciplinary procedure, with the onus on the employee to show cause why their services should not be terminated on the basis of a positive test.

The standards of the police must exceed those of the community.

7) YOUTH STRATEGY

Youth strategy – the Police role in the youth space has greatly diminished over recent years with the current “Risk Averse” philosophy causing a strategy to develop where Police overtly move all responsibility for Youth to others. It is essential that VicPol assumes a leadership role and reconnects with youth as part of a major modernisation of the current regressive strategies toward youth, and that VicPol accepts its responsibilities in this area. A comparison with other State Police shows there is a correlation between Police connecting with Youth and Crime rates.

1. Youth Command: Introduce a Youth Command and dispense with other Commands that perform functions that can and should be the responsibility of other Police Units and Sections that should deal with the issues adequately if given appropriate KPIs.
2. Youth Officers: Introduce dedicated Youth Commanders to the regions responsible for coordinating youth issues at a local level of the rank of Inspector reporting to a Superintendent responsible for the region’s overall Youth Strategy.
3. Police in Schools: Reintroduce a Police in Schools program with all Stations required to implement the program across Victoria, coordinated, resourced and trained by the Youth Command. This is a key element for a long-term impact on Crime and community safety; however, there were many examples of short-term improvements.

Significantly, the Police involved in the PISP will be the frontline in addressing Family Violence issues through their ease of contact with school families. Early intervention by PISP Officers who are well-resourced will significantly reduce risks to family violence victims.

1. Blue Light: Provide support and resources for Blue Light Victoria (BLV) from the Youth Command to expand BLV’s core function coordinating with the PIS Program by developing an upgraded Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) designed to grow the resource.
2. Youth Camps: Building on the highly successful Blue Light Camp at Maldon, explore the feasibility of extending the concept to work towards establishing additional camps throughout Victoria, which is critical to building on the work of both Blue Light, Police in Schools and other Police Youth programs as they can all be interrelated.
3. PCYC: Explore the feasibility of establishing Police Citizens Youth Clubs based on the model used in other States. These clubs would fit well with, The Hub, concept discussed elsewhere as well as Police in Schools, Blue Light and the Youth camps initiatives.
4. Operation New Start: A program designed to keep young people at school. This program dovetails well with other recommended Police Youth initiatives. Require the Youth Command to support and resource Operation New Start and develop an MOU.
5. Life Ed: A very worthwhile existing program that should be integrated with the Police in Schools program, and a liaison Officer appointed, as was once the case.
6. Ropes Program: Require the Youth Command to work with the Justice Department in the development and integration of the Ropes Program into the Police Cautioning Program.
7. Training Senior Youth Officers: The Youth Command to manage and train Senior Officers at a Divisional level dedicated to Youth and the operation of Youth Liaison Groups, coordinating activities of all groups working in the Youth Space in managing recidivist youths.
8. Realignment of the definition of a child: Immediately prepare a submission for the Government to realign the definition of a ‘Child ‘within the meaning of all Acts and all other Government functions in line with CAA recommendations and community expectations. [Noting that one can vote and join the Armed Services to kill or be killed at age eighteen.]
9. Regional Youth Commissioners: Immediately prepare a submission to the Government for the establishment of Regional Youth Commissions responsible for the overall management of Youths who commit crimes and management of Youth Liaison Groups at a Divisional level, with the authority to direct actions of other Government Departments or agencies operating in the Youth field.
10. Chief Commissioner’s authority to release children’s images: Immediately prepare legislation to make the Chief Commissioner the responsible authority in determining what information and or images of the identity of children is released to the media or elsewhere, whether they are a victim, suspect or a convicted person and the discretion exercised by the Chief Commissioner to be absolute.
11. Police Cautioning Program: Undertake a detailed review of the Police Cautioning program to extend its function and capability to deliver greater impact on young people, performing its critical diversionary outcomes. Additional resources from other Government and not-for-profit (NFP) organisations should be coordinated and directed by the Cautioning Program to ensure a concerted effort is applied to individual young people to prevent them from re-entering the Criminal System. The Police Cautioning Program should become the pre-eminent diversionary vehicle. If offenders are diverted at this stage, it will save many millions of dollars and improve community safety substantially.

8) POLICE FLEET/DRIVING

Police fleet and driving- upskilling and equipping the police fleet designs to meet Force objectives.

1. Marking Fleet: Fit as many Police vehicles in the fleet as practicable with Police decals (including vehicles used by management and administration) to maximise the visibility of Police on the roads. There is a need in Policing for unmarked vehicles, but they should only be allowed by special application authorised at an executive level. Vehicles, unless they are routinely used for covert operations, must form part of the visible police presence.
2. Nudge Bar deterrent: Fit all operational police vehicles with suitable “Nudge bars” to aid critical intercepts, noting that the deterrent effect will be profound.
3. Driver training: Introduce practical training for all police authorised drivers on vehicle interception techniques.
4. GPS: Fit all Police vehicles with Satellite Tracking devices so line supervisors and management know the location of each vehicle and the use of police vehicles for non-police unauthorised purposes can be identified. The ability to locate every vehicle will also act as a safety measure for Police members and could prove critical in Prosecutions.

9) ROAD TOLL.

 The Road Toll – A lack of a highly visible Police presence is the flaw in current strategies and urgently needs attention – other States with far larger road networks comparatively achieve better results than the compact state of Victoria, and that is a serious failing of current strategies.

1. Highway Patrol: Immediately divide the Patrol Traffic resources into Highway Patrol and Metro Patrol, and fit each vehicle assigned to Traffic with Number Plate Recognition technology, Safety Cameras and Satellite tracking devices so that management can ensure the vehicles are where they should be. Highway vehicles to be allocated to dedicated highways and or freeways to increase the visible Police presence.
2. Licence Legislation review: Seek Legislative amendments that require persons detected driving while their licence is suspended to automatically (administrative procedure) have the penalty upgraded to Disqualification for the balance of the period imposed by the Suspension and any greater period imposed by a court for the additional offence. The only contestable part of this mandated process should be an Appeal on the basis that the Offender was not driving as alleged.
3. Disqualified drivers: Drivers detected driving during the period of Disqualification to be subject to mandatory immediate arrest and one month’s jail (Administrative process). Disqualified drivers who have served their disqualification period are then unlicensed drivers if they are detected driving after the period imposed. Any further breaches add an additional month to the preceding period. The only contestable part of this mandated process to be an Appeal on the basis that the Offender was not driving as alleged.
4. Licence revocation review. There is a huge amount of Police and Court time dedicated to the processing of License miscreants, and we pose the question as to whether the process has become so draconian and difficult that enforcement and breaches are too frequent. We do not infer a lessening or dilution of the penalties for breaching Traffic Infringement, but the process of regaining a license needs to be modified, particularly for first offenders and for mid to lower range offences. It may be the process that causes the breaches.

As with crime, the ‘Broken Windows’ philosophy works equally with traffic. Focusing only on high-end traffic issues ignores the minor infringements, so those that are so inclined will continue to ignore compliance and escalate their behaviour. The lack of a “Broken Taillight Policy” explains why so many resources and technologies applied to traffic management are not having the desired effect. The continued evolution of reducing speed limits is a case in point – if there was compliance and safe driving at existing speeds the need to reduce speeds would not exist.

1. Police Cautioning program (Traffic): Although there are administrative cautioning options available, it could be particularly useful to have particularly young drivers experience a formal caution as opposed to a court appearance. Our objective should always be slanted to compliance, not penalty.

10) OPEN AND TRANSPARENT POLICING:

Open and transparent Policing– The community is entitled to know about policing, and VicPol needs to be open and transparent as far as that is operationally possible. However, the community will accept as reasonable the non-disclosure of operationally sensitive information as long as they are informed of the reason.

1. Media management: Install a high-ranking officer with substantial operational experience as the Media Commander for Victoria Police, answerable to the Chief Commissioner, with the role of managing the information flow from Victoria Police, ensuring Operational confidentiality is not compromised.
2. Members who speak to the media: Instruct all Operational members, irrespective of rank, who speak with the media in good faith that they will not be subject to criticism.
3. Attempts by police to manipulate the media: Sometimes, for altruistic reasons, members attempt to mislead or attempt to manipulate the public through the media. Irrespective of the rationale, they should be subject to discipline. The public is very sensitive and highly tuned to identifying spin or attempted spin, and the integrity of the organisation is damaged by any attempts to manipulate the media.

• DRUGS:

A new approach in the war on drugs must be considered as the current strategy, although punctuated by spectacular arrests, is failing at the community level.

1. a) Drug seizure disclosures: Implement a Policy of non-disclosure of Major drug arrests and seizures and encourage other law enforcement agencies to adopt the same strategy. Advertising a seizure is providing a Drug offender with an explanation to their criminal employer/supplier of what happened to the drugs and or money. Police should not take on the responsibility of acting on behalf of the perpetrator. The publicity of the value of seizures acts as a magnet for some who only see the potentially huge financial and lifestyle returns that drug trafficking offers, albeit until their arrest. The deterrent effect of publishing drug seizures is minimal to zero.
2. b) Target street offences: Move the emphasis from key perpetrators to street-level drug dealers and users. For every major offender charged, there is a line of ‘would-be’s’ ready to take up the alleged dent in the drug trade. This often happens within hours of a key arrest. It is argued that tackling the demand side rather than the supply side will drive trade underground. This is a desirable outcome and moves the trade from under the noses of our kids, and that is an imperative. Although users may develop a health problem through illicit drug use, they initially take illicit drugs by choice and should not be readily excused for their unlawful conduct that can and does endanger other citizens, particularly on our roads.

12) COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT:

Community engagement– The effectiveness of policing can be directly correlated to Police/Community engagement practices. Blaming the Community for social dysfunction alienates the Community, which collectively sees this as police abdicating responsibility, and this leads to a decline in Community confidence in policing.

1. Re-align Crime trend analysis: The focus on developing research on crime trends needs to be realigned to measuring community attitudes, particularly in relation to perceptions of police effectiveness and their feeling of safety and well-being, ‘eudemony’.
2. Manage complainant follow up: Station and Unit Commanders must be required to follow up a percentage of complainants from each shift to establish the performance of the Police that attended to the complaint. This would be a valuable management tool and be a very positive strategy to rebuild community trust. This concept was trialled and found very effective, but was discarded some time ago.
   1. Neighbourhood watch: Resource and expand the role of the Neighbourhood Watch program to ensure its continuation and contribution and focus efforts on Neighbourhood burglary and drug issues.
   2. Community Interaction: As a priority, review the Patrol system to allow police to spend more time directly interacting with their local community.
   3. Super Stations: Dispense with the “Super Station” concept and refocus on police stations servicing their local communities, giving police ownership of their community and the Community ownership of and trust in their local police.

 13) SUPPORT FOR POLICE MEMBERS AND EFFICIENCIES:

There have been recent improvements and a concerted effort by Police Command to improve the mental health of Police, both serving and retired, and their efforts should be applauded, but more work needs to be done.

1. The Hub: Immediately establish the concept of “The Hub” as developed by the CAA to serve the needs of serving and retired members as a resource to support the members and a referral location for families concerned with the mental health of serving and ex-members. This facility will lead to earlier intervention and better outcomes for police and the community.
2. Rebuilding Confidence: For effective policing, police need to be confident they are not going to be criticised or disciplined should they put themselves in harm’s way. Why risk a career and your life when you are likely to be metaphorically crucified?

Words from leaders are not sufficient because they carry no legal weight. Legislation must be urgently developed to provide indemnity for Police acting in good faith. The design of the legislation should avoid the police being placed on trial to prove “Good Faith”; the onus must be on the complainant to show that the act or omission was not in “Good Faith”. The community would back the move and accept that there will be the possibility of unintended consequences, but that is a far preferred option to the status quo.

14)   POLICING SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS:

Cease pandering to small vocal pressure groups and certainly withdraw resources applied to them. Police for all Victorians. Policing must not involve itself in any partisan activity, no matter how socially fashionable that may be. Police members are entitled to their own values and views, but they must not be reflected in their work.

• INFORMATION MANAGEMENT:

Consistent and very obvious inefficiencies surround the use of Electronic (E) communications within VicPol and that adversely affects the overall efficiency of the organisation, from Commissioner to Constable. Far too much information is distributed, causing members of all ranks to be slaves to the E information, detracting from their functionality.

1. Information Management: The appointment of an information management team to establish protocols for E communication within VicPol, along the lines of the organisational structure, will avoid the nonsensical situation where we are told members returning from leave sometimes have to trawl through hundreds of emails. That is inefficiency at its peak. It reminds us of past times when we returned from leave to find a great stack of Legislative amendments waiting for our attention. That drudgery and inefficiency has been replaced by the inefficient use of E communications.
2. Information hierarchy and develop information portals: Establish a hierarchy of information, including information that can be accessed through Internet portals rather than e-mail.

 16) JUSTICE

A number of other initiatives that would assist in improved jurisprudence are.

1. Bail entitlement: In recent years, bail has become legislated as an entitlement and right. A Prisoner must convince a court or police that they will comply with the conditions to be granted bail. It therefore follows that a Breach of Bail should immediately disqualify that Prisoner from again being granted that privilege, and the offence of Breach of bail is reintroduced.
2. Bail Justices: Moving the bail process from Bail Justices to Magistrates will not solve the problem as the Magistrates are the biggest part of the problem. The move to Night Courts will mean bad decisions will continue, just not in the daytime. Bail powers in the first instance must be given to police, as in NSW. Authorising a member of the Police Force of the rank of Sergeant or above not involved in the case to determine whether a prisoner should be remanded to the next sitting day of the local Magistrate or be given Bail with such conditions deemed necessary.
3. Modify need for Court Appearances: Eliminate directions and repeat bail hearings, as they are both administrative processes and tie up the Courts, Police and prison staff unnecessarily. Unless circumstances have changed a formal hearing is not required and bail could be extended as an administrative function.
4. Guilty Pleas: Determine Offenders’ Pleas before the police and the DPP are required to provide a detailed brief to allow for faster processing of offenders.
5. Use of JP’s: Reintroduce the use of Justices of the Peace (JP’s) in Magistrates Courts to deal with non-critical cases in Divisions of the Court. This initiative alone would remove the backlog of cases, speeding up the Court process, which would reduce the time Prisoners spend on remand and reduce the stress on victims. Retired Police or other para-legals would be a good source of JPs.
6. Liaison with Immigration: Develop a Liaison role with the Department of Immigration to ensure that non-Australian citizens coming to the police’s notice are also brought to the attention of Immigration for consideration of their deportation. Police cooperation in this area is vital and will have a direct impact on the Crime rate.
7. Immigration intervention: Examine and develop legislative change that will allow for the Immigration Department to intervene in non-capital offences at a time when the perpetrator is arrested and the facts of the case are clear and before conviction and sentence. Deportation may be the best alternative over incarceration or some other court based penalty or non-penalty. If the person is subject to the Immigration Act that should take precedence.
8. Corrections capacity in sentencing: Direct the Judiciary not to take into account the availability or otherwise of correctional facility capacities or prisoner management in determining the suitability of incarceration as a punishment – the operations of the Prison system are the responsibility of Corrections, not the Courts.
9. Mandated penalty credits: Mandate a twenty-five per cent reduction in any potential penalty where an early guilty plea is entered, except for serious indictable offences involving violence or threats of violence, treason or offences related to terrorism.

 17) GOVERNMENT

1. Judicial and Police Accountabilities: The Judiciary and the Police are, and should be, accountable to the community they serve through the Government they elect. The days of unfettered freedom for both are numbered as the community expects both to be held to a higher standard of accountability. A discussion on how accountability can be achieved is warranted. The Police Act 2013 allows for the Government to set policy in relation to policing, a power that the current Government is either unwilling or incapable of exercising.
2. Move management of all jails to Corrections: Immediately transfer the responsibility of Juvenile detention to Corrections Victoria and remove the age restrictions on Prisoner management, delegating the responsibility for appropriate Prisoner management to the Office of Corrections. Arbitrary age should not determine the appropriateness of the management regime for each Prisoner and should only be part of the broader assessment of the prisoner’s management. Corrections Victoria needs the power to apply appropriate management strategies based on individuals, not determined by class, ethnicity, gender or age.
3. Review Summary Offences (Street Offences) Act: There is an urgent need for a review and update of the Summary Offences Act, which has fallen well behind the realities of a modern society. The issue of drugs and the severe belligerent behaviour of Ice and other illicit drug users was never envisaged when legislators drafted the Act. The situation where Police were in a ‘Mexican Standoff’ with two groups of warring youths for hours at the most recent White Night Festival is indicative of the weakness and irrelevance of current legislation that should allow Police to act to prevent, diffuse and disperse those who are hell-bent on causing trouble. Dealing with the anomalies of the Legislation would need to be a separate exercise.
4. Registration fees: Direct VicRoads to allow vehicle owners to pay registration on a monthly basis by direct debit – this would dramatically reduce the number of unregistered vehicles being inadvertently driven by owners who are no longer reminded by Registration stickers.

• HUMAN RIGHTS

Human Rights: It is arguable that the Justice System and by default the Courts, Judges and Magistrates are duplicitous in breaching the Human Rights of prisoners to fair justice. The fairness of our judicial system is supposed to be a cornerstone of our democracy, but we incarcerate alleged perpetrators on remand for excessive periods. Remanding prisoners has become part of the punishment rather than a means of ensuring their appearance before the Courts. If a prisoner is acquitted of an offence and has been on remand for two years, by any measure, the prisoner has been unfairly and cruelly incarcerated.

The problem occurs in the adult system, but the extremely poor performance in the juvenile system sees youths remanded routinely for 200-300 days. This cannot be right and fair and is a breach of a number of the rights of prisoners and or accused persons. Human Rights Lawyers should make this their focus rather than some of the less edifying issues they pursue.

1. a) Remand standards. Each section of the Judiciary must establish a Benchmark for reasonableness in the time a Prisoner can be remanded in custody. Judges and Magistrates must record their decisions to extend any remand past this period. Cases that are closing in on the benchmark times must be given priority over other matters.
2. b) Managing Court delays for prisoners on remand. Judges and Magistrates can direct a matter to proceed, whether it is the Prosecution or the Defence that is causing a delay, and issue a penalty against the Defence or the Prosecution if the Court’s ability to proceed is hindered by either party. The penalties should be levied against the practitioner appearing on either side.
3. c) Findings in Bail Matters: The current process, where traditionally magistrates do not make formal findings in matters of remand and bail, may be an acceptable practice in times past, but it is not now, and it avoids accountability. All Magistrates and Judges should be compelled to provide to the Prosecution and the Defence the reasons behind the decision made in relation in any Bail finding.
4. d) Right to education: Much has been said about the importance of education for Juvenile Offenders in incarceration, and we also believe in this right; however, the ‘holy grail’ mantle that education is portrayed as is ignoring the realities of dealing with Juveniles. Many Juveniles who are not in detention and who have the opportunity to attend school rarely do. It is no different for them when incarcerated, and they would rather ‘chill out’ with their friends, feeding into one of the main reasons for offending, laziness. Juveniles should be offered education, but if they fail to take up the offer or do not apply themselves, then work is the alternative. Victoria has plenty of open spaces that require maintenance, and the Juveniles, and for that matter, adult prisoners, should be tasked with environmental recovery of parks and waterways. Either be educated or work, the only options.

19) CONCLUSION: These are but a few of the necessary steps that need to be taken. However, it is only a start and will take a commitment from the Government to implement these steps that can be implemented quickly and start to have an impact.

 Kelvin Glare AO APM 

Chairman – Community Advocacy Alliance.Former Chief Commissioner of Victoria Police

Ivan W Ray

Secretary –Community Advocacy Alliance, Former Police Inspector and founder of Blue Light.