By Charlene Macaulay
Chief Commissioner Ken Lay wants to overhaul the current Victoria Police system in favour of a more flexible model that will maximise crime fighting.
Mr Lay last week released a Victoria Police Blue Paper which outlines a 10-year strategic plan that assigns police numbers and creates taskforces based on population growth, societal changes and crime statistics.
The Blue Paper reveals that the demand for urgent police response via triple-0 calls is outpacing population growth; serious and organised crime is growing rapidly; and the true extent of crimes like family violence, sexual abuse and fraud is not yet reflected in crime statistics.
The report also found that about half of a police officer’s time on each shift was spent in the station doing paperwork.
The Blue Paper looks at outsourcing administrative work and back-of-office jobs, such as IT and payroll, to leave officers free to get on with the job of policing. Mr Lay said the Blue Paper advocated a more technologically-savvy policeforce able to maximise its time spent out in the community.
“We must shift the balance of police activities further towards prevention,” he said. “We need to get smarter so we can respond to complex social issues such as family violence and drugs, and tackle crime before it happens. But to do this, we need a more flexible model that allows us the freedom to deploy our police members where they are needed, when they are needed.”
Police Minister Kim Wells backed the Blue Paper last week. He said frontline taskforces that had already been set up by the chief commissioner were more effectively targeting key crime areas, such as family violence, organised crime, outlaw motorcycle gangs, road safety and the drug trade.
Crime statistics released last month show a 2.5 per cent increase in overall crime across Brimbank, with a 9 per cent increase in drug offences and decreases in car thefts, residential burglaries, street assaults and property damage.
