MORE robberies, more thefts, more assaults, more burglaries, more drug use and possession and more victims of crime.
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Victoria’s official statistics at the end of 2016 confirmed what most already knew: crime is getting out of control in this state.
There were 552,005 criminal offences recorded in Victoria last year, representing a 10.2 per cent increase on 2015 figures.
It is no surprise that the Opposition has used these statistics to bash the Andrews government incessantly in a bid to paint it as “soft on crime”.
If such a label sticks, it can be the death knell for a government, even though Labor presides over, by and large, the same laws as its Coalition predecessor.
But strip away the political point-scoring and it remains an inescapable truth that there is far too much crime occurring within our state’s boundaries. There are simply too many normal, everyday, hardworking and law-abiding people having their possessions pinched and lives placed in danger by criminals.
Does the blame lie with the government? Perhaps the buck stops with Victoria Police? Are our judges and magistrates too lenient?
The Community Advocacy Alliance, an organisation about which little is known, burst onto the scene yesterday with the release of a plan to address Victoria’s “crime tsunami”. Comprising “some of the most senior police to have served Victoria”, the CAA says a “lack of respect for police and the law” is behind the spike in criminal offences.
The plan contains a raft of recommendations, which were presented to both the government and Opposition yesterday, on how policing must change.
“If we all do not act now crime in this state will spiral out of control and everyone will be less safe,” said CAA chairman and former chief commissioner Kel Glare.
The wide-ranging plan includes everything from providing police officers with personal business cards to getting tougher on those who engage in graffiti.
One of the more eye-catching suggestions is that the focus on drug addiction as a health issue rather than a criminal issue be abandoned. “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 ...” the plan states.
The Liberal Party has embraced the plan, and one suspects the voters will, too.
- Ross Tyson, deputy editor
