Drug-addicted offenders who are sourcing ice from Geelong and Melbourne are driving an increase in stolen cars, arson and theft. Police have worked tirelessly to nab these offenders and are continuing to bust a surge in Ballarat grow houses that are used by offenders to fund other serious crime.
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The city’s top police officer, Superintendent Andrew Allen, speaks to reporter Olivia Shying about the wins, challenges and future of policing in Ballarat.
THE WINS
Young people are continuing to break into properties, steal cars and torch them at an alarming rate, but police operations focused on catching the repeat offenders largely responsible for visible, high-volume crime have led to significant and positive results, police say.
Superintendent Allen said the Most Wanted campaign with Crime Stoppers, police and The Courier had led to significant arrests that had slashed crime rates.
“Even though we are seeing levels continue, it (crime) does peak and trough,” Superintendent Allen said.
“We have had some really successful operations aimed at recidivist offenders. It remains clear that there are a small number of recidivist offenders responsible for a reasonable amount of crime in and around Ballarat.”
Police have raided six cannabis grow houses in the past two months as they continue to crack down on a growing industry being used to fund serious crime.
While some community members have criticized police for focusing on grow houses, Superintendent Allen said busting crop houses was crucial to reducing serious crime.
“Police have been tracking some of the profits out of grow houses back through asset confiscation. It is obvious (grow houses) are clearly putting money back into serious organised crime into this country and overseas,” he said.
Catching those who deliberately torch cars remains a priority for police, particularly during the fire danger period. Superintendent Allen said this brazen offenders wrongly believed torching cars would remove forensic evidence linking them to the crime.
“There’s this thrill seeker mentality. There’s the thrill of the chase … and a grand theft auto mentality where young people think they are bulletproof,” Superintendent Allen said.
THE CHALLENGES
This high volume, high risk crime is being driven by a group of young, usually drug-fueled, males who believe they are invincible, Superintendent Allen said.
Police have tracked, arrested and charged a number of people for methamphetamine possession, but remain confident ice is not being not being produced in commercial quantities in or around Ballarat.
The majority of drug-fueled offenders are high on ice, which police believe is being sourced from Geelong and Melbourne and being dealt in Ballarat.
“With the most recent release of crime statistics for Ballarat, the biggest issue we still have is theft of and from motor vehicle. People are still leaving their cars unlocked. It is these categories that we see as drug-related offences,” Superintendent Allen said.
He said an invincible mind-set among offenders, who were sometimes armed and drug affected, did concern police. He said the safety of members was a priority during every policing operation.
“Ice is a really insidious thing that pervades families, it pervades communities,” Superintendent Allen said.
Responding to widespread community concern that offenders believed they could “get away” with crime, Superintendent Allen said police continued to do the best they could with the powers they had.
“What the community has to realise is - we do our best out there. We target hotspots,” he said.
POLICE RESOURCES
Superintendent Allen will be advocating for more police in the Ballarat region after the government announced a record boost to police numbers.
The opening of Ballarat West Police Station has increased the reach of police, but the union remains concerned that police are often tied up with administrative duties. Superintendent Allen has welcomed a new police triaging system and hotline, which he said would help prioritize jobs.
He said family violence, which should not be happening in the first place, made up a large percentage of all police call-outs.
“If we can avoid being tied up with family disputes that can be dealt with within that family - we can attend to other areas,” he said.
“If we have an assault or a serious road accident those are the jobs that take priority over property offences.”
Recommendations from the Royal Commission into Family Violence would help police and agencies including WRISC to deal with the onslaught of family violence cases, he said.
IBAC
Victoria’s anti-corruption watchdog called for immediate action at Ballarat police station to reform the culture that lead to a high rate of complaints and alleged excessive use of force incidents.
Speaking openly for the first time, Superintendent Allen said officers had made significant changes to the station’s culture which had led to a 50 per cent decrease in complaints.
“Overall, our professional standards command are looking at how investigations and how custody matters are dealt with,” Superintendent Allen said.
IBAC commissioner Stephen O’Bryan said it was undeniable that Victoria Police data indicated there was reason to be concerned about the number and type of complaints against Ballarat uniformed officers, particularly sergeants. It was alleged Ballarat fielded a complaint rate three times high than average.
“That figure wasn’t accepted,” Superintendent Allen said.
“I can say that the level of complaints across the division has reduced by 50 per cent over the last 12 months, because of change of culture, because of work that was put into place two years ago.”
THE FUTURE
For a fast-growing regional city, the latest crime growth was reasonable, Superintendent Allen said.
“People say theft is up, arson is up. Well it is – but we have had half the growth of other areas.”
“It’s a challenging job and there is never a day in policing that doesn’t present challenges.”
With the community on board Superintendent Allen believes police can drive down crime.