Victoria Police responds to Channel 7 report on CBD violence |
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| Tuesday, 21 December 2010 14:38 |
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The broadcaster claimed an independent report, prepared for Victoria Police by consultants at Price Waterhouse Coopers and released to Channel 7 news, documented a 'public safety crisis' in Melbourne CBD. They went on to say that whilst crime overall was down, the reports showed that assaults, robberies, vandalism and sex offences were all up. It is important to understand that the period assessed within the report was the five years up to 30 June 2008. It is also important to understand that the statistics detailed within the report, described by Channel 7 as proof of the 'real extent of the crimewave' were Victoria Police's own annual crime statistics which are routinely released by Victoria Police and available on our website and in our annual reports. What the report does note is that the Safe Streets Task Force has been instrumental in getting to grips with the pressing issue of alcohol fuelled violence and anti-social behavior. The report credits this good work with significantly slowing a growing rate of assaults in the city. And since the report was published, that trend has progressed to the point where it is now in decline. This was confirmed last month when the latest volume of police crime statistics showed that there had been a 14 per cent drop in street assaults in the past year. Channel 7 also reflected on the lengthy process it underwent in attempting to access this and one other report, claiming 'these were the documents Victoria Police did not want you to see.' We reject wholeheartedly any notion that we delayed the release of this report until after the election. The reality is that Victoria Police legitimately believed that both reports – ‘Evaluation of Safe Streets’ and a ‘Safer Victoria – a whole-of-government approach to public safety’ were Cabinet-in-Confidence documents and could not be released. As soon as we became aware that this was not the case, we took steps to have the information released. We would have liked this to have happened quicker, but a lot of the information within the 400 pages had been provided by other government agencies and we were obliged to consult with them prior to releasing their data. Unfortunately this took longer than expected. We appreciate that the issue of alcohol related violence is of significant public interest. Victoria Police has always been very open with the community about the extent of alcohol related violence and public order issues in the community, particularly in the Melbourne CBD, and has never hidden behind the fact that it is a significant community concern that must be addressed. Share This Page  
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