❓ Mr Papalia questions the Minister for Police about a delayed response to an attempted child abduction and a riot, advocating for a new police hub. The Minister acknowledges the unacceptable delay but defends the current policing strategy in the Peel district, citing crime reduction and alternative policing models.
AnsweredQoN 325Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
ATTEMPTED ABDUCTION — POLICE RESPONSE
325. Mr P. PAPALIA to the Minister for Police:
I have a supplementary question. Minister, there has been a
violent riot in Singleton and this incident in which it took four hours to
respond to an attempted child abduction. What will it take before the minister
acknowledges that we need a police hub between the Rockingham and Mandurah
Police Stations?
325. Mr P. PAPALIA to the Minister for Police:
I have a supplementary question. Minister, there has been a
violent riot in Singleton and this incident in which it took four hours to
respond to an attempted child abduction. What will it take before the minister
acknowledges that we need a police hub between the Rockingham and Mandurah
Police Stations?
AnswerView source ↗
In this incident, clearly, there was the wrong categorisation
of priority; the wrong priority was given to that call for police assistance at
the police assistance centre —
Mr
M. McGowan : It was four hours!
Mrs L.M. HARVEY : I
acknowledge that four hours is totally unacceptable. We have acknowledged that
there is a problem there and police are —
Mr
P. Papalia interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Warnbro!
Mrs
L.M. HARVEY : However, to use one incident like that as an argument for a
police station is not a good way to expend public funds or determine where to
locate police stations. In addition to this —
Mr
P. Papalia interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Warnbro, I call you to order for the first time.
Mrs
L.M. HARVEY : In addition, our response to issues of crime in the Peel
district has been to put together a very successful operation—Operation
Esteem. As a result of Operation Esteem, there has been an 18 per cent
reduction in reported crime in the Peel district and we are very pleased with
that. We have put some additional resources into the Peel district. Our
response is to have more police officers in vehicles available to respond to
calls. We are also looking at replicating our very successful south east metro
local policing trial right across the metropolitan area because we know from
feedback from communities that that model of policing has been very, very
effective in driving down crime. As an example, through summer overall reported
crime in south east metro was down 7.25 per cent, whereas the metropolitan area
normally experiences a spike in crime over the summer period.
We think this is a model that we can
roll out that will continue to be successful. Crime in Peel is down 18 per
cent. I am generally happy with the police response in Peel at present. We will
keep the pressure on; we have to because that is what policing is all about. We
are interrogating the incident the member mentioned to ensure that the
processes and the training in the Police Assistance Centre are improved so that
it does not happen again.
of priority; the wrong priority was given to that call for police assistance at
the police assistance centre —
Mr
M. McGowan : It was four hours!
Mrs L.M. HARVEY : I
acknowledge that four hours is totally unacceptable. We have acknowledged that
there is a problem there and police are —
Mr
P. Papalia interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Warnbro!
Mrs
L.M. HARVEY : However, to use one incident like that as an argument for a
police station is not a good way to expend public funds or determine where to
locate police stations. In addition to this —
Mr
P. Papalia interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Warnbro, I call you to order for the first time.
Mrs
L.M. HARVEY : In addition, our response to issues of crime in the Peel
district has been to put together a very successful operation—Operation
Esteem. As a result of Operation Esteem, there has been an 18 per cent
reduction in reported crime in the Peel district and we are very pleased with
that. We have put some additional resources into the Peel district. Our
response is to have more police officers in vehicles available to respond to
calls. We are also looking at replicating our very successful south east metro
local policing trial right across the metropolitan area because we know from
feedback from communities that that model of policing has been very, very
effective in driving down crime. As an example, through summer overall reported
crime in south east metro was down 7.25 per cent, whereas the metropolitan area
normally experiences a spike in crime over the summer period.
We think this is a model that we can
roll out that will continue to be successful. Crime in Peel is down 18 per
cent. I am generally happy with the police response in Peel at present. We will
keep the pressure on; we have to because that is what policing is all about. We
are interrogating the incident the member mentioned to ensure that the
processes and the training in the Police Assistance Centre are improved so that
it does not happen again.
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