❓ Mr. Love questions the Minister for Police about addressing a perceived crisis in Kimberley communities. The Minister defends the police's performance, citing reduced crime rates and improved technology.
AnsweredQoN 855Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
POLICE — RESOURCES — KIMBERLEY
855. Mr R.S. LOVE to the Minister for Police:
I have a supplementary question.
When will the Minister for Police seriously attempt to tackle the crisis, which
is continuing to engulf these communities, rather than denying that the crisis
exists?
855. Mr R.S. LOVE to the Minister for Police:
I have a supplementary question.
When will the Minister for Police seriously attempt to tackle the crisis, which
is continuing to engulf these communities, rather than denying that the crisis
exists?
AnswerView source ↗
The police are doing an incredible
job. We know that because overall crime is down compared with when the
coalition was in office, which peaked under that government in 2016.
Specifically, we should look at what is being achieved. Invariably, the vast
majority of the type of crime that used to hurt many people in the community is
burglaries, when people's homes were invaded and their possessions
stolen by burglars. That crime is down in the double
digits, reduced by the effectiveness of the Western Australia Police Force,
partly because of its rapid adoption of technology, ensuring that we are
able to bring intelligence together with real-time operations via things like
the State Operations Command Centre and the increasing rollout of connectivity
via things like Starlink right across the state. That has resulted in an
incredible return. The rapid apprehension squad is very effective; it is
catching people very, very quickly. Beyond
that, when the type of crimes occur that are not predictable—when
people commit a crime without any indication that they are going to
commit it—police are finding those people and charging them at an
incredible pace as well. As I said earlier, it has become expected. It is
almost as though we are assuming it is normal
practice, which is a good thing because it reflects well on the capacity of the
police to find people so quickly and resolve crimes so rapidly. That is
a good thing but it should not be dismissed and ignored by the Leader of the Opposition. He should acknowledge the performance
and the incredible capacity of our police, which was not there only a few
years ago. They are now increasingly resolving crime at an incredible rate.
That is a good thing for the state and it should be acknowledged by the Leader
of the Opposition, and he should not ignore it.
job. We know that because overall crime is down compared with when the
coalition was in office, which peaked under that government in 2016.
Specifically, we should look at what is being achieved. Invariably, the vast
majority of the type of crime that used to hurt many people in the community is
burglaries, when people's homes were invaded and their possessions
stolen by burglars. That crime is down in the double
digits, reduced by the effectiveness of the Western Australia Police Force,
partly because of its rapid adoption of technology, ensuring that we are
able to bring intelligence together with real-time operations via things like
the State Operations Command Centre and the increasing rollout of connectivity
via things like Starlink right across the state. That has resulted in an
incredible return. The rapid apprehension squad is very effective; it is
catching people very, very quickly. Beyond
that, when the type of crimes occur that are not predictable—when
people commit a crime without any indication that they are going to
commit it—police are finding those people and charging them at an
incredible pace as well. As I said earlier, it has become expected. It is
almost as though we are assuming it is normal
practice, which is a good thing because it reflects well on the capacity of the
police to find people so quickly and resolve crimes so rapidly. That is
a good thing but it should not be dismissed and ignored by the Leader of the Opposition. He should acknowledge the performance
and the incredible capacity of our police, which was not there only a few
years ago. They are now increasingly resolving crime at an incredible rate.
That is a good thing for the state and it should be acknowledged by the Leader
of the Opposition, and he should not ignore it.
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