❓ Ms. Beard questions the Police Minister about rising crime in the Gascoyne-Midwest and the impact of a police officer shortage. The Minister responds by highlighting the success of liquor restrictions in Carnarvon in reducing crime and emphasizes the Commissioner of Police's autonomy in resource allocation.
AnsweredQoN 155Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
CRIME — GASCOYNE AND MIDWEST
155. Ms M. BEARD to the Minister for Police:
I refer to Western Australia Police
Force crime data for the Gascoyne-midwest, which reflects that burglary is up
by 36 per cent, serious assault by 50 per cent and shoplifting by 75 per cent
compared with the data for 2022.
(1) Considering
the WA police minister's public admission that the government will fall
short of its target by more than 500 new police officers, how can the people of
the Gascoyne-midwest have any confidence that crises in crime will be combatted
across our regions?
(2) Will the WA
police minister allocate any additional resources to the Gascoyne and midwest
regions?
155. Ms M. BEARD to the Minister for Police:
I refer to Western Australia Police
Force crime data for the Gascoyne-midwest, which reflects that burglary is up
by 36 per cent, serious assault by 50 per cent and shoplifting by 75 per cent
compared with the data for 2022.
(1) Considering
the WA police minister's public admission that the government will fall
short of its target by more than 500 new police officers, how can the people of
the Gascoyne-midwest have any confidence that crises in crime will be combatted
across our regions?
(2) Will the WA
police minister allocate any additional resources to the Gascoyne and midwest
regions?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(2)
I will reflect on one thing, member, with regard to crime in the midwest. The
member lives in Carnarvon and claimed not that long ago that there was a crime
crisis there associated with juveniles committing extraordinary levels of
crime, and some members of her party at the federal level claimed that it was
akin to Alice Springs at the time. I understand
that in that part of the world there has been a reduction in crime of 38 per cent as a consequence of the restrictions
on takeaway liquor sales that were enforced on the member's pub
and others by the director of Liquor Licensing. The restrictions are
intentionally focused on Sundays and Mondays,
although there is also now a restriction on opening hours every day of the week
from 12.00 noon until 7.00 pm. There has also been destocking of glass,
with the intention of reducing the amount of
glass in the community. In the past, streets were littered with glass as a consequence
of sales of takeaway alcohol in glass. The member will be aware that the
sale of takeaway packaged liquor has been stopped on Sundays and Mondays.
There
is a direct correlation with that initiative in the midwest. For that
initiative to be effected and effective , it required a rollout of the
banned drinkers register, which our government introduced to the state. It also
afforded takeaway liquor outlets a takeaway alcohol management system—all
at government expense—as part of the initiative. That is what enabled
that response to crime in Carnarvon. The program is a pilot program that is
being monitored by the director of Liquor Licensing. Such has been the efficacy
of those initiatives in Carnarvon, in the midwest, that the director of Liquor
Licensing, who is independent, was approached by the acting Commissioner of
Police, requesting a similar process to be rolled out elsewhere. The director has given show-cause to takeaway
liquor outlets in Derby and Broome for a range of measures similar to
those taken in Carnarvon, especially in Derby.
That is a good thing. It is good
to see that there has been that significant reduction in crime in Carnarvon,
which is in the midwest, and the extraordinary success of those initiatives,
which have seen reductions in presentations at hospitals, an increase in the
numbers of kids going to school—which is why Sunday and Monday were
chosen—and a reduction in the amount of crime that police have to
contend with. All those things are good. It
is a pilot program and it is already giving an indication to the director of
Liquor Licensing about where else she might potentially go. I look
forward to her considering that; she has already given indications to Derby and
Broome.
At
the end, I will remind the member that with regard to police operations, it is
the Commissioner of Police who directs police where they go and how they
operate. Apart from being unlawful, it would probably be wrong for me to try to
tell the Commissioner of Police how to do policing. The Commissioner of Police
takes the resources that are afforded to him by the government and employs them
to best effect.
I will reflect on one thing, member, with regard to crime in the midwest. The
member lives in Carnarvon and claimed not that long ago that there was a crime
crisis there associated with juveniles committing extraordinary levels of
crime, and some members of her party at the federal level claimed that it was
akin to Alice Springs at the time. I understand
that in that part of the world there has been a reduction in crime of 38 per cent as a consequence of the restrictions
on takeaway liquor sales that were enforced on the member's pub
and others by the director of Liquor Licensing. The restrictions are
intentionally focused on Sundays and Mondays,
although there is also now a restriction on opening hours every day of the week
from 12.00 noon until 7.00 pm. There has also been destocking of glass,
with the intention of reducing the amount of
glass in the community. In the past, streets were littered with glass as a consequence
of sales of takeaway alcohol in glass. The member will be aware that the
sale of takeaway packaged liquor has been stopped on Sundays and Mondays.
There
is a direct correlation with that initiative in the midwest. For that
initiative to be effected and effective , it required a rollout of the
banned drinkers register, which our government introduced to the state. It also
afforded takeaway liquor outlets a takeaway alcohol management system—all
at government expense—as part of the initiative. That is what enabled
that response to crime in Carnarvon. The program is a pilot program that is
being monitored by the director of Liquor Licensing. Such has been the efficacy
of those initiatives in Carnarvon, in the midwest, that the director of Liquor
Licensing, who is independent, was approached by the acting Commissioner of
Police, requesting a similar process to be rolled out elsewhere. The director has given show-cause to takeaway
liquor outlets in Derby and Broome for a range of measures similar to
those taken in Carnarvon, especially in Derby.
That is a good thing. It is good
to see that there has been that significant reduction in crime in Carnarvon,
which is in the midwest, and the extraordinary success of those initiatives,
which have seen reductions in presentations at hospitals, an increase in the
numbers of kids going to school—which is why Sunday and Monday were
chosen—and a reduction in the amount of crime that police have to
contend with. All those things are good. It
is a pilot program and it is already giving an indication to the director of
Liquor Licensing about where else she might potentially go. I look
forward to her considering that; she has already given indications to Derby and
Broome.
At
the end, I will remind the member that with regard to police operations, it is
the Commissioner of Police who directs police where they go and how they
operate. Apart from being unlawful, it would probably be wrong for me to try to
tell the Commissioner of Police how to do policing. The Commissioner of Police
takes the resources that are afforded to him by the government and employs them
to best effect.
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