❓ Mrs Roberts questions the Minister for Police about home burglary rates and police response. The Minister deflects, discussing broader strategies and past statistics, without directly answering the questions.
AnsweredQoN 164Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
HOME BURGLARIES — POLICE RESPONSE
164. Mrs M.H. ROBERTS to the
Minister for Police:
I refer the minister to her admission that after six years of
a Liberal government, WA has the worst rate of home burglaries for any state in
Australia.
(1) What
proportion of 22 711 home burglaries in the metro area last year were actually
attended by police?
(2) What are the criteria for police attendance at a home
burglary?
(3) What is the sanction rate for home burglaries in the
metro area so far this year?
164. Mrs M.H. ROBERTS to the
Minister for Police:
I refer the minister to her admission that after six years of
a Liberal government, WA has the worst rate of home burglaries for any state in
Australia.
(1) What
proportion of 22 711 home burglaries in the metro area last year were actually
attended by police?
(2) What are the criteria for police attendance at a home
burglary?
(3) What is the sanction rate for home burglaries in the
metro area so far this year?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(3)
I thank the member for Midland for her question. I do not have in my head the
actual specific figures with respect to the sanction rates for home burglaries.
However, I am happy to provide those to her upon receipt of a question on
notice. What I would like to say —
Mrs M.H. Roberts :
You had the figures for everyone's electorate yesterday!
The
SPEAKER : Sit down, please. Member for Midland, I call you to order for the
third time.
Mrs L.M. HARVEY :
What I will say is that the 27 407 home burglaries that were committed in
Western Australia over the last year are reports to police of homes that have
been burgled. The police have a policy of attending to those reports.
Generally, the follow-up to householders after those reports is to try to
determine whether any forensic information can be gathered, such as DNA
evidence or CCTV footage or security camera footage. Furthermore, it is done to
find out whether there will be enough evidence around those particular
incidences to put a brief together to ensure we can pin those offences against
an offender. We acknowledge that this
is an issue, which is why we have put additional police officers on the road
and made a commitment for 550 additional police officers, which includes the
ability to train up an additional 200 detectives so that we can have more of a
focus in this place. The community is telling us they want to see some action.
In addition to that, when police charge these offenders and bring them to
court, the community is telling us that it wants to see minimum mandatory terms
of imprisonment levied against these people as a penalty. As we know, with home
burglaries in this state, it is supposed to be three strikes and they are in!
However, the counting rules have been such that offenders out there have
upwards of 150 offences and they have spent no time in prison at all.
Point of Order
Mrs
M.H. ROBERTS : I have not
asked about the minister's legislation. She said at the start of her
answer that she did not have the statistics at hand, so I am wondering why she
is continuing.
The
SPEAKER : Minister, the
question was to do with police attendance at burglaries and the sanction rate.
If you do not have the stats, maybe you want to give them to the member for
Midland at some other stage. Continue if you wish to, but that was the
question.
Questions without Notice Resumed
Mrs L.M. HARVEY : I am interested to know how the opposition
will stand with our legislation in which we propose a solution to the problem.
The SPEAKER : That is the question. If you want to address the question, minister,
address the question.
Mrs L.M. HARVEY : I note that although there were 27 400
reported home burglaries in 2012–13 when we were in government, in 2003–04,
when members opposite were in government, there were 33 714. Although it is
trending down, it is still is not good enough. That is why we have introduced
new legislation to ensure that when these offenders go to court, instead of
receiving a penalty of 15 months—if they get any penalty at all—they
will be sentenced to a minimum mandatory term of two years as a starting point.
Obviously, the judiciary can sentence these people up to 20 years. We are
asking the judiciary to start at two years and work upwards. I hope the member
for Midland will support this legislation when it comes to this chamber because
the community is very supportive of it and wants to see some action in this
place; it wants to see these rates driven down. The government believes that
this legislation will go some way to achieving that end.
I thank the member for Midland for her question. I do not have in my head the
actual specific figures with respect to the sanction rates for home burglaries.
However, I am happy to provide those to her upon receipt of a question on
notice. What I would like to say —
Mrs M.H. Roberts :
You had the figures for everyone's electorate yesterday!
The
SPEAKER : Sit down, please. Member for Midland, I call you to order for the
third time.
Mrs L.M. HARVEY :
What I will say is that the 27 407 home burglaries that were committed in
Western Australia over the last year are reports to police of homes that have
been burgled. The police have a policy of attending to those reports.
Generally, the follow-up to householders after those reports is to try to
determine whether any forensic information can be gathered, such as DNA
evidence or CCTV footage or security camera footage. Furthermore, it is done to
find out whether there will be enough evidence around those particular
incidences to put a brief together to ensure we can pin those offences against
an offender. We acknowledge that this
is an issue, which is why we have put additional police officers on the road
and made a commitment for 550 additional police officers, which includes the
ability to train up an additional 200 detectives so that we can have more of a
focus in this place. The community is telling us they want to see some action.
In addition to that, when police charge these offenders and bring them to
court, the community is telling us that it wants to see minimum mandatory terms
of imprisonment levied against these people as a penalty. As we know, with home
burglaries in this state, it is supposed to be three strikes and they are in!
However, the counting rules have been such that offenders out there have
upwards of 150 offences and they have spent no time in prison at all.
Point of Order
Mrs
M.H. ROBERTS : I have not
asked about the minister's legislation. She said at the start of her
answer that she did not have the statistics at hand, so I am wondering why she
is continuing.
The
SPEAKER : Minister, the
question was to do with police attendance at burglaries and the sanction rate.
If you do not have the stats, maybe you want to give them to the member for
Midland at some other stage. Continue if you wish to, but that was the
question.
Questions without Notice Resumed
Mrs L.M. HARVEY : I am interested to know how the opposition
will stand with our legislation in which we propose a solution to the problem.
The SPEAKER : That is the question. If you want to address the question, minister,
address the question.
Mrs L.M. HARVEY : I note that although there were 27 400
reported home burglaries in 2012–13 when we were in government, in 2003–04,
when members opposite were in government, there were 33 714. Although it is
trending down, it is still is not good enough. That is why we have introduced
new legislation to ensure that when these offenders go to court, instead of
receiving a penalty of 15 months—if they get any penalty at all—they
will be sentenced to a minimum mandatory term of two years as a starting point.
Obviously, the judiciary can sentence these people up to 20 years. We are
asking the judiciary to start at two years and work upwards. I hope the member
for Midland will support this legislation when it comes to this chamber because
the community is very supportive of it and wants to see some action in this
place; it wants to see these rates driven down. The government believes that
this legislation will go some way to achieving that end.
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