A VISION FOR VICTORIA POLICE IN 2025 - VICTORIA POLICE BLUE PAPER
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VICTORIA POLICE BLUE PAPER: A VISION FOR VICTORIA POLICE IN 2025
Published by Victoria Police, May 2014 © The State of Victoria, Victoria Police 2014 This publication is copyright. No part may be reproduced by any process except in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968. Print managed by Finsbury Green This document is available online in PDF format at www.police.vic.gov.au Disclaimer This publication may be of assistance to you but the State of Victoria and its employees do not guarantee that the publication is without flaw of any kind or is wholly appropriate for your particular purposes and therefore disclaims all liability for any error, loss or other consequence which may arise from you relying on any information in this publication.
Foreword
Victoria Police constantly A Vision for Victoria Police in 2025 sets
strives to meet the needs out three proposed strategic directions to
and expectations of the enhance public safety and increase value for
Victorian community. money for the Victorian community through
As public demands for our its investment in Victoria Police:
services grow and change,
• better matching of resources to
Victoria Police must consider
demand by rethinking the traditional
how it should adapt over the
operating model
medium to long term.
• improving capability through workforce
Although Victoria Police has a three year
reform and technology
corporate plan (2012-2015), there is no clearly
laid out, long-term strategy. The Rush Inquiry • collaborating more closely through
criticised Victoria Police for a fragmented partnerships.
approach to strategic planning, including a Sir Robert Peel, the founder of modern
failure to set objectives for the short, medium policing, said that “the police are the public
and long term. and the public are the police”. That principle
remains of great importance today. Victoria
That’s why Victoria Police has produced this
Police and the whole community need to
Blue Paper, as a basis for the development of
work more closely together to make Victoria
a new, long-term strategic plan for the period
a safer place.
2015 to 2025.
In particular, it outlines the strategic choices
Victoria Police must make - including priorities Ken Lay APM
- in a period when Victoria Police will need Chief Commissioner of Police
to do more to enhance public safety with
relatively fewer resources.
The Blue Paper identifies the broader social,
economic and environmental trends, and
internal challenges, facing Victoria Police now
and in the coming years. Many of the internal
issues have developed over decades; some
have their orgins as far back as the nineteenth
century.
It is clear that the current operating model
for Victoria Police is struggling to cope with
the unprecedented demands upon it and
to meet public expectations. Without a real
transformation, it will not meet the expected
growth and changes in demand for policing.VICTORIA POLICE BLUE PAPER: A VISION FOR VICTORIA POLICE IN 2025 Contents Part 1 5 I The need for transformation 6 II Role and functions of Victoria Police 8 III Strategic context 12 IV Organisational challenges 16 Part 2 22 V Strategic goals and directions 23 VI Better matching of resources to demand 25 VII Improving capability: people and technology 40 VIII Collaborating more closely through partnerships: beyond engagement 52 IX The road to transformation 60 4
PART 1
VICTORIA POLICE BLUE PAPER:
A VISION FOR VICTORIA POLICE IN 2025
I
Introduction: the need
for transformation
The current operating model for Victoria • changing social values and expectations
Police is struggling to cope with the increasing - greater cultural diversity, changing
demands upon it and to meet public social connections based on
expectations. As it stands, the model will not communities of interest and growing
meet expected growth and patterns of demand expectations of public authorities
in the coming years:
• rapidly changing technology - enabling
• demand for urgent responses (Triple Zero new ways of committing crime as well as
calls) is outpacing population growth new types of crime; police are struggling
to keep pace with criminal networks
• serious and organised crime is growing
rapidly, as it becomes increasingly • economics and government finances –
national and international the past twenty years of high economic
growth (and associated revenue growth)
• the true extent of some types of crime
have come to an end; significantly lower
(especially family violence, sexual abuse
economic growth and tax revenue growth
and fraud) is not reflected in reports to
over the coming decade is almost certain
Victoria Police but as reporting increases,
so too will demand. • a changing physical environment – the
scale, frequency and severity of extreme
Rapidly increasing demand is driven by major
weather events is increasing.
social, economic and environmental trends:
These pressures cannot be relieved by adding
• increasing crime resulting from social more resources according to traditional patterns
problems – abuse of alcohol and illicit of investment, for two reasons:
drugs, family violence, child abuse,
online sex offences, and mental illness • tax revenue will be insufficient.
Lower revenue growth and substantially
• changing demography – increasing
increased demands on public
population diversity and density
expenditure are increasingly likely to
concentrated on Melbourne’s urban
constrain government funding for
fringe; population ageing and growing
particular public services;
levels of disadvantage
6• patterns of investment over the past The Rush Inquiry criticised Victoria Police for
twenty years (an almost exclusive focus on a ‘fragmented’ approach to strategic planning,
numbers of police and police stations) will including a failure to set objectives for the short,
not meet the challenges faced by police medium and long term.1
and the community’s expectations.
To continue to meet the needs and expectations
A transformation is required to maximise the of the community, Victoria Police must consider
effectiveness of Victoria Police with limited how it should change over the medium to long
resources – a significant change to achieve term. The history of Victoria Police shows the
better value for money. danger of being swept along by waves of social
and technological change, and responding only
Yet Victoria Police lacks the flexibility to use its
under external pressure. Instead Victoria Police
resources to respond in the best possible way to
should shape its own development, through
the increased demands on it:
engagement with the Victorian community about
• There is a mismatch between patterns of the strategic choices it must make – including
demand and the allocation of resources: setting priorities.
o Historically, the geographic distribution Based on an understanding of the role of Victoria
of operational staff appears to have Police, the principles of policing, and the external
been matched to population size, and internal challenges facing Victoria Police,
rather than crime rates or the likely A Vision for Victoria Police in 2025 lays out three
need for policing activity. proposed strategic directions to enhance public
o Rostering often does not reflect safety, and increase value for money for the
service demand, due to inadequate Victorian community through its investment in
forecasting, traditional practices and Victoria Police:
industrial arrangements. • better matching of resources to demand
o Industrial arrangements limit the by rethinking the traditional operating
capacity to move police efficiently model
from one location to another. • improving capability through workforce
reform and technology
o The location of current police stations
often reflects a bygone era of horse- • collaborating more closely through
drawn transport, rather than a service partnerships.
delivery model that matches demand. The Vision outlines the challenges facing Victoria
• Inadequate investment in technology Police now and over the years to 2025, and
has left Victoria Police in the twentieth how the organisation should respond to them.
century, in a world in which the ‘virtual’ The Vision is not a strategic plan: such a plan will
(for example digital information and be developed after further analysis is undertaken
electronic systems) is becoming more on how best to deliver policing services to the
important and the physical (for example Victorian community.
buildings) less important. For further information about the Blue
In the face of these strategic challenges, there is Paper, please phone 9247 5825 or email
no clear, long-term strategy for Victoria Police, VICTORIAPOLICEBLUEPAPER-OIC@police.vic.gov.au
even though it has a three year corporate plan
(2012-15). 1 State Services Authority (2011) Inquiry into the command, management and functions
of the senior structure of Victoria Police, Melbourne: State Government of Victoria, p.18.
7VICTORIA POLICE BLUE PAPER:
A VISION FOR VICTORIA POLICE IN 2025
II
Foundations: Role, functions
and principles
Role and functions of Legislation reflecting changing social values
and attitudes has further increased demands
Victoria Police on police in areas such as mental health, family
The Victoria Police Act 2013 defines the role of violence, traffic offences and sex offenders.2
Victoria Police as being to serve the Victorian
Consequently the role of police has expanded,
community and uphold the law so as
and become more complex and time-consuming.
to promote a safe, secure and orderly society.
The Act provides no clear guidance on where
The Act provides that the functions of Victoria
police activities should stop: the list of statutory
Police include:
functions is both very broad and inclusive. When
• preserving the peace coupled with a ‘solution-oriented’ mindset, a real
• protecting life and property danger exists that Victoria Police will attempt to be
• preventing the commission of offences ‘all things to all people’ – an unsustainable position.
• detecting and apprehending offenders Victoria Police needs therefore to be clear on
• helping those in need of assistance. its core functions. It might be argued that those
In practice, the role of Victoria Police is far more functions require the totality of the knowledge
complex. A safe, secure and orderly society and skills acquired by sworn officers, or their
depends not only on the conduct of police, unique legal powers. Functions that do not fit that
but on the activities of citizens, and many other description could be performed by others.
organisations. Their behaviour is influenced by Moreover, a substantial proportion of traditional,
many factors, including changing demographics visible, public policing is increasingly carried
and general social and economic conditions. out by private security firms. The rise of private,
Police increasingly deal with the consequences plural and hybrid (mixed public and private)
of a variety of social ills, such as family violence, policing poses both challenges and opportunities
abuse of alcohol or illicit drugs, mental illness for Victoria Police. It is crucial to find the right
or underemployment. They depend on the relationship between public and private forms
effectiveness of other services to resolve a of policing.
situation fully, and they are expected to work
with other agencies to find ways to deal with
the causes of harmful behaviours. 2 It should be noted that, in some cases, Victoria Police has promoted new legislation
where it has perceived both a need and the necessary community support (for example,
in relation to family violence).
8Principles of policing (7) Police, at all times, should maintain a
relationship with the public that gives reality
The role and functions of Victoria Police and to the historic tradition that the police are
the principles that govern them are inextricably the public and the public are the police; the
linked. The fundamental purpose of policing is police being only members of the public who
the protection and vindication of the human are paid to give full-time attention to duties
rights of every citizen.3 which are incumbent upon every citizen in the
Equally, police must protect human rights in the interests of community welfare and existence.
exercise of their duty; every interaction between (8) Police should always direct their action
a sworn officer and a member of the public strictly towards their functions, and never
conveys strong signals about whether that appear to usurp the powers of the judiciary.
person is treated with respect and dignity.
(9) The test of police efficiency is the absence
The principles established by Sir Robert Peel in of crime and disorder, not the visible
1829 when he created the London Metropolitan evidence of police action in dealing with it.4
Police, remain relevant today and inform many
aspects of the Vision: These principles centre on the prevention of
crime and disorder. They do not consider some
(1) The basic mission for which the police exist of the broader aspects of community safety for
is to prevent crime and disorder. which Victoria Police is responsible, such as road
(2) The ability of the police to perform their safety (which was not a major concern for police
duties is dependent upon the public in the early nineteenth century) and emergency
approval of police actions. management (for example, response to bushfires
and floods). Yet a number of the principles are
(3) Police must secure the willing co-operation
highly relevant to both of these activities, which
of the public in voluntary observation of the
are of major importance for Victoria Police in the
law to be able to secure and maintain the
twenty first century.
respect of the public.
(4) The degree of co-operation of the public that
can be secured diminishes proportionately to
the necessity of the use of physical force.
(5) Police seek and preserve public favour
not by catering to public opinion, but by
constantly demonstrating absolute impartial
service to the law.
(6) Police use physical force to the extent
necessary to secure observance of the law
or to restore order only when the exercise
of persuasion, advice, and warning is found
to be insufficient.
4 While these principles are generally attributed to Sir Robert Peel, it is likely they were
composed by Charles Rowan and Richard Mayne, as the first and joint Commissioners
of the London Metropolitan Police: see http://www.civitas.org.uk/pubs/policeNine.
3 Patten, C. (1999) A New Beginning: Policing in Northern Ireland - Report of the php, accessed 13 August 2013. The formulation of these principles varies slightly from
Independent Commission on Policing for Northern Ireland, Belfast: Independent one source to another; this simpler version is from http://www.nwpolice.org/inside-
Commission on Policing in Northern Ireland, p.18. new-westminster-police-department/history/, accessed 13 August 2013.
9VICTORIA POLICE BLUE PAPER:
A VISION FOR VICTORIA POLICE IN 2025
Public support for police - These values include upholding the rule of
law, but go beyond it to the social obligations
producing public value and that underpin a civilised society. Police must
upholding community values treat every citizen – whether victim, offender
or otherwise - with dignity and respect. Police
The principle of policing by consent of the public
must convey trustworthy motives, allow
remains at the heart of a modern Victoria Police.
citizens to speak up and express their views
What does public approval depend upon? during encounters, and not profile people
based on race, gender or any other inherent
Police must produce public value – that is, they
characteristic.
must understand and respond to the community’s
concerns about public safety, at the lowest Peel emphasised not only that “the police are
possible cost in terms of money and authority – the public”, but also that police should not cater
and, in doing so, uphold community values. to public opinion. Thus the police need to be
recognisable to the diverse ethnic, religious
At least seven dimensions of the public value of
and other groups within the community, but
policing are important:
at the same time held to ethical standards in
• reducing crime and victimisation performing their duties that are higher than
those in the community at large.
• calling offenders to account
• reducing fear and enhancing personal Peel also stressed the importance of
security accountability to the public. Police are given
by the public the power to deprive individuals
• ensuring civility in public spaces of their liberty and to use force in the cause of
(ordered liberty) upholding the law.
• using force and authority fairly, efficiently
Public accountability requires transparent
and effectively
measurement of all aspects of performance.
• using financial resources fairly, efficiently Victoria Police could establish a new
and effectively performance management system that
• quality services/customer satisfaction.5 measures the effectiveness of its activities,
based on the seven dimensions of public value
Public value is therefore in part created by
described above.
upholding shared community values. In a
diverse society, the values to be reflected by All measures should be reported on publicly, so
Victoria Police ought to be those that can be that the Victorian community has a full picture
defended as right, or just, in the mind of the of the value provided by Victoria Police.
community.
5 Moore, M. (2013) Recognizing Public Value, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University
Press, p.65. Note also that the broader economic value of public safety is considerable,
as it is a major factor for potential visitors, investors, students and migrants from other
jurisdictions.
10The nature of the The new Act resolves this tension by providing
that the minister can give written directions to
relationship between the chief commissioner in relation to the policy
government and police and priorities of Victoria Police, except in relation
to specified matters. Those matters include
Victorians express their views about what they
decisions about law enforcement, investigation
value through the political process, as well as in
and prosecution in relation to a particular person
more direct ways. Accordingly, Victoria Police
or group, and the organisational management of
is also accountable to the relevant minister.
Victoria Police (such as deployment of officers to
The police are, and always have been, part
particular locations).
of the executive branch of government.
There is no constitutional separation of powers Thus the government of the day remains
between police and the elected government responsible for ensuring that community
of the day. priorities are met by Victoria Police, but in a
general way that does not prescribe (among
At the same time, the common law has
other things) the allocation or deployment of
recognised that a sworn police officer has
members of Victoria Police.
an independent discretion, immune from
ministerial direction, in the performance of their
duties as a constable and the exercise of their
coercive powers.
11VICTORIA POLICE BLUE PAPER:
A VISION FOR VICTORIA POLICE IN 2025
III
Strategic context
Demand for Victoria Police services, larger briefs of evidence and experiencing more
including key crime trends extensive court commitments. In addition,
Demand for Victoria Police services, driven because organised crime usually crosses
both by calls for assistance to Triple Zero (000) borders, there is a greater need to contribute to
and growth in serious and organised crime, is joint taskforces aimed at tackling national and
outstripping the capacity of the organisation international crime issues, as well as counter
to respond effectively. This is demonstrated terrorism investigations.
in a number of ways.
Victoria Police must also continue to manage
The number of incidents to which Victoria traditional types of crime, both ‘volume
Police has responded, measured by calls to crime’ (such as theft of motor vehicles) and
Triple Zero (000), has increased by an average ‘signal crimes’ (particular types of criminal and
annual rate of 4.2 per cent over the past disorderly conduct that have a major impact
five years, compared to an average annual on the community’s fear of crime, including rare
population growth rate of 1.7 per cent. The but catastrophic and high profile crimes).
reasons for this growth are unclear. The reported rate of some serious crimes
against the person has increased substantially
There is a strong argument that the harm caused over the past decade (rape, abduction/kidnap);
by serious and organised crime is growing. on the other hand, the reported rate of other
Victoria Police Crime Command is dealing serious crimes has decreased significantly over
with an increase in the most serious matters. the same period (murder, robbery and armed
Between 2009-10 and 2011-12 there was an robbery, assault with weapon).
overall increase of 54 per cent in the most A great deal of crime is not revealed in crime
serious (category 1) investigations undertaken statistics collected by police, commonly called
by the Organised Crime Portfolio of Crime the ‘dark figure’. The dramatic increase in the
Command. For example, in the three years recorded incidence of assaults and property
to 2011, there was a 300 per cent increase in damage caused by family violence in Victoria
detected illicit drug laboratories. over the last ten years, noted below, reveals
At the same time, Crime Command is dealing the extent of the dark figure for family violence,
with increasingly complex investigations caused by changes in legislation and the
requiring specialist skill and resources, preparing approach of Victoria Police to such crimes.
12• The number of offences for possession
or use of common illicit drugs (for
example cannabis, amphetamine-
type stimulants (ATS) such as ‘ice’) has
increased substantially over the past
ten years. Police and other community
members report that illicit drug use has
become more normalised in society
from a young age. It is common
for drug offenders to be involved in
other criminal activities, and ATS and
synthetic drug users are likely to prove
an increasing challenge because of their
tendency to violence and psychosis.
• Family violence incidents reported to
Victoria Police have doubled over the
To take another example, it is estimated that past 10 years and such violence remains
only 20 per cent of all sexual assaults are a growing problem.
reported to police, compared with around • Child abuse and online child sex
50 per cent of physical assaults, and nearly offences are of increasing concern.
100 per cent for motor vehicle thefts.6 As a Child pornography is said to be the
consequence of recent and ongoing public fastest-growing crime type in the
inquiries, it is expected that the reporting rate world and recorded child pornography
of abuse against children, both historic and offences in Victoria have almost doubled
current, will increase significantly in coming over the last decade. Victoria Police and
years. other experts think that they are only
Thirdly, it is well known that fraud is seriously detecting a fraction of the problem.
under-reported. Again, it is likely that many In addition, the prevalence of other
more incidents of fraud will be reported to forms of child abuse is growing rapidly
police in coming years. and is expected to continue to do so.
• The use of firearms in offences reported
Trends in certain types and causes of crime
to Victoria Police has increased by
also indicate growing demand on Victoria
almost 50 per cent over the last five
Police services over the next decade:
years, driven by assault and robbery; it is
• Over the past decade, alcohol-related also becoming more public and brazen.
assaults have increased by almost
• Demands on Victoria Police caused
50%,7 and there is evidence of an
by mental health incidents in the
increasing culture of excessive alcohol
community are growing, as the visibility
consumption among young people.
(but not prevalence) of mental illness has
increased in recent years; this is unlikely
6 Australian Bureau of Statistics (2013) Crime Victimisation Australia, 2011-12, at
to decline in the short-term, given the
http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/4530.0Chapter2032011-12; Australian
Institute of Criminology (2013) Australian Crime: Facts and Figures, 2012, Canberra, p.ix.
links to substance abuse and unmet
7 Victorian Auditor-General (June 2012) Effectiveness of Justice Strategies in Preventing
demand for mental health treatment.
and Reducing Alcohol-Related Harm, Melbourne: State of Victoria, p.x.
13VICTORIA POLICE BLUE PAPER:
A VISION FOR VICTORIA POLICE IN 2025
Demographic changes • respect for public employees, including
Demographic changes will contribute to a number police, is declining.9
of the future challenges for Victoria Police: A greater range of differing values makes
policing by consent more difficult.
• a growing number and diversity of
immigrants in new and emerging Technology
communities, highly concentrated Technology is shaping the future of policing in
in areas that already have the largest both negative and positive ways.
overseas-born populations
It is enabling new forms of criminal activity
• a growing population, concentrated in
(e.g. cyber crime such as fraud and child
the urban fringe of Melbourne and major
pornography), and facilitating the commission
regional centres, with a higher likelihood of
of old crimes (e.g. drug trafficking, terrorism) in
crime associated with higher density living
new ways. In addition, social media and citizen
• significant overlap between areas with both journalism are increasing scrutiny of police and
high ethnic diversity and high population shaping the community’s opinion of public
growth (such as the municipalities of Casey, safety.
Hume, Whittlesea and Wyndham)
At the same time, social media and citizen
• an ageing population that is often more journalism offer substantial benefits in
anxious and more vulnerable to certain upholding public safety. Further, a range of
types of crime, and a large and increasing technological advances, including sensors
group of disengaged young people (such as automatic number plate recognition),
• growing levels of disadvantage, especially predictive DNA testing and data analytics, are
in new and emerging communities making public safety systems smarter.
and areas of rapid urban growth, and
Economic and fiscal trends
increasing job insecurity.8
The positive economic conditions and
Social values and expectations associated strong revenue growth over the
Community values are also changing and last ten years are unlikely to continue over
diverging: the coming decade. Productivity Commission
projections suggest that Australia will see
• there is a loss of shared identity driven
slower growth in average incomes than in
by increasing individualism and risk
the past 50 years.10 Victorian revenue growth
avoidance (including withdrawal from
over the next four years is projected to be 3.6
public places and civic engagement)
per cent, compared to more than 7 per cent
• greater expectations are placed on in the decade to June 2010.11 These financial
government (including police) to manage pressures will be made worse by growing
risk, and to respond to public demands service demands and expectations, including
for services and accountability and on police.
9 This is evident in both hospitals and schools: see Parliament of Victoria Drugs and Crime
Prevention Committee (2011) Inquiry into violence and security arrangements in Victorian
hospitals and, in particular, emergency departments, Melbourne; and Herald-Sun, Class
War, 28 January 2014. More generally, see IPSOS Social Research Institute (2013) The
8 The labour force underutilisation rate (unemployment and underemployment combined) Mind & Mood Report: Community Perspectives on social change (2003-2013), Report
in November 2013 was higher than at any time since 1999: Australian Bureau of Statistics commissioned by Victoria Police (unpublished).Of course, some serious and well-publicised
(January 2014) Labour Force, Australia (ABS cat. no. 6202.0) Table 22: Labour Force cases of police misconduct have also contributed to a decline in respect for police.
Underutilisation Rate: http://www.ausstats.abs.gov.au/ausstats/meisubs.nsf/0/378F6A6FF- 10 Harris, P. (2013) Productivity and the National Income Outlook, Speech to the Trans-
C8BCF3CCA257C7D000C3BF5/$File/6202022.xls, accessed 28 February 2014; see also Tasman Business Circle, Perth, 18 September 2013.
Brotherhood of St Laurence and Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social 11 Victorian Department of Treasury and Finance (2013) Building for Growth: 2013-14
Research (2013) Social Exclusion Monitor Bulletin, Melbourne. Budget Update, Melbourne: Victorian Government
14Changes in the physical environment In addition, the increasing importance of
The scale, frequency and severity of natural policing as a political issue poses challenges
disasters (such as extreme bushfires and to Victoria Police’s ability to build a workforce
flooding) and other extreme weather events profile that delivers on its strategy.
(for example heatwaves) has increased over Public scrutiny
the last ten years and, according to the CSIRO,
Independent scrutiny of Victoria Police
this trend is likely to continue.12 These will
activities has been strengthened significantly
create additional demands on Victoria Police,
over the past decade, yet public concerns
especially in emergency management.
about issues of transparency and accountability
Legislation and policy initiatives persist. As a result, these issues will continue to
There appears to be a trend towards more be significant for Victoria Police.
frequent changes in legislation and policy, and
a public preference for legislative responses to
the symptoms of complex social issues.
12 CSIRO (2013) Submission to the Senate Standing Committee on Environment
and Communications Inquiry into Recent trends in and preparedness for extreme
weather events.
15VICTORIA POLICE BLUE PAPER:
A VISION FOR VICTORIA POLICE IN 2025
IV
Organisational challenges
Financial constraints and the • There are indications of a cultural divide
productivity imperative between sworn (police and Protective
Victoria Police will be affected by more severe Services Officers (PSO)) and Victorian Public
public funding constraints, both directly, and Service (VPS) staff, caused in part by the
indirectly through changes to other areas of differences in employment arrangements,
government activity, since Victoria Police is the including disciplinary processes.
public agency of last resort for citizens, when a • The cultural divide is reinforced by the
social problem requires intervention by public inability of Victoria Police to choose
services. In the face of rising demand, Victoria an optimal workforce mix: successive
Police must learn to deliver more with relatively governments have for many years
less. If Victoria Police revenue growth reflects required the force to employ a fixed
Department of Treasury and Finance projections number of police. The result is a limited
indicating that it is likely to be less than the capacity to employ VPS staff in functions
combination of population growth and inflation, where they would be more suitable
and expenditure growth follows the trend over and more financially viable than police,
the last few years, the organisation will face limiting the organisation’s ability to
increasing budgetary pressure and more serious plan its workforce properly. The ratio
constraints on its operations in future - unless of ‘civilian’ to sworn staff in Victoria is
ways can be found to increase operational lower than in New South Wales and
effectiveness and provide better value for Queensland, and is almost a third of that
money. in the United Kingdom.
The right people, with the right • Victoria Police still falls short of the
capability, in the right roles ideal that it reasonably reflect the
A number of issues concerning the Victoria demographics of the community it serves:
Police workforce indicate the need for o Women account for about 25 per
transformational change: cent of all police, and around 10 per
• Despite improvements in recent years, cent of more senior ranks (inspector
there is not a truly systematic approach and above); the rate of increase in the
to reducing unethical conduct. overall proportion has slowed to be
almost negligible.
16o Among current police recruits, the • Rostering arrangements generally are
proportion born outside Australia based on an historic minimum service
is about half of the figure for the requirement, and do not adequately reflect
Victorian population as a whole. demand changes during the week and at
different times of the day.
o Around 0.3 per cent of police are
Indigenous (compared to around 0.7 • Central co-ordination of the workforce is
per cent for the population at large). limited, as rostering is undertaken locally in
work units and based on a manual process.
• With few exceptions, recruitment of police
• Mobility of police is limited by a number
occurs through a single pathway centred
of aspects of the relevant enterprise
on a career for life, creating a largely ‘sealed’
agreement, including requirements that:
organisation; direct entry from outside a
police organisation into a sworn officer’s o each position within the sworn profile
role is virtually non-existent. Yet generational is ‘owned’ by an officer and attached
shifts have produced a sharp decline in the to a particular location;
average tenure in any one job.
o other than on disciplinary grounds,
• The physical, psychological, security and in practice an officer can only be
language assessments of recruit applicants moved to another location within
create risks for the organisation. 24 kilometres (or, for a country
• Continuing education and training for member asked to work outside the
police does not sufficiently support metropolitan area, 50 kilometres) of
psychological health and ethical standards, the member’s continuing position,
and many middle-level managers before (unfunded) excess travel time
have received inadequate professional and cost penalties must be paid.
development for their roles; those
Physical infrastructure creates further
in country areas can’t readily access
impediments to matching resources to demand.
continuing professional development.
A growing number of Victoria Police buildings
• Performance management within the and other fixed assets are degraded to at least
organisation is yet to be fully accepted: some extent, are not fit for purpose, and do
there is a reluctance in some quarters not meet modern operational policing needs.
to give and receive honest feedback.
The location of police stations often reflects
• The discipline system for sworn a bygone era of horse-drawn transport: they
members remains complex, slow, tend to be clustered around older established
overly formal and punitive. areas of Victoria, not necessarily in areas where
Matching people and infrastructure the demand is greatest or where they provide
to demand an appropriate response capability. They serve
Currently, staff resources do not appropriately specific geographic communities, rather than
match demand: a service delivery model that matches demand,
focused on accessibility, visibility, mobility and
• Historically they have been matched to flexibility of police.
population size, rather than crime rates
or the likely need for police services:
there is significant variation in the ratio
of police to crime rates across Victoria;
17VICTORIA POLICE BLUE PAPER:
A VISION FOR VICTORIA POLICE IN 2025
Information and knowledge For example, typically at the end of a shift a
management police officer is required to return to a station to
Victoria Police has lacked a comprehensive, enter data into systems, and complete and fax
long-term strategy to guide the governance and hardcopy documentation to a centralised area
business use of, and appropriate investment for retyping into the ageing LEAP database.
in, its information. As a consequence, the
Around 50 per cent of a police officer’s
organisation does not have an integrated
time on each shift is spent in the station,
approach to information management. For
with a significant proportion attributed
example, the Law Enforcement Assistance
to administrative tasks associated with
Program (LEAP) record management database
information capture and reporting. Increasingly
does not include intelligence, which is stored
police find that their paperwork burden
on the separate Interpose database and is
requires them to commence shifts early and
not available to all operational police during
finish late in order to complete documentation.
a shift. There have been a number of high
Delays in processing information and making
profile lapses of information security and
it available for operational members present
police face an enormous information burden.
difficulties for police in responding to service
Victoria Police’s current operational policing
delivery calls and increase safety risks to both
information environment comprises more than
police and the public.
100 processes and 10 critical systems. These
require laborious manual handling, data entry
and duplication of effort, which in turn leads
to incomplete, delayed and varied quality of
data for decision support and less time for core
policing duties.
18PIPP – A new approach to information management
The Policing Information Process and Practice Reform Program (PIPP) focuses on improving
processes and practices, with IT being the critical factor. PIPP is developing a strategic view of
Victoria Police’s information, IT and business needs, to better meet the changing requirements
of the community and the police.
PIPP received $23.3 million, over four years, in the 2013-14 budget to fund two projects
essential to improving police systems. The first, the Sustain Project, will focus on necessary
maintenance of the ageing LEAP and Interpose systems for the coming five years. The second
project, the Transform Project, is developing a long-term, integrated and sustainable solution for
managing investigations and intelligence to support future police service delivery, as part of a
long-term information management strategy.
As a priority, PIPP focuses on creating a single point of
access to the information held in multiple disparate
systems. PIPP will also target investment in changes to
processes and automation of processes to reduce
administrative tasks. Further, it will increase the availability
and accessibility of information through mobile
technology in the field and introduce new service
channels for the community, such as online reporting.
As part of the PIPP process, an application has been
introduced to simplify specific high-volume policing
processes (family violence and field contact reporting).
This application improves the availability and overall
quality of data on LEAP by providing a user interface
that enables reports submitted by members to be
immediately available via the LEAP database. It reduces
duplicate data entry and provides members with
the ability to pre-populate required forms with data
already captured. This application has enabled process
changes that reduce time spent by frontline members
completing family violence and field contact reports.
It is conservatively estimated that improvements in family violence processes alone, have released
an extra 72,000 police hours for patrol and proactive duties, at an equivalent value of $3.8 million.
It is also estimated that there has been a 30 per cent reduction in the time spent on the relevant
administrative documentation by front line police. These figures do not take into account reductions
in back office data entry requirements, or the enhancements gained from the field contact reports.
With the success of this initial implementation, expansion of this application to all crime reporting
and offender processing is planned for 2014 to gain further efficiencies.
19VICTORIA POLICE BLUE PAPER:
A VISION FOR VICTORIA POLICE IN 2025
Information and communication o Growing from operational necessity,
technology ad-hoc workarounds have produced
Almost a decade and a half into the twenty in excess of 600 stand-alone small
first century, Victoria Police labours with to large software programs and
twentieth century technology. Victoria databases.
Police officers regard the poor state of the
o The Victoria Police computer network
organisation’s technology and IT in particular
still uses Windows XP, which has been
as a severe constraint on their ability to do
superseded by three newer operating
their job, and compare it unfavourably with
systems. Many police encounter
police organisations in other states and English
difficulty in opening documents
speaking countries. This state of affairs is the
created using newer programs and
result of funding and management decisions -
resort to taking the documents home
including omissions - over many years.
to read, print or convert to a usable
The problems created by inadequate information format. The operating system will be
and communications technology affect Victoria upgraded by the end of 2014, for the
Police operations in a number of ways: first time in many years.
• Operational communications – in o Insufficient computer storage space
country areas, police rely on an analogue presents a real capacity issue, with
radio system that is not secure and can some members unable to readily store
be intercepted by almost anyone who and access data (such as audio-visual
wants to listen to police conversations. files) needed to perform their duties.
The organisation cannot meet the o The inability to access and apply data
increasing demand from individual analytics, voice recognition and video
police officers for personal audio video analysis to valuable raw information
recording devices; consequently many limits real-time preventative, detection
police officers use their own devices and investigation efforts.
and store and transfer files in a way that
is not secure. Limitations on bandwidth o LEAP, the main database for Victoria
capacity to police stations cause delays Police, operates on obsolete
in processing information, decreasing mainframe and ‘green screen’
frontline police availability for patrol technology, described in 2009 by
and tasking. the Ombudsman as ‘antiquated’, and
‘unsuited to a twenty first century
• Systems capability
approach to policing’.13 Almost five
o There are multiple applications that years later, LEAP remains the core
do not share information, are not data storage and retrieval system for
mobile, do not contain an adequate Victoria Police.
security or audit function and do
not support organisation-wide, end-
to-end business processes. These
multiple databases, many of which
are unsupported or have single points
of failure, require duplication of
13 Ombudsman Victoria (2009), Crime Statistics and police numbers,
information and manual data entry. Victorian Government Printer, p.8.
20• Online service delivery - Victoria Police’s For example, Victoria Police’s
general online services are limited to contribution to the Australian Crime
Party Safe registrations, submission of Commission’s secure intelligence
compliments and complaints about police sharing system, linking multiple law
behaviour, police recruitment applications enforcement agencies, is supported by
and access to an array of online forms. a manual process, with limitations on
Even these services still require manual the capability to add further analysis.
handing at the back office. Further, a lack of dexterity and mobility
in information delivery systems restricts
• Inter-agency information sharing -
physical co-location with other
Victoria Police’s information technology
enforcement and community partners.
capability does not adequately support
the imperative to share information
with other government agencies.
21PART 2
V
Strategic goals and directions
Over the decade to 2025, Victoria Police Figure 1: A Vision for 2025: Victoria Police operating model
will need to become a more connected,
Victorian community
intelligence-led and evidence-based
organisation, that works closely with Expectations
communities and partners to prevent, and
Policing
reduce the harm from crime, disorder
Victoria
and other public safety hazards. It will be Government Partnerships
Police
challenged to do better with relatively less.
Further reductions to VPS staff have real Service Delivery Model
potential to reduce the capacity of Victoria People Physical
Technology
Police to deliver frontline operations. Other (including culture) infrastructure
mechanisms must be used to enable Victoria
The traditional police service delivery
Police to be more effective and efficient.
model needs to shift from one based on
Achievement of Victoria Police’s goals will historically-determined locations and physical
require three related strategic directions: infrastructure, which can restrict efficiency
and effectiveness, towards one that is flexible,
• better matching of resources to demand risk-based and digitally-enabled.
by rethinking the traditional operating
model In considering how best to harness the
skills, knowledge and experience of Victoria
• improving capability through workforce
Police staff to deliver greater operational
reform and technology
effectiveness, the interactions between
• collaborating more closely through individuals are critical to the overall productivity
partnerships. of the workforce. Different roles and functions
complement, influence and enable the
effectiveness of others to a greater or lesser
extent. Thus a different workforce mix has the
potential to substantially improve operational
effectiveness.
23VICTORIA POLICE BLUE PAPER:
A VISION FOR VICTORIA POLICE IN 2025
Key lines of inquiry must consider how Victoria Police service delivery should be:
Police can deliver better service with relatively
• shaped by intelligence and therefore
less:
prevention-focused, targetting the
• What functions drive the effectiveness of greatest harms and greatest impacts
Victoria Police and the achievement of based on robust evidence
outcomes – at the frontline and behind it?
• mobile and therefore more visible,
• Are these functions being delivered accessible and effective, through
in the right proportions to maximise smart solutions
effectiveness?
• engaged in constant, productive
• Are these functions being delivered dialogue with the community through
by the right people – sworn, VPS, or social media and other channels.
contractors – to maximise effectiveness?
Finally, the capacity of policing to create
• Are these functions being delivered public value is greater than the capacity
in the right ways to maximise of the police to create public value.
effectiveness? This embraces Peel’s principle that ‘the public
are the police’ to employ many different kinds
• Can levers such as technology be used
of policing through partnerships. Effective
to enable better interactions?
partnerships are essential to maximise the
There is great potential for sophisticated ability of Victoria Police to fulfil its mission -
technology, fully integrated with reformed to increase public safety.
business processes, to revolutionise Victoria
Police’s operational effectiveness.
24VI
Better matching of resources to demand
The widening mission of police in the Determining priorities
21st century is unsustainable without
re-shaping the way they operate to Who decides priorities?
balance competing demands. Governments worldwide are recognising the
link between policing effectiveness locally and
Demand is not only escalating but is also the effectiveness of ‘big picture’ operations
constantly shifting. This is true on both the decided centrally (such as operations to
local, community-facing frontline (where, for counter the criminal activities of outlaw
example, regional and rural areas will experience motor cycle gangs). National and international
demand pressures that are different from those security are closely linked to neighbourhood
seen in metropolitan Victoria), as well as the security, as organised crime and terrorist plans
state, national and transnational frontline that are disrupted due to local, on-the-ground
is less visible to the public. Victoria Police must information passed on to local police. This is
also expect the unexpected, by maintaining the 21st century frontline.
contingency for emergency humanitarian and
environmental situations. Police possess information and insights not
accessible to any other party. Consequently
Under increasing budget pressures, Victoria they are best-placed to make the ultimate
Police needs to optimise the use of all its decisions on how to allocate the available
resources to anticipate, manage and best satisfy resources to respond to different demands.
demand along the spectrum of crime and other At the same time, community priorities must
public safety hazards. This requires the tools, be identified and reflected as far as practicable:
capability and data to understand the nature of resource allocation decisions must be shaped
demand, and the ensuing resource implications. by community views.
Victoria Police must determine its priorities and
deploy its resources in smarter, more flexible and
mobile ways, to respond to shifts in demand.
The criteria for doing so should be transparent
and understood by the community.
25VICTORIA POLICE BLUE PAPER:
A VISION FOR VICTORIA POLICE IN 2025
To be effective along the whole of the 21st Criteria for determining priorities
century frontline, Victoria Police needs to: Police fulfil their role in two very different ways:
• respond to what the public can see proactive activities in relation to the threat of
– that is, local problems and highly crime and other threats to public safety (such
visible crimes or situations – to meet as road collisions), and reactive activities in
community expectations, as well as relation to crime or other incidents. The more
motivating each and every citizen to successful the proactive activity, the less the
support and participate in policing demand for reactive policing.
• allocate its resources appropriately along The balance of Victoria Police’s activities
the ‘golden thread that [now] runs from must be tilted further towards prevention,
local policing across force boundaries as compared to enforcement or ‘catching
and internationally’,14 to deliver the right crooks’, to respond to the complexity of
balance of operations to also counter Victorian society, promote sustainable, long-
the less visible, big picture threats to term public safety, and tackle crime before
the public. it happens.
In practice, decision-making powers should Prevention is at the core of the police mission.
reflect this so that: Peel’s principles set out prevention as the
first and most important pillar of policing.
• Victoria Police can identify its highest
The best way to tackle demand from crime
priorities for the State as a whole
is to prevent it from happening in the first
and allocate resources according
place. Prevention also makes operations more
to this assessment, including how
effective and efficient by resolving people’s
many resources will be allocated to
situations and issues before they escalate
local communities through regional
and return to the attention of the police or
operations
other services as more serious and intensive
• local communities can influence how demands.
those resources will be used to meet
local priorities. Victoria Police has a role to play in three forms
of prevention, in collaboration with other
If priorities are set centrally, Victoria Police government agencies:
must also remain accountable to local
communities and their elected representatives • Prevention of the social causes of crime
and be prepared to justify its choices to and other public safety hazards – that is,
government and the public. This will require the underlying factors that affect certain
ongoing, constructive and open dialogue individuals or groups in society and
about policing to inform both the police and therefore make them more likely to be
the community’s understanding of the choices offenders or victims, such as inadequate
to be made to make Victoria safer. It will also education, health, social engagement or
require the development of broader and employment.
deeper partnerships. • Prevention of the direct drivers or causes
of crime and other public safety hazards
– such as risky drinking or drug abuse.
14 UK Home Office (2010) Policing in the 21st Century: Reconnecting police and the
people, Norwich: The Stationery Office.
26• Prevention or disruption of the repeatedly carried out by a single offender
opportunity for crime and other public (recidivist crime) or against a single victim
safety hazards – ‘hardening’ potential (repeat victimisation). A ‘harm index’ would
targets (for example by advising provide police, communities and governments
residents and businesses on installation with a ‘common currency‘ to make choices
of security measures), and increasing about resources and investment, and to assess
the guardianship of public places policing effectiveness.15
or increasing policing presence in
There is also good evidence that ‘solvability’
‘hotspots’.
should form an element of the criteria used
In addition to an emphasis on prevention, to target police resources most effectively
there are three further criteria that can be in response to demand. Statistical models of
used in combination to determine priorities in solvability factors – or even solvability checklists
response to demand from crime: – have been shown to be highly accurate in
predicting whether a reported crime will be
• greater attention to victimisation
solved, providing an upfront assessment process
• a focus on the greatest harms for organising resources that might otherwise
• better
application of ‘solvability’ – be over-allocated to pursuing unsolvable
the likelihood of identifying an offender. crimes.16 This is not to say that these crimes are
not important to report – as the intelligence
Victoria Police should take a preventative
provided can still be critical to police activities
approach to victimisation: to care better
– but that solvability should help to shape the
for victims and work harder to ensure that
most effective response to demand. Use of
individuals do not become victims again.
solvability as a criterion is a way to invest greater
This will involve allocating more resources
resources in supporting the victims of those
to support victims, providing an appropriate
crimes, rather than investigating them fruitlessly.
victim response based on the seriousness of
the crime and frequency of victimisation, and The successful implementation of this strategic
better identification of high-risk victims who shift to deliver the best and most effective mix
can then be assisted through proactive policing of proactive and reactive operations will require:
and engagement.
• greater flexibility to deploy resources to
Greater transparency with victims about how anticipate crime before it happens
Victoria Police is dealing with their cases is
• a greater focus on sophisticated
also necessary, through for example an online
modelling of demand to produce insight
tracking system.
into crime-prone hotspots and high
A focus on reducing the greatest amount priority offenders, victims and crime
of harm rather than the greatest number of • deeper partnerships with the community
crimes can help to emphasise enforcement so they can provide their insight into
and prevention activities, and should inform what the data cannot tell us about their
crime reduction reporting. The traditional raw concerns, and what prevention activities
counting and reporting of crimes does not will be effective in providing reassurance
adequately consider the differences in severity as well as reducing the likelihood of
between them. For example, some crimes crime.
are more serious because they: cause greater 15 Sherman, L. (2013) The Rise of Evidence-Based Policing: Targeting, Testing and
Tracking, University of Chicago, p. 44.
impact or injury, affect more victims, or are 16 Ibid, p. 14.
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