Page 293 - Week 01 - Thursday, 14 February 2008
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presence in their local areas. One north-side Neighbourhood Watch coordinator said that problems at their local shops have improved significantly over the last 12 months and that that was due to police efforts in patrolling the area, specifically the foot patrols that were being conducted on a regular basis.
ACT Policing’s crime prevention team has assigned a police officer to each of Canberra’s five police stations. They are known as suburban policing strategy coordination officers and they work closely with district intelligence officers to collate and analyse intelligence data and generate customised solutions to crime problems.
The ACT Policing suburban police strategy has been developed as a way of addressing the gap between the public perception of crime risk and the actual crime rate and improving overall satisfaction ratings. A key element of the strategy is to reduce fear of crime by increasing police visibility and increasing the interaction of our community with police. The community is a very important partner in crime prevention; the suburban policing strategy activity makes up almost a third of all ACT Policing activity—28 per cent.
In relation to the rostering of police officers, from early March 2008 ACT Policing will implement a new roster system designed to allocate resources at the times when they are needed most. This has been prompted by a rigorous review, including engaging our community and listening to their feedback. The idea behind this restricting of the police roster system is that ACT Policing can strategically put greater numbers on duty at identified peak periods, including more shifts in business hours to allow members to have more frequent contact with victims at more appropriate times.
Having more police on duty at known peak times—perhaps Thursday and Saturday nights—and having more police on duty during business hours provide greater opportunities for police to follow up investigations and maintain close contact with victims. The new rostering arrangements will be based on a flexible template of 10-hour shifts in patterns better aligned with community needs and expectations. The current roster is around 12-hour shifts.
I will touch quickly on response times. When we have an emergency, we rely on emergency services. For police, our response times are now right down to 12 minutes in 98 per cent of the calls, a fantastic achievement.
In closing, let me say that I believe we have a fantastic emergency service team. Our paramedics, police and firies should be congratulated.
MR SPEAKER: Discussion on this matter of public importance has concluded.
Tharwa bridge
Proposed referral to Standing Committee on Planning and Environment
MR PRATT (Brindabella) (4.52): I move:
That this Assembly:
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