Page 1797 - Week 05 - Wednesday, 5 May 2010
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Crime prevention covers a broad spectrum of strategies, from early intervention through to what some call tertiary intervention—that is, working with those already in the criminal justice system. Crime prevention is about engaging the whole community and all service providers to work cooperatively together to address the underlying causes of crime. It includes community initiatives such as Neighbourhood Watch.
In the ACT we are lucky enough to have a very effective suburban policing strategy which is the key to the relationship with Neighbourhood Watch and other community programs. The suburban policing strategy was implemented by ACT Policing in 2006 to formally consolidate community-oriented policing with new technologies, creating an approach tailored to meet Canberra’s unique needs.
ACT Policing continues to focus on increasing visibility, accessibility and community engagement through their suburban policing strategy, commonly called SPS. In the period between 1 July 2009 and 31 March 2010, ACT Policing undertook 17,890 SPS-related activities, of which 75.9 per cent were high-visibility jobs which involved proactive drive-throughs of areas of high crime and community interaction with patrols. Some 13.6 per cent of these 17,890 SPS jobs were accessibility jobs that involved uniformed police conducting beat, foot or bicycle patrols, talking with members of the public as required and providing patrols in areas that are not easily accessed by vehicles in an effort to ensure safety and confidence in areas such as public parks, bicycle pathways and shopping precincts.
A further 10.4 per cent of the SPS jobs were called engagement jobs. These involved a much larger commitment and included such things as talking to school staff and principals, meeting with and discussing issues with shop owners, commercial residences and licensed premises or engaging and participating in other community activities and forums.
In February 2010, ACT Policing reviewed their internal guidelines regarding SPS engagement and amended them to make it even easier for patrols to engage with the public and community groups. The development of the ACT Policing website has been finalised and will be launched on 14 May 2010. This site will provide an excellent communication forum platform between police and the community, and it will contain updated crime prevention and community engagement information, including portals for SPS as well as business and news sectors, in an effort to provide personal and property safety advice. Further information will also be provided to assist in contacting police and to provide information to victims of crime.
ACT Policing has gone further and made available crime statistics by area for the public to read and see, thereby providing a level of transparency to the community not often seen in other jurisdictions. ACT Policing has also undertaken significant community engagement activities, including holding major stalls at both the Multicultural Festival and the Royal Canberra Show. The creation of new positions in senior—that is, aged—as well as youth liaison has also increased the engagement capabilities of existing business, Indigenous and multicultural community liaison functions. I had the pleasure to meet a youth liaison police officer during the recent youth week in the ACT.
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