Page 758 - Week 03 - Tuesday, 21 March 2017
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day-to-day advice to front-line police officers, liaise with members of the ACT community and provide them with information about family violence orders and the application process and engage with external agencies such as Legal Aid ACT and the Domestic Violence Crisis Service to provide up-to-date information to support them in assisting their clients.
Police play an important role in making sure that we can all enjoy a vibrant and safe night-time economy. In September last year the Chief Minister announced a number of reforms aimed at ensuring that all Canberrans can enjoy a safe night out. Those reforms included a commitment for six additional police for night-time patrols to join the regional target team, to better combat alcohol-related violence and crime across the ACT. ACT Policing’s regional targeting team was formed in 2013, and the role of the team is to ensure the responsible sale and supply of alcohol through engagement, education and enforcement. The overall aim of the team’s work is to reduce alcohol-related violence.
Team members work closely with Access Canberra to educate licensees and venue staff on the requirements of the Liquor Act. ACT Policing engages with licensees and their staff to encourage the safe and responsible service of alcohol and close monitoring of patrons, with the common objective of reducing the negative effects of alcohol-related harm. Financial year-to-date results show that the regional targeting team has conducted 1,783 visits and inspections of licensed premises, allowing ACT Policing the opportunity to engage with licensees, staff and patrons of licensed premises.
A key priority for ACT Policing is to disrupt and dismantle organised criminal groups. The community is, rightly, concerned about the developments among outlaw motorcycle gangs in the ACT. The government is keenly aware of these risks and is working closely with ACT Policing to make sure it has the right resources, tools and relationships to effectively deal with the risk presented to community safety.
Taskforce Nemesis was established by ACT Policing in August 2014 to lead operational and investigative responses to outlaw motorcycle gang—or OMCG—activity. As of 14 March this year, since its establishment Taskforce Nemesis has executed 144 search warrants across Canberra, seizing firearms, weapons, explosives, cash, drugs and anabolic steroids. OMCG members have been charged with a total of 260 offences. These results speak to ACT Policing and the government’s strategic approach and investment in responding to OMCGs.
Combating serious and organised crime requires a holistic approach supported by a range of measures. This approach is supported by: increased investigation capability and an increased focus on the use of existing confiscation of criminal assets laws, bolstered by additional funding for Task Force Nemesis; with the support of the commonwealth, embedding a national anti-gangs squad member within ACT Policing to support better links between the national and local threat assessments; the use of existing criminal laws, such as bail and sentencing laws, to disrupt OMCGs; and working with national, state and territory law enforcement partners, such as the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission and the Department of Immigration and Border Protection, under the auspices of the national strategy on serious and organised crime.
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