The recent surge in crime rates in Australia and specifically in Victoria has triggered worries in the criminal justice sphere and in the sphere of the governance of the state. In the context of preventing crimes and establishing peace and prosperity the government of Victoria is already spending generously, but such reactive policies are to be reformed. What Victoria needs is the implementation of proactive policies that would be fit for preventing crime and enhancing the criminal justice system. Such policies would not only reduce spending on police and correction facilities, but would also help the government in ensuring the populace of their safety and security. Hence, what the government of Victoria now should do is to reinvest in the justice system and to invest more in crime prevention policies.
Safety and security of the populace of Victoria is at stake and the stake is not over yet. The recent facts and figures have pointed towards the fact that, if proper crime prevention steps are not taken on the part of the government then the wretched justice system of the state would be on the verge of more declination. In 2016 the rise in the rate of crime has been thoroughly recorded. In this respect it must be taken into account that, “In the year ending 31 March 2016, there were 519,130 offences recorded by Victoria Police, an increase of 12.4% from 461,796 offences in the previous year. This resulted in an offence rate of 8,575.9 offences per 100,000 people in Victoria, an increase of 10.3% from the year ending 31 March 2015” (Crime Statistics Agency, 2016). Quite alarmingly, over the past five years the crime rate in Victoria has been steadily increasing and an annual increase of about 5.2% in crime rate has been recorded by the criminal justice system of the state. Such rise in the rate of crime is an indicator to the fact that despite much effort and financial investments, the government of Victoria has failed to implement the right policies to curb the free reign of crime that is gradually devouring the peace and prosperity of the society in Victoria. Last year about 59.3% of offences recorded were categorized under property and deception offences, whereas under the category of crimes against person about 14.3% offences were recorded, and about 13% offences were recorded under justice procedures offence (Crime Statistics Agency, 2016). All the given figures have been depicted in the rising trend indicating the failure of the criminal justice system of Victoria in alleviating the rate and frequency of crime in the state. Moreover, jeopardizing the law and order system in the state, in 2016 only about 7.2% offences have been recorded under public order and security offences and about 5.9% offences have been recorded under drug offences (Crime Statistics Agency, 2016). All these facts and figures hint on the fact that some specific steps have to be taken by the government of Victoria to liberate the state and its populace from the menace of several different crimes. Moreover, the national emergency and crises triggered by the returning foreign fighters have added to the problem of the state of Victoria in terms of crime prevention. Counter-terrorism experts have pointed out that the unrestrained infiltration of returning foreign fighters will be posing more serious challenges to the government of Australia and to the state governments in the long-run. In this respect it has been observed that the present central and state policies to combat crimes like terrorism is not sufficient enough. Counter-terrorism experts have pointed out that “The Australian nation-state…mirrors broader global patterns in the government of mobility, whereby mobile bodies are increasingly sorted into kinetic elites and kinetic underclasses” (Wilson & Weber, 2008). Such social policies have added to the woes of not only the central government but also to the woes of the state government, including the government of Victoria.
As stated earlier; considering the rise in the rate of crime of all sorts in Victoria, the government of Victoria, following the crime prevention models adopted successfully by countries like the United States, must invest thoroughly in promoting processes like community policing, which is a form of policing that is based on the principle of police-community members collaboration and cooperation. The government of Victoria must take into account the need and importance of implementing proactive rather than reactive crime prevention strategies. And for doing so, the government must politically and financially empower the criminal justice system of the state in promoting activities that are meant for preventing crimes and offending before they actually occur (State Government of Victoria, 2016). The government of Victoria and the state’s criminal justice system must take into account the fact that “The prevention of crime requires individuals, communities, business, community organisations and all levels of government to work together” (State Government of Victoria, 2016). It is in this respect that the government of Victoria in collaboration with the leadership in the criminal justice system must formulate and implement strategies that can rigorously improve on procedures like community policing. Moreover, the government and the criminal justice system of the state must take into account yet another important fact that crime prevention is only possible if justice is delivered in an equitable manner encompassing the needs of also those victims who are financially backward. The legal system of the Australia, and especially of Victoria, has become so expensive that the concept of access to justice is gradually waning away, instigating the rise in crimes and growth in the degree of agony of impoverished victims. It is to combat such evils that the government must invest in the criminal justice system in such a way that majority of the populace can gain easy access to justice almost free of cost. The government of Victoria must invest in formulating the implementing policies that would make ADR, tribunals and courts less expensive for the economically backward individuals who have been victimized by a certain criminal act (Solomon, n.d.). Government’s intervention is also needed in terms of alleviating the cost of legal representation, and such alleviation is the need of the hour. Furthermore, the government must try to ensure that the maxim of access to law is upheld thoroughly in the criminal justice process. Access to law is different from access to justice and it refers “to formally constructed, politically impartial courts & admin. Agencies (access to due process)” (Solomon, n.d.). The state government of Victoria must ensure that the policies of crime prevention and justice are such that are in alignment with the principles of the theory of modern liberalism. The government of Victoria must empower the justice system to “go beyond formal equality and refer to ideal of substantive equality: that is, actively intervening to ensure that those disadvantaged are brought into an equal/comparable position to others” (Solomon, n.d.). This equitable distribution of power to access the law and justice among the common mass of Victoria should be among the primary objectives of the government in the course of managing and preventing crime in the state. The government of Victoria and the leadership in the justice system of the state must not forget the fact that “Access is seen as structural issue including social & politico-economic relations” (Solomon, n.d.). Hence, it is not only by providing equitable access to law for all but also by implementing effective policies that the government must strive to eradicate the menace of crime and to prevent crime more proactively rather than reactively.
Moreover, to prevent crime in a proactive manner, the government of Victoria along with the leadership in the justice system must formulate and enact policies that would do away with the menace of delayed justice. It is a fact that justice delayed is justice denied, and from such a menacing process myriads of Victorians have suffered in the past. Hence, the government of Victoria and the leadership in the justice system must ensure that justice is served in a timely and appropriate manner (Solomon, n.d.). Also, it is to address the issue of delayed justice that the government of Victoria must reinvest in the justice system to bring about certain changes. For an instance, the government should reinvest in the criminal justice system to usher changes in the mediation approaches and in the approaches towards small claims tribunals and to some other less professional and formal dispute resolution processes (Solomon, n.d.). Moreover, the government must bring about changes at all level of the parties through installing training and education programs for promoting the knowledge of workable law among the populace. Furthermore, the government must invest much in improving the strength and power of the Crime Prevention department of the Justice and Regulation wing of the state government of Victoria. Presently, “The Department’s Community Crime Prevention Unit supports crime prevention by providing local councils and community organisations with grant funding for initiatives that respond to local crime issues. initiatives include graffiti removal, improving public safety and reducing violence against women and children, with Regional Crime Prevention Reference Groups working with the community to ensure efficient implementation” (Justice and Regulation, 2016). All such procedures and policies have to be strengthened in order to implement the proactive crime prevention strategies appropriately, and for such appropriate implementation the government of Victoria must fund the department generously without wasting time in evaluating its efficacy prior to the implementation of the proactive crime prevention policies.
Expenses on maintaining a strong police force and its operations are also on the rise, and this rise has affected severely on the financial condition of Victoria. Now it is time for a change and the government must try to lessen the degree of such expense by promoting more effective proactive crime prevention policies. If there would be less occurrence of crime, the need of deployment of more police officers will gradually wane away, and this would help the government to invest less on police departments and more on public welfare departments. Moreover, it is to alleviate the rate of expense on the police force that the government of Victoria must invest more in community crime prevention programs. Considering the past success of the community crime prevention program (CCPP), the government must continue to invest in the Community Crime Prevention Unit (CCPU) to make it more effective and long-lasting. An evaluation of the efficacy of CCPP has revealed that “the CCPU has demonstrated efficiency and economy in the delivery of the CCPP. Furthermore, the evaluation clearly demonstrates that the CCPP is a highly valued contribution to the Victorian community crime prevention and community safety field” (Hulme & Homel, 2015). Moreover, a strong support towards continuation of the program has also been thoroughly observed, and all such findings should motivate the state government of Victoria to invest more in such community based crime prevention programs and to reinvest in the justice system to combat crime more proactively and to deal with the resultant evils of crime more effectively.
In conclusion, what Victoria needs is the implementation of proactive policies that would be fit for preventing crime and enhancing the criminal justice system. Such policies would not only reduce spending on police and correction facilities, but would also help the government in ensuring the populace of their safety and security. Hence, what the government of Victoria now should do is to reinvest in the justice system and to invest more in crime prevention policies. Safety and security of the populace of Victoria is at stake and the stake is not over yet. The recent facts and figures have pointed towards the fact that, if proper crime prevention steps are not taken on the part of the government then the wretched justice system of the state would be on the verge of more declination. Following the crime prevention models adopted successfully by countries like the United States, must invest thoroughly in promoting processes like community policing, which is a form of policing that is based on the principle of police-community members collaboration and cooperation. The government of Victoria must take into account the need and importance of implementing proactive rather than reactive crime prevention strategies.
References
Crime Statistics Agency (2016). Crime Statistics Victoria, 4-42.
Hulme, S., & Homel, P. (2015). Evaluation of the Victorian Community Crime Prevention Program: Final report. Retrieved May 29, 2017, from
https://www.aic.gov.au/media_library/publications/special/008/Evaluation-Victorian-CCPP.pdf
Justice and Regulation (2016). Crime prevention. Retrieved May 29, 2017, from
https://www.justice.vic.gov.au/home/safer+communities/crime+prevention/
Solomon, R. (n.d.). Foundations of Law [PowerPoint Slides].
State Government of Victoria (2016). Community Crime Prevention. Retrieved May 29, 2017, from
https://www.crimeprevention.vic.gov.au/
Wilson, D., and Weber, L. (2008). Surveillance, Risk and Preemption on the Australian Border. Surveillance and Society, 5(2),124-141.
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