Assistant Commissioner Luke Cornelius says innocent people will get hurt after rise in gun violence
It’s only a matter of time before a bystander is murdered, police say, as Melbourne’s northwest is plagued by a rise in gun violence, which has claimed three lives since New Year’s Eve.
North West
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Innocent lives are being put at risk by an increase in gun violence in Melbourne’s northwest, the region’s top cop says.
Assistant Commissioner Luke Cornelius, who is in charge of the North West Metro police region, said there had been a “significant increase in the propensity of criminals to use firearms” since April last year.
Three people have died as a result of gunshot wounds in the region since New Year’s Eve.
The Assistant Commissioner was responding to questions about separate shootings in Epping and Melton on Friday morning.
There has since been another shooting in Sunbury on Saturday morning.
Mr Cornelius said there was a real risk that innocent people were going to get hurt.
The State Government said they would continue to work with Victoria Police to target illegal firearms, but the Opposition said despite the new laws, guns were still “in the hands of criminals”.
The North West Metro Region spans from Whittlesea and Nillumbik in the north, to Hume and Melton in the west and Wyndham in the southwest.
‘CONSIDERABLE RISK’ TO COPS, INNOCENT BYSTANDERS
Mr Cornelius said police were doing everything they could to keep the community safe from the “emergence of a gun culture and preparedness to use firearms”.
“We are doing everything we can … to identify criminals who are arming themselves and take those guns out of the equation,” he said.
“It is very concerning that we’re seeing an increased propensity around the use of firearms to facilitate the commission of criminal offences.
“This presents a considerable risk not only to my members but also more particularly the community and more particularly to innocent members of the community.
“There’s a real risk innocent people are going to get hurt as a result, which is why we have had a particularly strong focus.”
NEW LAWS HELPING POLICE MAKE PROGRESS
Mr Cornelius said they had been assisted by new Firearm Prohibition Orders legislation, which was introduced in Victoria in May 2018 and allowed police to search the subject of an order, their companions, house and vehicles without a warrant to determine if they had a gun in their possession.
The new powers enable police to target people who don’t intend to use firearms for lawful purposes and who pose a risk to public safety.
Subjects of the orders could be jailed for five years for failing to comply.
“The FPOs that we’ve taken out, (is) close to 200,” Mr Cornelius said.
“That is allowing us at any time to conduct searches of people who are the subject of FPOs, both of themselves and their premises, and where we find them in possession of firearms that they shouldn’t have, of course we’re taking those firearms out and we’re putting them before the courts for that breach.”
One subject, who was believed to be in possession of a firearm, was found with a sawn-off shotgun in his vehicle.
Since their implementation, the State Government said Victoria Police had approved more than 252 orders and served at least 231 of them on high risk individuals.
Mr Cornelius said he believed the increase in gun violence was due to both individual criminals and networked, gang-related offending.
But he wouldn’t say where he thought crooks were sourcing the guns from when asked by reporters.
GOVERNMENT FLAGS MORE POLICE POWERS
State Government spokeswoman Stephanie Jones said their new firearm laws were what Victoria Police asked for.
“We’ll continue working with them to target illegal firearms and the serious and organised crime networks who use them,” she said.
“Illegal firearms have no place in our community and those who seek to use or acquire them will face the consequences.”
She said the State Government had ensured police have the powers and resources they need, including 576 new police already being deployed across the North West Metro Region.
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The Government said they had also funded a 10-member Firearms Investigation Team, within the Armed Crime Squad, to investigate organised firearms trafficking and target high-risk offenders likely to be involved in gun related offences.
But Opposition police and community safety spokesman David Southwick said Victorians were growing increasingly alarmed about the frequency of shootings and “violent mayhem” in Melbourne.
“Despite promising the gun legislation in February 2018 would be a game changer, Labor has botched the rollout of these laws and left guns in the hands of criminals,” he said.