Government vows to tell police when juvenile offenders are released
INFORMATION about the movements of all young criminals is set to be shared with police for the first time in Victoria to help police identify gang ringleaders.
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INTELLIGENCE on the movements of all young criminals is set to be shared with police for the first time in Victoria to help police identify gang ringleaders.
From next week, the state government will reveal to police when and where juvenile offenders are released from prison.
The win for Victoria Police comes after the Herald Sun revealed the government was failing to tell police when the most violent offenders were back on the streets despite new legislation requiring them to do so.
Police said they were being kept in the dark amid fears violent crime surges occur in the days after core groups of violent youths are released from prison.
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Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton said on Tuesday it was a “frustration” that the government was keeping information about youth justice releases secret.
“The people responsible for juvenile detention would not tell us — intentionally. For community safety, we feel that we need to know,” Mr Ashton said.
He said an attitude that freed offenders had done their time and Victoria ought not become a “police state” was “what really sits behind us not being told.”
“Our officers would love to get all that information so we’re not caught out ... we do want to know, so we can plan ... particularly when dealing with core recidivist offenders,” he said.
Leaders of an African-Australian Taskforce backed the calls.
Minister for Families and Children Jenny Mikakos has now committed to telling police.
“Community safety is our first priority — and we’re cracking down on these young offenders,” Ms Mikakos said.
Legislation brought in on Monday made it mandatory for the Youth Parole Board to tell police when “serious” offenders are released.
The rule applied only to offenders on parole who committed Category A or Category B offences which include murder, manslaughter and the most violent home invasions.
But the government and police still do not have a system in place to share the information.
The government has now promised it will tell police about all offenders regardless of their criminal background.
“Under reforms we have put in place, police will have information on every single person who leaves youth justice, whether on parole or completion of their sentence — something the previous Liberal Government refused to do,”: Ms Mikakos said.
The Department of Justice will be required to report weekly to police.
Opposition spokesman Ed O’Donohue said Premier Daniel Andrews first promised to release information on offenders in 2016.
“Yet all he’s delivered thus far is promises and press releases,” Mr O’Donohue said.
“We are looking at a new system to fix what Daniel Andrews cannot.”
The announcement follows a week of violence across Melbourne which saw a 96-year-old great grandmother among residents confronted by violent thugs during home invasions.
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