Jason Wood: Violent crime best met by a joint approach by police, federal authorities
THE brazen raid on a Thornbury gun dealer has highlighted the need for a combined front among Australia’s law enforcement agencies, writes Jason Wood.
Opinion
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WITH the brazen armed robbery of 65 guns from a dealer’s shop in Thornbury, and a similar attempted burglary in Tullamarine, not only are the safety concerns of the community raised but also those of every member of Victoria Police.
As these handguns hit the underworld, police officers on the front line are bound to be very concerned. The tragic murders in 1998 of Sergeant Garry Silk and Senior Constable Rodney Miller, shot as part of an operation trying to catch a gang targeting restaurants, emphasised the increasing danger to officers.
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I was a Victoria Police officer at Boronia CIB when I was assigned with my partner to stake out a pizza shop on the night Silk and Miller were murdered. The pizza shop wasn’t hit that night, but it was the next night — by the crew behind the Silk-Miller murders.
What concerns me now is the safety of police who will come up against armed and dangerous criminals, who don’t follow safety protocols or procedures and will now have the same firearm capability as our officers.
Investigators will be trying to work out the identity of the offenders: are they local, interstate, bikies, a crime syndicate, a street gang moving to the next level or extremists? Where will these guns end up? Used by the gang to commit hold-ups, sold locally or across the nation, ending up with every criminal network out there?
Victoria Police will use every resource to find the gang; our detectives are highly regarded nationally and internationally. But the raid again highlights the need for the National Anti-Gangs Squad to focus not only on outlaw motorcycle gangs and organised crime syndicates, but also on other violent gangs.
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I put together the Coalition Gangs Policy in 2009 which was intended to focus on violent gangs, from OMCGs to street gangs. A violent gang doesn’t need colours or a president to cause fear.
I have seen overseas how the FBI and local law enforcement can work well together when tackling such gangs. In Australia, combining the best of Victoria Police with the highly capable AFP would create a formidable taskforce able to cross boundaries.
Such a joint force is important because violent street gangs can be so random — carjacking and opportunist armed robberies need little planning, with the victim in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Secondly, as violent street gangs grow and become more violent, they are recruited by crime syndicates as muscle and to do crimes wiser criminals won’t touch, like daytime jewellery robberies. In August 2016, I warned that jailed Apex members had the potential to be recruited by extremist OMCGs or prison gangs. Media reports indicate that has happened.
Thirdly, joint taskforces can use the engagement of youth workers and mentors, particularly former gang members, who can help break the cycle of offending.
I believe we need a joint state and federal taskforce to tackle the crime in Melbourne that involves a high proportion of Sudanese youth. Violent criminal gangs do not always operate in isolation — in my experience those who commit violent crimes always have a relationship with other gangs to enable the proceeds of crime to be moved around the underworld. Gangs become involved in more armed robberies, get into drug dealing and may even have connections to extremist groups.
After the 2016 Moomba riots, home invasions, which I thought were isolated to my seat of La Trobe, were being reported across the state.
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A number of Sudanese who had lost hope were turning this into a statewide problem and the violence was getting out of hand, requiring new strategic tactics.
I called for the National Anti-Gangs Squad to target the Apex gang, but when it comes to a joint federal and state approach, there is a reluctance from Victoria Police command and the AFP command does not want to divert resources, but the situation has not improved.
BUT the Commonwealth has used AFP intelligence, and the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission working with Victoria Police, to identify 60 Apex members, with only six being born in Australia.
The joint NAGS approach would work best in the hot spots, such as the southeast of Melbourne and western suburbs, where Victoria Police, AFP and immigration officers can work together to review visas and recommend cancelling them for serious offences. As chair of the Joint Migration Committee, I am pushing for legislation changes, which Labor opposes. My view is we should deport people on visas for carjacking and home invasions.
Most importantly we need to break the cycle, with Sudanese and Islander youth workers working alongside law enforcement officers.
But we need to send a clear message to people on visas that if you commit violent crimes, you forfeit your passage to Australian citizenship, you will have your visa cancelled and will be deported. Labor’s soft approach to violent criminals must end. Victims must come first.
Jason Wood is the federal member for La Trobe.
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