Rita Panahi: Police inaction a green light for violence
We often hear Victoria Police command speak of a zero-tolerance approach to lawless thugs, but their actions don’t match the tough rhetoric and a risk-averse approach not only fails the community but it emboldens criminals, writes Rita Panahi.
Rita Panahi
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Victoria Police’s risk-averse approach to policing is not only letting down the community but also emboldening criminals and leading to dangerous vigilantism.
This is what happens when a police force becomes a police service after years of being weakened and politicised by practices adopted by former chief commissioner Christine Nixon and her successors.
We often hear police command speak of a zero-tolerance approach to lawless thugs but their actions don’t match the tough rhetoric.
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There have been a number of high-profile incidents in recent years — and many others that received no media coverage but frustrated police officers just the same — where rampaging youths have not been apprehended despite committing offences in full view of the police.
On Monday, youths armed with baseball bats were pictured at Wyndham Vale train station, reportedly looking for African-Australians who had the previous day assaulted two of their friends in broad daylight.
We cannot have gangs of vigilantes roaming train stations accusing every young male of African appearance of being involved in criminal acts against their mates.
It is a situation that is fraught with danger and simply unacceptable in a civilised society that values law and order and due process.
The latest trouble started when two teenage boys, Xavier and Ricky, were set upon by a group of 20 African-Australian youths who robbed and bashed the pair outside Wyndham Vale station despite the presence of armed protective services officers.
“He’s turned to jelly,” Xavier’s father, Anthony Ferrari told the Herald Sun. “They made him unclip his necklace. They then made him access his Apple ID on the phone to disable his Apple ID, and then made him disable his face recognition and fingerprint ID on the iPhone.”
This isn’t simply a white-versus-black clash. Both victims come from ethnically diverse backgrounds, though most of the vigilante mob following the attack were caucasian.
One of the baseball-wielding gang claimed that the weapon was for protection after threats were posted on Facebook.
“They just said they were gonna bring knives to the station ... so we had our protection,” 17-year-old Tremayne told the Herald Sun.
“We knew they were going to be after us. They come in groups.”
The 14-year-old victim, Xavier, who was reportedly covered in bruises after the assault, expressed his disappointment that two PSOs did not do more to stop the attack and arrest the offenders.
Xavier’s father says he spoke with the officers after the incident and was told they were outnumbered, 20 to two.
The PSOs have also copped criticism from members of the public but Victoria Police Transit Safety detective Inspector Andrew Gustke was full of praise for the “fantastic job” they did.
“They’ve done exactly what they should do,” he said.
“They have then been approached by the first victim who was assaulted by these offenders ... while talking to this victim it is our understanding the second robbery was taking place.”
Are police, including PSOs, so risk averse that they will watch an attack unfold rather than rush in to assist victims?
One could possibly make the argument that it’s best to wait for back-up if a large number of offenders are damaging property, but when teenage boys are being robbed and assaulted, then trained officers who are armed with guns should intervene immediately.
Victoria Police seem to have a greater aversion to use of force than they do to the word “gangs”. But you cannot have effective policing without conflict and some level of risk.
Those who join the service do so to keep the public safe and know that it is a job that comes with certain dangers.
It’s the upper echelons of the police force whose risk-minimisation obsession, coupled with an unhealthy attachment to spin and politics, has seen them implement policies that limit what those working at the coalface can and cannot do.
It’s a demoralising state of affairs for officers working the beat, who deserve better than to have the senior ranks unintentionally undermining their authority.
Victoria Police’s unwillingness to tackle lawlessness when and where it is seen only encourages thuggery from both criminals and vigilantes who think they’re entitled to take the law into their own hands.
It’s a vicious circle that begins with a permissive attitude to crime and criminals.
We’ve seen multiple incidents, in places such as St Kilda, Taylors Hill, Werribee, North Melbourne and Footscray, where youths have rampaged in full view of the police, who have failed to make a single arrest.
Crime statistics become unreliable when groups can assault individuals, damage property and police choose to “contain” the violence and worry about arrests later.
But once the offenders are allowed to disperse they are not always arrested and questioned, let alone charged.
The police must do better whether dealing with gangs robbing and bashing people in broad daylight or vigilantes seeking retribution.
Rita Panahi is a Herald Sun columnist
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