Friday 14 June 2024
Cycle of violent crime must be broken
Nearly 70 mostly young offenders were arrested by Victoria Police over the past month in an operation to address the increase in violent crimes across the state, it has been revealed today.
This follows the most recent crime statistics showing aggravated burglaries increased 30 per cent year on year, representing a total of 5887 aggravated burglaries in a 12-month period.
Victoria Police continue to work hard with limited resourcing with no sign the Allan Labor Government is going to fill the nearly 1000 vacancies on police rosters. However, there is growing frustration among rank-and-file police who work hard only to see violent offenders bailed again and again to commit more crimes.
Each new crime means more victims, more concerns for public safety and less faith that Labor are really working to protect the community.
Shadow Minister for Police, Brad Battin, said: “Victoria Police continue to work hard with limited resources to protect the community. There is frustration from the frontline as violent criminals are released on bail continuously, making the community unsafe and increasing the workload on our already stretched thin blue line.
“Labor must reform the youth justice system, including violence prevention programs, along with stronger bail laws and more police resources, to end the crime/bail/crime cycle.”
Shadow Attorney-General, Michael O’Brien, said: “Labor weakened bail laws in March this year, making it easier for repeat serial offenders to avoid remand and continue to commit crimes.
“A Liberals and Nationals Government will back community safety and our frontline police by strengthening bail laws to avoid Labor’s cycle of ‘catch and release’.”