During 1999 the Far South Coast Local Area Police Command established a Crime Management Unit. Staff in this Unit report to the Crime Manager. Functions carried out by the Unit include:

• Evaluation, allocation, progress monitoring and finalisation of reported crime.

• Analysis of information, crime and incident patterns

• Provision of intelligence

• Crime advice (prevention, risk etc)

• Specialist roles in the area of Community Safety Officer, Youth Liaison Officer, Aboriginal Community Safety Officers and Domestic Violence Officers.

Bringing these functions together in a single Unit allows for a much better coordination of crime reduction strategies introduced in the Command. For instance, research has shown that around 27% of victims of crime will be further offended against within 6 months. This is for crime across the board. The idea then is that the intelligence hub of the Unit identifies potential repeat victims of crime so that the Crime Prevention Officer (CPO) is able to take proactive measures in preventing further crime against that victim. An example might be a business premise vulnerable to break, enter and steal offences. The CPO would carry out a security audit of the premises and provide advice on crime prevention strategies. The same process applies to other types of crime including those involving personal safety.

The Unit has also played a major role in targeting repeat offenders. Most of local crime is committed by a small number of offenders who repeatedly break the criminal law. Through profiling known offenders and then tasking police to target this small group we have seen significant reduction in some of the crime categories in the Far South Coast.

It is all about working smarter, not harder. Though the creation of a Crime Management Unit the Far South Coast Local Area Command is working towards crime reduction in a sustainable manner.

Regards

Inspector Rick Mawdsley, 

Crime Manager Far South Coast LAC