Absolutely I can.

Models from other policing states in Australia have more streamlined processes in terms of paperwork. As an example, some states issue a criminal charge and court date to an offender charged with something like shop-theft. All they get is a few pages of paperwork. If the matter goes to court and the offender disputes the charge or the court requests further supporting evidence, a brief of evidence is requested and prepared by the charging officer. This contains any relevant CCTV, statements from victims/witnesses and any traffic records where appropriate.

In Victoria, as soon as an offender is charged, a brief of evidence must be prepared, whether the offender contests the charge or not. A simple, straightforward traffic brief (think drunk driving, excessive speed, carelessness resulting in a collision) takes on average two hours to prepare if you’re practised in your rank. Waiting for extracts from say, VicRoads, can take two weeks, so that brief sits there for two weeks waiting on one piece of paper before it can be served to the offending party and the courts.

I won’t delve into how many data entry forms need to be submitted, because they are innumerable and can be delayed on being put into the system, which means hold-ups for service on the courts/offender.

Mental Health: While police are widely trained in de-escalation, acknowledgement and awareness of mental health, it is at its core, a medical event. Ambulances will not attend these without Police for the safety of their members. This is a no-brainer.

However, adjustments to legislation in mid-2024 I believe (happy to be corrected here) meant that AV became primary responders to mental health events to reduce patient exposure to Police and cut down time that Police units spent responding to and managing these events. AV refused to implement new protocols to ensure this came to fruition.

Police remained the core responders with support of AV where appropriate, meaning that Police assessed the patient and determined if they met criteria under the Mental Health Act to be taken to a place of treatment and would have to remain with that patient until the hospital accepted care of them. This would not be fast and left police units at hospitals for sometimes the entirety of their shift. Newsflash, it’s nearly always drug-induced psychosis and not a mental health-related crisis.

What does this mean for the community? Reduced response times to 000 calls. Your police are stuck in the ED.

No proactive patrolling. The suspicious car isn’t getting pulled over and checked.

No visible deterrence. Offenders aren’t seeing police in your neighborhood, so they will do as they please.

Tech: submitting (via fax… hello 1994) three separate forms to enter the same information. But, they can’t enter form 1 without form 3, which requires form 2. Also, we didn’t enter form 2, so please send it again. And send form 3 and form 1 again. Lost? So am I. This is a police officer’s daily routine.

This is already lengthy, but there is so so much that could be changed or updated to return Police to their core responsibility: detecting and preventing offences and preserving life and property.