The Way AheadStrategic Plan 2003-2008

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Chief Commissioner’s Message 3

Police Minister’s Message 4

Our Environment and Reforms 5

Our Challenges 6

Our Focus for a Safer Victoria 7

Intelligent Policing 10

Confident Policing 12

Community Policing 14

Partnership Policing 16

The Way Ahead 18

Victoria Police Contacts 19

ContentsS T R A T E G I C P L A N

Chief Commissioner’sM E S S A G E

As Victoria Police celebrates 150 years of policing we areplanning for the future. This is an exciting and challengingtime for the organisation as we position ourselves towardsdelivering a safer Victoria by working with the communityand through our partners.

We have developed a strategy that will meet the policingneeds of all Victorians. The Way Ahead for Victoria Police is a new focus of policing that will increase our capabilityand effectiveness in the face of rapidly increasing and diversifying community demands and challenges.

Victoria Police has an enviable track record in developingnew policing techniques and has been extremely successfulin planning and breaking new ground in law enforcement.

The pace of change will continue to gain momentum as welay the foundations for embracing new technology, use offorensic science, people development and ethics. This willsupport crime investigations, road safety initiatives, improvedaccountability mechanisms and customer service priorities.

Widespread consultation with our staff, communityrepresentatives and other agencies confirms both ananticipation and readiness to move to a new system of policing. We will provide:

Intelligent and confidentpolicing focused on thedevelopment ofpartnerships and acommunity capacity that empowers individuals to build a safer Victoria.

Our workforce welcomes the opportunity to become involved in operational decision-making, and our communities wantpolicing services that are more sensitive totheir local needs and priorities. They wantto be informed and actively involved in howthey are policed.

Our top priority is what matters to mostpeople. That is – crime prevention and areduction in violence, the need to feel safe inour homes, on our roads and in public places.

Victoria is one of the safest states inAustralia. We are also enjoying considerable communitytrust and satisfaction with our policing services.

With the road toll falling, our aim is to further reduce theroad toll and serious injuries in accordance with the arrivealive! 2002-2007 Strategy. We will achieve our goals bymaking better use of our resources and of our partnershipsand build community determination to reduce road deathsand trauma across the state.

We will also adopt approaches that will increase thecommunity’s perception of safety and improve publicconfidence in policing services. Building and strengtheningcommunity partnerships is critical to this approach.

We are now on the way to achieving these goals. We are the people’s police and we are evolving to meet the policing needs and expectations of our workforce and the entire community.

We will continue to listen, act and work with the communityto achieve our objective of delivering a safer Victoria inconjunction with our partners.

Christine Nixon APMChief Commissioner

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Intelligent and confident policing focused on thedevelopment of partnerships and a community capacity

that empowers individuals to build a safer Victoria.

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Police Minister’sM E S S A G E

The Victorian Government's Growing Victoria Togetherpolicy places a high emphasis on making our streets, homes and workplaces safer.

The crime reduction strategies and value areas within the Victoria Police Strategic Plan, The Way Ahead are well connected to both whole of Government and whole of community approaches. This involves an emphasis onestablishing stronger community partnerships to achieve a safer Victoria and improve our quality of life.

With the adoption of this Plan, Victoria Police aims to reducecrime by 5% over the period 2003-2008. It will result in a significant reduction in road deaths and serious injuriesin Victoria in accordance with the arrive alive! 2002-2007strategy. A reduction in the crime rate and road deaths and injuries will result in significant cost savings andbenefits to the community.

The Government is committed tofacilitating a well resourced policeforce and a smarter approach to crimeprevention by supporting counterterrorism, forensic science and intelligent policing programs.

Since 1999–00, the Government has committed significantresources to upgrading and expanding Victoria Policefacilities and resources including an extra 800 frontlinepolice. By 2006–07, the Government will have constructedor upgraded 135 police stations across metropolitan andcountry Victoria, recruited an extra 600 police officers ontop of the 800 already recruited. We will provide VictoriaPolice with state-of-the-art facilities to fight crime andensure that Victoria remains the safest state in Australia.

The Government has also committed to the delivery of significant counter terrorism measures to ensure theState's security and to facilitate an effective nationalresponse to international crime and terrorism activities. These activities are supported by enhancements to the other major emergency response agencies such as theMetropolitan Fire Brigade, the Country Fire Authority and the State Emergency Service.

The Way Ahead for Victoria Police will allow the community to better assess the effectiveness of policingservices in relation to the crime rate, the road toll,perceptions of community safety and customer satisfaction with policing services.

This will allow the Government and Victoria Police to communicate more openly and clearly with thecommunity about issues that are of major concern.

This Government is committed to placing Victoria at the leading edge of policing in Australia ensuring thatVictoria is the best place to be.

This Government is committed to placing Victoriaat the leading edge of policing in Australia

ensuring that Victoria is the best place to be. André HaermeyerMinister for Police and Emergency Services

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Our Environment

Throughout the past decade Victoria Policehas made a significant contribution to createa safer community.

We have introduced a number of reformsto change the way we operate to ensurethat local needs and priorities directlyinfluence local police service delivery.These reforms included:

• a reorganisation to a regional structureconsisting of a network of 63 localpolicing areas. Each area hasestablished localised approaches topolicing services through collaborationand partnerships with the community;

• the development and implementation of Local Priority Policing (LPP) thatinvolved building closer ties with local communities and implementingtailored policing services;

• along with LPP, a focus on proactive,community-building programs that placea greater emphasis on crime preventionand reducing people’s fear of crime;

• the establishment of Local SafetyCommittees (LSC) in each district;

• a supporting infrastructure introducedstatewide, including an informationtechnology network and sophisticatedanalytical tools such as forensic analysis;

• implementation of recruitment andretention strategies to improve thediversity of backgrounds, skills andexperience of our workforce; and

• an additional 800 police have been deployed to operational duties.

As the world continues to change, Victoria Police must respond to emergingthreats and issues that will face Victoriaover the next five years.

A N D R E F O R M S

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Our Challenges

Over the next five years we will have totackle a number of new challenges andissues – both those local in origin andthose external in origin, but local inimpact – including:

• increasingly complex and diversecommunity needs and expectations;

• a rapid increase in new transnationaland technology-assisted criminality;

• a new level of threat from terrorism;

• other agencies increasingly involved in the provision of policing services;

• increasingly interlinked social andwelfare issues; and

• an ongoing challenge to maintain high levels of police integrity.

To meet these challenges, we willintegrate our approach towards crime and violence prevention andcommunity safety strategies. We willensure fair, equitable and effectivedelivery of policing services through whole-of-government initiatives and the development of sustainablepartnerships and relationships with other agencies and local communities.

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is aimed at developing an organisational culture and strategiccapability to identify emerging issues and opportunities, and introducingintegrated systems to acquire, store, use and secure information.

Our Focus F O R A S A F E R V I C T O R I A

This Plan has four key value areas that will drive changethroughout the organisation andincrease our ability to make adifference to community safetyover the next five years.

IntelligentP O L I C I N G

encourages innovation and creative problem-solving. It is about a people centred and enabling management style that aims to create policeas community leaders who are capable, ethical and high performing.

ConfidentP O L I C I N G

is focused on local level service needs and delivery to achievemaximum impact on local priorities and safety outcomes.

Community P O L I C I N G

collaborates and works with other agencies and groups in thepursuit of common community safety outcomes through developingand strengthening community partnerships across the State.

PartnershipP O L I C I N G

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Victoria Police will provide:

Intelligent and confident policingfocused on the development ofpartnerships and a communitycapacity that empowers individuals to build a safer Victoria.

We will:

– aim to reduce the crime rate by 5% over the life of the plan;

– reduce the road toll and incidence of road trauma in accordance with arrive alive! 2002-2007;

– increase levels of communityperceptions of safety over 2003-2008; and

– increase levels of customersatisfaction over 2003-2008.

These performance measures and targetshave been determined through an extensiveconsultation process and will be achieved by implementation of the policing strategiesunderpinning this plan. Monitoring ofprogress towards the achievement of theseoutcomes will be articulated through theVictoria Police annual business plan.

We aim to reduce the overall crime ratevia the continued implementation oftargeted policing strategies focused onhigh volume crime such as theft, theft frommotor cars, burglary and other forms oftheft. Proactive policing strategies, animproved ease of reporting crime as wellas an increased police presence couldlead to an initial increase in the level ofreported crime in some crime categories.This should not be seen as an increase in the incidence of crime, but an attemptto capture crime that currently goesunreported ensuring Victoria continues to be the safest state in Australia. Thefocus on low volume crimes, such asassault, will not be reduced as a result of the above strategies.

Our Focusc o n t i n u e d

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Victoria Police's Road Safety performancemeasures, targets and underpinningstrategies provide continued support forarrive alive! Victoria's Road Safety Strategyto reduce the road toll and the incidence ofroad trauma over 2002-2007. Our focus will be on targeting driver behaviour andpromoting safety on our roads throughstrategies based on evidence, research andeffective road safety partnerships.

Community perceptions of safety will alsoincrease. To achieve this, Victoria Police will continue to provide an ongoing focus oncrime prevention, leadership in communitysupport programs, early prevention anddiversion programs, dispute mediation andconflict resolution programs and improvedaccess to professional policing services.

Customer satisfaction will also increasethrough publishing a customer servicecharter, providing a continued focus onethics and integrity, strengthening communitypartnerships, increasing the diversity of ourworkforce and expanding the role of policeas leaders in their local community.

Intelligent policing is aproactive, problem-orientedresponse to crime andcommunity safety. It isdriven by data and other information thatdemonstrates needs andpriorities for policingservices.

It relies on evidence andresearch to determine the most appropriate and effectiveresponses. The emphasis on analysis of trends and performance enablesearlier intervention andprevention of crime.

It is about building a strategiccapability to identify emerging problems, issues and opportunities; andintroducing integrated systems to acquire, store,use and secure information.

IntelligentP O L I C I N G

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Our PrioritiesTo enhance our capability to identifyemerging issues and opportunities,we will:

• employ additional experts including crime analysts, crime scene investigatorsand forensic officers to improve thesolution rate of crimes through improvedcrime scene procedures

• build and equip additional forensicfacilities

• enhance our information technologyinfrastructure to allow real time datacollection and analysis as a basis for evidence-based decision-making

To introduce integrated informationsystems that acquire, store, use and secure information, we will:

• expand the capacity of our informationtechnology and communications network

• introduce processes so that information,ideas and experience are easilyaccessible throughout the organisation

To enhance our early intervention,proactive capacity, we will:

• target and identify serious/repeatoffenders through crime data analysis,forensic sampling and information sharingwith other criminal justice agencies

• develop a mediation capacity and referral network with other governmentagencies to intervene to prevent disputes from escalating into harmful or criminal behaviour

• provide training in anti-terroristpreparedness and response and enhancethe risk assessment and advisory capacityrelating to potential terrorist targets

Our ProgressIn implementing intelligent policing,the effectiveness of our approach will be reflected in:

• reduction in offence rates, with particular targets set for priority areasincluding violent crime, family violenceand volume crime

• reduction in levels of victimisation

• reduction in the levels of repeatvictimisation for specific offence types

• continued improvement in the levels ofperceived personal and public safety

ConfidentP O L I C I N G

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Confident policing is having the flexibility, skills andresourcefulness to dealeffectively with a wide varietyof incidents and to managecases. It draws on goodtraining, quality research and evaluation, on-the-jobexperience and a wide rangeof expertise and technologies.

It is supported by a set ofOrganisational Values thatinclude integrity, leadership,flexibility, respect, support and professionalism.These values underpin thebehaviour of all those in theorganisation and assist inachieving policing servicestandards that are aligned to community expectations.

Our PrioritiesTo develop a working culture thatencourages innovation and creativeproblem solving, we will:

• introduce an information system that willassist police to identify policing prioritiesand relevant trends that will result in themost effective and efficient responses toparticular problems

• enhance our research and evaluationcapacity to address crime, communitysafety and organisational performance

• facilitate opportunities for our members to participate in international and inter-jurisdictional training and exchangeprograms

To move to a people centred andenabling management style, we will:

• adopt the Australian Business ExcellenceFramework to support improved businessprocesses, innovation and learning

• introduce a reward and recognitionsystem that encourages innovation andhigh performance

• ensure there is a more positive focus to the discipline system while maintainingour commitment to tackling unethicalbehaviour

• implement more flexible work practices to attract and retain people with diverseskills and experiences

To create police as leaders in the community, we will:

• increase support for Local SafetyCommittees and Police CommunityConsultative Committees

• increase opportunities for professionaldevelopment

• recruit under-represented groups so that our workforce is as diverse as ourcommunity

Our ProgressIn implementing confident policing,the effectiveness of our approach will be reflected in:

• significant improvements in organisationalhealth and employee satisfaction

• improved recruitment and retention ofunder-represented groups and specialists

• an increasing proportion of the workforce with tertiary qualifications and other specialist qualifications

• continuous improvement in the results of the Australian Business ExcellenceFramework evaluations

CommunityP O L I C I N G

Community policing is focused on local level service needs and delivery.It recognises the diversity in character,requirements and circumstances of local communities and responds by tailoring services to specific localenvironments.

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Our PrioritiesTo enhance police presence andservice to communities, we will:

• increase the network of police stationsstatewide

• increase the operating hours of a numberof existing stations and deploy additionalpolice to service the increases in hoursand accessibility

• improve the design and appearance of police facilities to make people morecomfortable about entering them and to encourage other agencies to co-locateto provide coordinated services

• continue to explore alternative ways of providing policing services, such as mobile police facilities, co-locatingpolice services with other agencies andlocating police in shopping centres

To increase access to police services,better prioritise police responses and encourage greater reporting of crimes, we will:

• explore a broader range of access and reporting options including telephoneand Internet reporting

• develop a Service Charter that specifies minimum service standards and community rights

• establish a community commentmechanism that allows the community to provide feedback on our services on an ongoing basis

To enhance our services to victims and witnesses, we will:

• establish a fixed point of contact forupdates on their case progress andreferral to other support agencies

Our ProgressIn implementing community policing,the effectiveness of our approach will be reflected in:

• increased levels of reporting of crime,including measurement of increases intypes of crime reported using alternativereporting mechanisms

• higher levels of community confidence in, and satisfaction with, police services

• continuously improving performanceagainst our published service standards

Often, the solutions lie within thecapacity and capability of otheragencies, community groups andindividuals to participate in andcontribute to crime prevention and community safety strategies.Sometimes, by influencing others’behaviour, the need for policeintervention can be avoided altogether.

PartnershipP O L I C I N G

Partnership policing is about everyone– not just the police – being responsiblefor tackling the problems that affect community safety. It alsopromotes community empowerment.

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Our Priorities To establish working relationshipswith partner organisations to solveproblems and identify opportunities,we will:

• develop joint initiatives to target crimeand fear of crime in the community

• actively work towards whole-of-governmentinitiatives by creating or supportinginformation and resource sharingmechanisms, referral networks and othercrime prevention and safety strategies

• form partnerships with research andtraining institutions to identify, adapt and develop best practice

We will work with all levels ofgovernment, industry groups, other service providers and otheragencies to:

• develop legislative controls on access to, and possession of tools that are usedto commit crime or cause harm

• identify opportunities for new or moreappropriate legislation to deal withemerging issues

To recognise the increasing array of providers of policing services, we will:

• involve more people such as volunteers, in crime prevention and community safety activities

• provide training and education in policing techniques and professionalstandards to other organisations andagencies providing policing services

• develop partnerships with privateproviders of policing services which includes the security and gaming industries

Our ProgressIn implementing partnership policing,the effectiveness of our approach willbe reflected in:

• a greater number and diversity of partnerships with governmentdepartments, research institutions, industry groups, other social agencies,community groups and experts

• greater use of non-punitive responses to certain kinds of offending such as diversion, restorative justice andcounselling

• declining cost of crime and road traumaas the incidence and impact of offendingis reduced through early intervention and prevention strategies

• an increasing proportion of our resourcesand effort being spent on collaborativeprograms at a local, regional, state andnational level

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We are a front line police service, helping,listening, responding, and providingprotection and community leadership as we strive for a safer Victoria.

Over the next five years we will deliver arange of services to the community throughour key value areas of intelligent, confident,community and partnership policing. These will support the achievement ofoutcomes in priority areas for all Victorians.

In delivering these outcomes we willdemonstrate our Organisational Values of:

• Integrity;

• Leadership;

• Flexibility;

• Respect;

• Support; and

• Professionalism.

These underpin the culture and behaviour of all those within Victoria Police and assistus to achieve a more effective and capablepolicing service.

Through intelligent and confidentpolicing focused on the development ofpartnerships and a community capacitythat empowers individuals to build a safer Victoria, Victoria Police will:

– aim to reduce the crime rate by 5% over the life of the plan;

– reduce the road toll and incidenceof road trauma in accordance with arrive alive! 2002-2007;

– increase levels of communityperceptions of safety over 2003-2008; and

– increase levels of customersatisfaction over 2003-2008.

The Way Ahead

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Additional information about Victoria Policeand The Way Ahead can be obtained fromour web site:

www.police.vic.gov.au

or from the Corporate Improvement Unitlocated in the Victoria Police Centre.Telephone: (03) 9247 6131

E-mail:corporate.improvement@police.vic.gov.au

Information in relation to Victoria's RoadSafety Strategy arrive alive! 2002-2007 can be obtained from the web site:www.arrivealive.vic.gov.au

For all other inquiries, contact your localpolice station or:

Head OfficeVictoria Police Centre637 Flinders StreetPO Box 415MELBOURNE VIC 3005Telephone: (03) 9247 6666

Regional OfficesRegion 1 (Central)

Victoria Police Centre637 Flinders StreetPO Box 415MELBOURNE VIC 3005Telephone: (03) 9247 5688

Region 2 (West)

110 Mercer StreetGEELONG VIC 3220Telephone: (03) 5225 3222

Region 3 (North West)

15 Dimboola RoadBROADMEADOWS VIC 3047Telephone: (03) 9302 8268

Region 4 (North East)

247 – 249 Rosanna RoadROSANNA VIC 3084Telephone: (03) 9457 4444

Region 5 (South East)

50 Langhorne StreetDANDENONG VIC 3175Telephone: (03) 9767 7621

V I C T O R I A P O L I C EContacts