Policing during the pandemic has tended to focus on punitive measures against individuals. A community-focused, public health approach would move away from coercive policing.
The Victorian Police Academy is lit up in blue in honour of the four officers killed in last week’s road tragedy.
AAP/Michael Dodge
In three years, 173 people died from 17 ramming vehicle attacks worldwide. This week, Victoria police announced a policy supporting officers to shoot drivers of weaponised cars.
Accusations of ‘professional’ begging are misleading, intended to demonise those who beg as deceitful.
Tracey Nearmy/AAP Image
Last week seven people were arrested for being alleged members of a begging ‘syndicate’. Stories like this entrench public perceptions of the homeless as criminal.
A Victorian parliamentary committee has recommended that all serious police misconduct be investigated by a new independent police misconduct and corruption division within the IBAC.
AAP/Tracey Nearmy
A complaints system in which police investigate themselves is hardly likely to instil confidence in communities where police are regarded as the problem rather than the solution.
Victoria Police inspect the scene after Sunday morning’s brawl in which six people were injured, one critically.
AAP/Julian Smith
After a violent brawl involving African Australians on Sunday, Prime Minister Scott Morrison suggested Victoria Police needed to take a firmer hand – but it’s far more complicated than that.
In refusing to strike out Smith’s claim, the court has accepted that it is arguable police could owe a common law duty of care to specific victims of domestic violence to protect them from preventable harm.
AAP/James Ross
A Victorian woman claims police were negligent in failing to prevent breaches of protection orders against her ex-partner – a case that may open up new legal avenues in domestic violence cases.
Victoria’s minister for police, Lisa Neville, answers questions about allegations of police misconduct.
AAP/Stefan Postles
The delegation of authority to police to assess their own use of force is no longer something that can be applied solely on trust.
Victoria has the lowest youth crime rate of any of the states, despite being the only one that does not have a police in schools program.
Dean Lewins/AAP
The police in schools model abolished in Victoria in 2006 represents an outdated, paternalistic approach to youth crime and would not likely reduce youth crime rates if we brought it back now.
A new Victoria Police strategy represents a major milestone in the evolving police approach to family violence.
AAP/Joe Castro
The Channel 7 show Million Dollar Cold Case has seen Victoria Police dispense with the practice of not naming suspects until they are charged – a potentially fraught strategy.
Police across Victoria made it clear that family violence was considered to be ‘different’ to the primary investigative mandate of their work.
AAP/Tracey Nearmy
Police remain critical in the effort to tackling family violence in all its forms. But more than just a commitment to extra police and training is needed to improve outcomes for victim-survivors.
Police pursuits are among the most challenging operational situations facing officers.
AAP/Joel Carrett
Any policy governing police pursuits must balance the need to apprehend offenders with the safety of the community.
Tackling entrenched sexualised mistreatment in a large organisation such as the Australian Federal Police is far more than a numbers game.
AAP/Lukas Coch
To say a workplace problem is systemic means that its underlying causes are deeply embedded in the structures and everyday practices of an organisation.
In order to cope with the rigours of policing, police are expected to be strong, resilient and unemotional in dangerous situations.
AAP/Joe Castro
Sexual harassment is a persistent and damaging problem in many Australian workplaces. But why does it appear to be an entrenched feature of some organisational settings more than others?
Victoria Police arrest a Hells Angels member. Links between bikies and police have come under intense scrutiny after a series of leaks from inside the police.
AAP/Julian Smith
A police officer meets someone in a bar, one thing leads to another and within a few weeks a relationship blossoms. The officer then discovers that the person’s brother is a known criminal. Or an officer…
Former Victorian detective Paul Dale arrives at the Supreme Court on the first day of his trial in Melbourne, Febr.
Julian Smith/AAP
A Victorian Supreme Court jury is currently hearing a case involving former drug squad detective, Paul Dale, who has pleaded not guilty to twelve counts of giving false evidence to the Australian Crime…
Victoria Police will hold an inquiry to investigate its treatment of different ethnic groups, after settlement of a civil case involving allegations of racial profiling.
AAP/Julian Smith
Victoria Police recently announced an inquiry into their public relations and cultural awareness training, after a group of young African Australians claimed they had been victims of over-policing and…