Australian Institute of Criminology
Victoria Police’s Hume Crime Investigation Unit Crime Reduction Team today received a silver award in the police-led category of the 2019 Australian Crime and Violence Prevention Awards (ACVPA).
The ACVPA recognise best practice in the prevention or reduction of violence and other types of crime in Australia and play a vital role in highlighting effective community-based initiatives to prevent crime and violence.
Victoria Police Detective Sergeant Scott Williams, said burglary offences in the Hume Police Service Area in December 2017 were at a five-year high and continuing to increase.
“Through strategic planning and innovative thinking, the team developed new strategies, enhanced internal relationships and forged strong community bonds to target and reduce burglary offending by more than 40 per cent, achieving twelve consecutive months of five-year lows for burglary offending in Hume,” said Detective Sergeant Williams.
“Being recognised for this work in a formal way not only rewards the members of the team for their dedication and hard work, but provides a platform to educate and inspire other volume crime police teams with ideas and strategies for sustained reduction in burglary offending.”
The annual ACVPA recognise the outstanding contributions being made across Australia for crime prevention, including the development and implementation of practical projects to reduce violence and other types of crime in the community.
“This project is a great example of how traditional methods of crime investigation can be re-focused using new strategies to achieve excellent results,” said Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC) Director, Michael Phelan APM.
All projects are assessed each year by the ACVPA Board, which consists of senior law enforcement representatives from each state and territory police service, and chaired by the AIC Director.
The awards are a joint initiative of the Australian, state and territory governments, coordinated by the AIC and co-sponsored by the Ministerial Council for Police and Emergency Management.
/Public Release.
