Geelong police’s new approach to preventing both young people and adults from reoffending has so far been promising.
In July, Victoria Police rolled out its first Crime Reduction Teams (CRTs) in Geelong and Melbourne.
These teams are tasked with engaging with previous offenders – persons of interest or POIs – to reduce their likelihood of reoffending.
That often involves linking POIs with support services such as Orange Door, Department of Families, Fairness and Housing or Wathaurong to help with issues around drugs or alcohol, healthcare, family violence, employment or education.
The Geelong team consists of six police officers who regularly touch base with 22 POIs, 60 per cent of which are children.
While prevented crimes are difficult to quantify, after four months Geelong police have compiled case studies showing how CRTs work in practice.
One study focuses on a 15-year-old boy who had already been arrested twice and was a key actor in a group of youths police feared may become a gang.
CRT members engaged with the boy and his family, helping him return to school and connect with his interests of basketball and carpentry.
However, after a promising start the boy was arrested for armed robbery. While in remand he stated the biggest negative about his situation was that he had “disappointed and let down” his CRT officer.
Since his release, the boy and his circle of fellow POIs have been supported by the team, with an emphasis on education and sport. Police believe the burgeoning gang has been “effectively dismantled”.
Geelong CRT leader Sergeant Lauren O’Connor said the case study demonstrated the positive impact of engaging with people at risk of reoffending.
“The proof is in that case study… we have got all those kids engaged with various services and back in school,” Sgt O’Connor said.
“If we can get kids at a younger age back on a path of not offending, then we’ve got some chance of preventing them from committing offences as adults, where the consequences are more severe.
“It’s not only the actual POIs that we’re engaging with, it’s their families as well. Quite often the positive influence that we have on these POIs… has a flow-on effect to siblings and parents and school friends.”
This weekend CRTs roll out across the entire state, a month earlier than planned due to the positive impacts of the initiative in Geelong and Melbourne.
Sgt O’Connor said while the program was in its infancy there were clear indications of success.
“Especially for people who have been long term in a cycle, it takes one person to turn around and say, we’ve got this available, can we offer you this help?” she said.
“And just one person might be able to change the course of where they’re going.”
