REDUCING the ‘tyranny of distance’ for investigators and
reducing single vehicle accidents were the topical issues for some of Victoria’s
high ranking police officers during a whistle-stop tour of the region last
week.
Deputy Commissioner Graham Ashton, Assistant Commissioner (Road
Policing) Robert Hill and Director of Forensic Services Karl Kent took part in
the tour of the state’s north-west, including Mildura, Ouyen, Sea Lake,
Robinvale, Swan Hill and Kerang police stations.
During the trip they met
local police and discussed a range of matters relating to their relevant
portfolios of road policing, forensics, legal services and
intelligence.
During the trip, Mr Kent told The Guardian the appointment of
an extra forensic officer in Swan Hill, announced recently, was part of a
forthcoming Frontline Crimescene Strategy.
In his visit, Mr Kent said one of
the issues he had been investigating was how to improve forensic services in
regional areas.
“We have 40 crime scene investigators trained to a high
standard in our central facility in McLeod [Melbourne].
“But about 50,000
property offences around the state require some degree of forensic
investigation, and that is what a front line forensics investigation will be
trained for.
“Additionally, if there is a serious crime against the person,
or something more urgent, and we’re unable to get here until a number of hours
later, the front line officer can do the initial evidence recovery, before
evidence could potentially deteriorate, and the whole investigation can commence
at an earlier time.”
For more on this story, see Monday’s edition of The Guardian (18/2/13).
