Premier praises new 'weapons' to fight crime

19/6/00

A new 'weapon' in the fight against crime in Western Australia is being rolled out to police stations around the State after a very successful pilot program.
'Insight' is the crime and incident pattern analysis technology allowing police to stay 'one step ahead of criminals'.
Premier Richard Court, who this morning will officially open the Western Australian Police Union's 64th Annual Conference, said the Insight trials had produced some excellent crime-fighting results.
Insight was introduced into the Cottesloe police sub-district in January.
Last month, there was an average fall in crime of 51 per cent in the sub- district - the biggest monthly fall for the district in the past 14 months.
"Home burglaries fell 58 per cent, commercial burglaries 58 per cent, and daylight burglaries 62 per cent in the sub-district," Mr Court said.
"Police say Insight is a contributing factor to these results because it allows them to track the movement of crime, anticipate the next crime 'hot spots' and target their patrols to these areas, instead of conducting random patrols.
"And it's not just crime. Insight will help to map traffic accidents, pinpoint black spots on our roads and record the causes."
Mr Court said the Government had equipped police stations around the State with new computer technology to run the Insight program.
"By the end of August, we expect Insight will be used State-wide in all police districts," he said.
The Premier said that police in the Midland district would trial another time-saving technology initiative called 'Briefcase' later this year, which was also expected to be rolled out to police around the State.
Briefcase will effectively create a fully-automated and paperless system from arrest, to court, to fine or sentence.
"For example, police prepare around 100,000 electronic court briefs a year, each taking around 40 to 50 minutes to produce," Mr Court said.
"Using briefcase, the process will be much quicker and efficient and should take around 15 minutes, leaving valuable time for other policing duties.
"Addressing crime, and the community's concerns about crime, involves finding smarter ways to help the job of policing become more efficient and effective.
"Insight and Briefcase are two of the 'crime fighting' tools we are implementing to make this happen."
Media Reference: Justine Whittome - 9222 9475