Horsham police community forum 2016

Speaking at a police and community engagement forum in Horsham on Wednesday, acting Senior Sergeant Scott McKenzie said in the past few years police had seen a strong shift in the way they work.  

He said police culture and policing was going through a period of drastic change, with a focus on family violence and repeat criminal offenders, moving away from reactive policing.

Acting Senior Sergeant McKenzie said community forums across the Wimmera was one part of that. 

“We want to have that conversation about what we’re trying to do, the perceptions we’re trying to change and how we’re migrating into a slightly different organisation,” he said.

“I’ve felt the change. I’ve been with police for for nearly 20 years and the last few years have been the biggest shift in Victoria Police I’ve ever seen.”

Senior Sergeant Brendan Broadbent said there had been institutional and cultural changes within the force after the royal commission on policing.

“There was hard reflection by senior members and members within the force about the treatment of female members and the culture and views are changing,” he said.

“If we can’t treat ourselves with dignity and respect internally, how can we pass that onto the community?”

Acting Senior Sergeant McKenzie said there was now a focus on intelligence gathering, proactive policing and stopping repeat offenders. 

“There’s a very small number of people who commit a big number of our crimes here in Horsham,” he said.

“What we’ve done is adopt a shift in policing. We’re quite focused on those repeat offenders and in actual fact, specifically manage them.

“If they’re coming in and out of our police station like a revolving door and into the court, someone needs to stop that so we’re doing that.

“It’s about us speaking to those offenders, trying to ascertain why they’re committing crimes, what’s the cause and who we can put them in contact with to stop that occurring.”