Is there a crime wave?
By Sue Boland
The impression you get from listening to the politicians is that we are in the midst of a violent crime wave. Crime statistics contradict this picture.
When the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BCSR) released statistics for the two years to December 1997, it noted a "substantial slowing in the rate of growth in recorded crime in NSW", with "some offences actually falling significantly".
The main crimes to have increased — robbery and break and enter — most likely did so due to the increased numbers of heroin users, BCSR director Don Weatherburn noted.
A 1997 WA Crime Research Centre (CRC) study and an Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) study of the Northern Territory also found no evidence of a "crime epidemic".
A 1997 NSW BCSR victim survey revealed:
- less than 0.5% of NSW residents aged over 15 years had experienced robbery (defined as theft involving violence or the threat of violence) in 1997;
- only 3.6% of people in NSW were victims of personal crime (defined as assault, robbery and sexual assault);
- elderly people are the group least likely to be victims of personal crime. Less than 1% of people aged over 65 years experienced personal crime; and
- young people experience the highest rate of personal crime. Of people aged between 15 and 24, 6.4% experienced personal crime in 1997.
The NSW BCSR found that robbery in the home (sensationalised as "home invasions" by the media) is uncommon. The recorded rate in 1995 was 0.34 per 10,000 of population.
Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC) figures for 1997-98 recorded the lowest level of homicides ever. The homicide rate has remained steady for the last 25 years. In approximately 80% of all homicides, the victim and the offender knew each other, and 23% involved intimate partners.
Exaggerated fears
The first national study (1995) of public perception of crime risk demonstrated that most people's fear is far greater than the actual danger. While the risk of experiencing a break and enter in a 12-month period is less than 6%, 27% of those surveyed judged their risk to be greater than 30%.
While the actual rate of crime, and especially violent crime, is not increasing, major party politicians have skilfully used the media to exaggerate the perception that crime is rampant and to justify tougher sentences, more police and more police powers. The result of tougher law and order policies has been a skyrocketing growth in the prison population.
Australia's prison population has grown from 89.1 per 100,000 in 1995 to 135.4 per 100,000 in 1998, a 52% increase within three years. The rate of imprisonment in Australia is growing at twice the rate of the United States.
Catherine Gow, from the Darebin Community Legal Centre and a member of the People's Justice Alliance, told Â鶹´«Ã½ Weekly that about 80-90% of Victorian prisoners are inside for non-violent, property-related offences, such as car theft, burglary and shoplifting.
This is reflected in the following figures:
- 83% of prisoners were convicted of drug- and alcohol-related offences (Australian Medical Association report, 1998);
- the most common offences resulting in the detention of Aborigines were non-violent minor offences, public drunkenness and offences against "good" order (AIC report, 1995);
- in WA, the number of fine defaulters imprisoned in 1997 was almost double that in 1996. Almost half of all female Aborigines imprisoned in 1997 were imprisoned for fine default (WA CRC report, 1997);
- of all deaths in police custody, the last and most serious offence committed was either the theft of a motor vehicle, drink driving or another traffic offence (AIC report, 1996); and
- 80% of female prisoners in Victoria were convicted of property offences.
"The massive cuts to legal aid mean that more people are going to court without any legal representation", Gow told Â鶹´«Ã½ Weekly. "Because people go to court without legal representation and without interpreters, they usually do get a prison sentence."
Another reason Gow gives for increased prisoner numbers is the introduction of "truth in sentencing" in Victoria about four years ago. This means that prisoners serve their full sentence without remissions for good behaviour.
"Changes in social policies have also increased imprisonment rates", Gow said. "More people are remanded in custody instead of getting bail because they have no secure accommodation."
The introduction of the Police and Public Safety Bill in NSW last year, which grants police increased powers to stop and search people and disperse groups of more than two, has led to a massive increase in the number of young people, especially young Asians, being arrested.
Throughout Australia, increased policing of public spaces has led to a jump in the numbers of young prisoners. AIC figures for 1997 show that young people between 17 and 24 were arrested and detained more frequently than people of any other age groups. More than 90% of juvenile arrests were for common property offences.
The mandatory sentencing regime for minor property offences in the NT and the "three strikes and you're in" sentencing laws for burglaries in WA have resulted from draconian prison sentences for minor offences.
Racism
The racism of the police and the courts is clearly shown by crime statistics from around the country.
A WA CRC survey found that while the number of arrests in 1997 increased by 6%, the number of arrests of Aborigines increased by 13%, compared to 3% for non-Aborigines.
The 1997 NSW Criminal Courts Statistics Report reveals that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders are four times more likely to be brought before the local court and more likely to be imprisoned. While 20% of indigenous people convicted of personal crime are imprisoned, the corresponding figure for non-indigenous people is 8%.
There is a massive over-representation of Aboriginal, Indo-Chinese, Pacific Islander and Lebanese juveniles in detention in NSW, according to the Youth Justice Coalition. Between 1991 and 1993, the number of Indo-Chinese youth in detention jumped 200%. Young Asians are twice as likely to be searched, four times as likely to be arrested and three times more likely to be injured in contact with police.
Young Aborigines in NSW courts are less likely to be granted bail, more likely to be charged rather than cautioned, and more likely to have harsh bail conditions imposed than non-Aboriginal juveniles with similar police records.
Privatisation
Gow outlined the extent of prison privatisation in Victoria: "We've got three private prisons operating: a 600-bed men's maximum security prison; a 600-bed men's medium/minimum security; and a 125-bed women's prison and remand centre. Those prisons house 45% of adult prisoners in Victoria.
"We've got the highest rate of prison privatisation in the world. The privatisations have occurred in the last two and a half years.
"On top of that, all migrant detention centres throughout Australia are now under private management. The operation of the Melbourne Custody Centre has been tendered out. All court security is being privatised. Prisoner transport has been privatised.
"The state government is now proposing the privatisation of police lock-ups and planning a 75-bed private juvenile detention centre. There are rumours of another private 600-bed men's prison. Prison health care and education have been contracted out."
Gow told Â鶹´«Ã½ Weekly that there is no direct evidence of the prison companies influencing government law and order policies but suspects it takes place. "The industry makes its profit from the incarceration of people. They need a steady supply of the raw material, and the raw material is prisoners.
"In order to make sure that their profits are increasing and they are getting more people into the system, it's in their interests to get governments to introduce policies that will lock more people away."
Gow described the debate over crime as a "distraction from the real issues" because "crime is not out of control".
"We need to talk about what it is that will make a community feel safe — adequate social resources, good schools, a good health care system, a good public transport system, staff on our train stations, lighting, employment for people, drug rehabilitation programs and livable wages. Those things will reduce the numbers of people going into prison."
Kilty O'Gorman from Justice Action in Sydney agreed. "You can't talk seriously about crime prevention unless you talk about legalising drugs."
Funding
While governments are cutting funding for many essential services, budgets for police and prisons are being boosted.
An AIC report showed that total national spending on the criminal justice system increased by 96.9% between 1984-85 and 1993-94. This includes increases of 85.7% for police, 120% for the court system and 105% for the prison system.
Despite 23% of all homicides being the result of domestic violence, this is one area where little action is taking place. In 1990, the Fitzroy Legal Service reported that Victorian police chose not to intervene in most domestic violence situations because it was not considered serious crime.
Of all domestic violence intervention orders taken out between 1987 and 1990, the percentage initiated by police did not exceed 3.5%.
Brett Collins from Justice Action sees the law and order push as giving more power to governments. "By making citizens fearful of others, the government divides and conquers. We become suspicious of people and end up relying on the police to defend our personal interests."