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catsidheThe Age tells us more about Haermeyer's wet dream.
EXCLUSIVE
By Fergus Shiel, Gary Hughes
December 6, 2004
Civil liberty protections would be watered down and investigative powers boosted to allow Victoria Police to launch new intelligence operations in a secret strategy to combat organised crime.
[Jackboots at the door at 3:00AM? Surely not. We trust Haermeyer.]
But the strategy concedes that "organised crime will never diminish" and the full extent of its impact on the community is still not known.
[In other words, don't expect any of these rights back anytime soon, if ever. It's For Your Own Good.]
The draft strategy seen by The Age targets six laws that police intend to "influence" and have changed, including those covering the right to privacy, freedom of information, surveillance devices and evidence gathering.
[Hey, there's an idea ... let the police write the laws! They'll never abuse them, will they?]
The new approach would see data on individuals "openly exchanged" with other government law enforcement bodies and private sector agencies.
[Privacy? What's that? This Is For Your Own Good.]
The strategy was drawn up after a Victoria Police conference in August looking at worldwide trends in combating organised crime.
It says there is "a long and continuous history of organised crime in Victoria" that flared into the recent gangland war that has claimed dozens of lives.
"Bloody gang wars between feuding organised drug syndicates raged, police detectives were charged with drug offences, intelligence reports naming a police informer were leaked and he and his wife were subsequently murdered, and a ship from North Korea dropped heroin on our coastline near Lorne," it says.
"All these are clear indicators of significant organised criminal activity," the report concludes.
["The children, won't someone think of the children!"]
Melbourne's gangland war has left more than two dozen dead and a number of alleged crime bosses and their associates arrested. Some are in jail.
The strategy warns that over the next five to 10 years crime gangs are likely to diversify further into computer crime, to produce and traffick new drugs and to become more international, possibly linking with terrorists.
["The CHILDREN!!!" ... "Don't go into the woods, Little Red Riding Hood; you might meet a Terrorist!" (Jello Biafra).
Terrorists also cause cancer, are fattening, and live under your bed.]
The document, which is still being worked on, says Victoria Police would integrate intelligence from traditional sources with that from new sources, such as enhanced forensic and computer capabilities.
[\/\/3 0wN0rz Ur 3m41l]
Special intelligence operations would be conducted to try to overcome "intelligence gaps" and by 2009 intelligence would effectively lead Victoria's fight to keep organised crime "contained and managed".
[... as well as Organised Crime's cronies, including Political Dissent and Freedom of Association]
Investigations would be carried out by multi-disciplinary teams including solicitors, financial analysts, computer forensic analysts and interpreters.
All police members would be educated [read: 'indoctrinated'] about the need to actively collect intelligence.
Internal anti-corruption measures would include rotating investigators through the crime department, the ethical standards department and police regions, plus implementing a "confidant network" that would encourage reporting of corrupt behaviour.
[Well, *I* feel safe.]
The document says Victoria Police, when lobbying for legislative changes to advance its strategy, will have regard for the rule of law [ie., they want more of it,] and the protection of civil liberties [ie., they want less of them]. But it foreshadows that "a small group [ie., the citizens of Victoria,] may have to sacrifice some elements of their civil liberties [ie., all of them]" to enable law enforcement agencies to effectively fight organised crime.
It concedes that the proposed increase in exchange of intelligence data with other agencies and swapping existing legal protections for public freedom with "more robust legislation" will be controversial and spark a debate.
[Too fucking right.]
The laws targeted for change under the strategy are the Freedom of Information Act, Evidence Act, Crimes Act, Surveillance Devices Act, Police Regulations Act and Privacy Act.
Bastards. Are we feeling safer yet?
Revealed: the new police arsenal
EXCLUSIVE
By Fergus Shiel, Gary Hughes
December 6, 2004
Key points
- Restructuring Victoria Police's specialist squads.
- New steps to counter organised crime's use of corrupt police.
- Training police members in intelligence gathering.
- Establishing a dedicated informer management unit.
- Tighter security for police databases, including LEAP.
Civil liberty protections would be watered down and investigative powers boosted to allow Victoria Police to launch new intelligence operations in a secret strategy to combat organised crime.
[Jackboots at the door at 3:00AM? Surely not. We trust Haermeyer.]
But the strategy concedes that "organised crime will never diminish" and the full extent of its impact on the community is still not known.
[In other words, don't expect any of these rights back anytime soon, if ever. It's For Your Own Good.]
The draft strategy seen by The Age targets six laws that police intend to "influence" and have changed, including those covering the right to privacy, freedom of information, surveillance devices and evidence gathering.
[Hey, there's an idea ... let the police write the laws! They'll never abuse them, will they?]
The new approach would see data on individuals "openly exchanged" with other government law enforcement bodies and private sector agencies.
[Privacy? What's that? This Is For Your Own Good.]
The strategy was drawn up after a Victoria Police conference in August looking at worldwide trends in combating organised crime.
It says there is "a long and continuous history of organised crime in Victoria" that flared into the recent gangland war that has claimed dozens of lives.
"Bloody gang wars between feuding organised drug syndicates raged, police detectives were charged with drug offences, intelligence reports naming a police informer were leaked and he and his wife were subsequently murdered, and a ship from North Korea dropped heroin on our coastline near Lorne," it says.
"All these are clear indicators of significant organised criminal activity," the report concludes.
["The children, won't someone think of the children!"]
Melbourne's gangland war has left more than two dozen dead and a number of alleged crime bosses and their associates arrested. Some are in jail.
The strategy warns that over the next five to 10 years crime gangs are likely to diversify further into computer crime, to produce and traffick new drugs and to become more international, possibly linking with terrorists.
["The CHILDREN!!!" ... "Don't go into the woods, Little Red Riding Hood; you might meet a Terrorist!" (Jello Biafra).
Terrorists also cause cancer, are fattening, and live under your bed.]
The document, which is still being worked on, says Victoria Police would integrate intelligence from traditional sources with that from new sources, such as enhanced forensic and computer capabilities.
[\/\/3 0wN0rz Ur 3m41l]
Special intelligence operations would be conducted to try to overcome "intelligence gaps" and by 2009 intelligence would effectively lead Victoria's fight to keep organised crime "contained and managed".
[... as well as Organised Crime's cronies, including Political Dissent and Freedom of Association]
Investigations would be carried out by multi-disciplinary teams including solicitors, financial analysts, computer forensic analysts and interpreters.
All police members would be educated [read: 'indoctrinated'] about the need to actively collect intelligence.
Internal anti-corruption measures would include rotating investigators through the crime department, the ethical standards department and police regions, plus implementing a "confidant network" that would encourage reporting of corrupt behaviour.
[Well, *I* feel safe.]
The document says Victoria Police, when lobbying for legislative changes to advance its strategy, will have regard for the rule of law [ie., they want more of it,] and the protection of civil liberties [ie., they want less of them]. But it foreshadows that "a small group [ie., the citizens of Victoria,] may have to sacrifice some elements of their civil liberties [ie., all of them]" to enable law enforcement agencies to effectively fight organised crime.
It concedes that the proposed increase in exchange of intelligence data with other agencies and swapping existing legal protections for public freedom with "more robust legislation" will be controversial and spark a debate.
[Too fucking right.]
The laws targeted for change under the strategy are the Freedom of Information Act, Evidence Act, Crimes Act, Surveillance Devices Act, Police Regulations Act and Privacy Act.
Bastards. Are we feeling safer yet?
