Australian police not interested in street crime

What do you expect of public servants? Get a gun!

POLICE Commissioner Ken Moroney has thumbed his nose at public opinion, defying calls for tougher action against street crime. His defiance came after The Daily Telegraph struggled to have a crime investigated by police despite having photographic evidence of a mugging in Sydney. Last night the victim, a 16-year-old TAFE student, revealed his fear over the attack on Tuesday night near Central railway station. His mother, Margaret Short, said her husband tried to report the crime to police but was "fobbed off".

"When my husband Don rang Central (Police Station) they wouldn't even take a statement, insisting it must come from our son. They just fobbed him off. "They said the victim has to report the crime and because our son didn't want to, they couldn't record it for him. But our son was too scared to do that." The boy told the Daily Telegraph last night: "The police said they know who it is, or have an idea, but can't guarantee anything. "I didn't want to go to police because I thought if (the culprits) found out who I was, I could get bashed or some of their mates would find me and make trouble." The boy, who last night revealed he was menaced with a knife in the attack, subsequently visited Surry Hills police yesterday.

Victims of crime said yesterday that they had given up expecting police to do anything about it. However, Mr Moroney insists his officers are doing the best they can. Figures reveal that hundreds of thousands of citizens who have been robbed, assaulted or who have had their homes invaded are not bothering to report it.

The Commissioner yesterday chose to dodge the issue by citing the state's falling crime rates. With hundreds of angry citizens inundating the Daily Telegraph website with reports of lazy police, Mr Moroney said last night it would be "unrealistic" to expect everyone to be happy. He said police internal research indicated that confidence in the police was high and that the community felt safe - but he refused to release the figures so the public can make up its own mind.

"I expect all my officers to do their best at all times. "They have an oath of office and that is their pact with the people of NSW. "Police are not perfect human beings. "Figures show the majority of crime categories are either falling or are steady. {Because people no longer to report stuff] "Does that mean that every individual who looks to police for assistance will be 100 per cent happy 100 per cent of the time? "That would be unrealistic, but I hope the public understands that we do have a committed police force who are doing the best possible job they can."

The annual Australian Bureau of Statistics survey of victims of crime for the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research for 2006 - the latest figures available - show 127,500 victims of assault did not report it in 2006, 22,800 people did not report that they had been robbed, 26,300 people did not tell police their house had been broken into and another 63,100 people did report an attempted burglary.

"The most common reasons why people don't report crime are that people don't think the police could or would do anything about it, the offence was too trivial, or nothing was stolen," BOSCAR director Dr Don Weatherburn said. Victims of Crime Assistance League executive director Robyn Cotterell-Jones said it was because they were sick of being given the brush-off. "Police are making a decision about whether a case is going to make it to prosecution and if not, they are simply not bothering to do anything with it," she said.

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Louisiana attacker shot by ex-girlfriend: "Members of the DeRidder Police Department responded to a call from a residence on Bilbo Street last week, where Paul Lee Williams had been shot in the leg. According to the police Williams had been stalking his ex-girlfriend and earlier in the day threatened her outside of a local store. The ex-girlfriend, whose name was not released, immediately went to the Police Department and filed a report. Because she was afraid for her life members of the police department escorted her home and secured her house. After the police left she locked all of her windows and doors. The police described that sometime after dark the victim felt as if she were being watched and walked out onto her porch where she noticed that the skirting around her house had been disturbed. Williams then emerged from beneath her home and ran toward her. She immediately went back in to her home and retrieved a pistol which she had been carrying for protection. She allegedly fired at Williams and missed. She went back into her home and picked up the phone to call the police when Williams forced open the back door and entered her house. She shot at him two other times, hitting him once in the leg as she dialed the number for the police department. Williams fled the scene and the police found her at the end of her driveway near the road with the gun in one hand and the phone in the other. After searching the surrounding area the police found Williams in the garage of a nearby house. Williams was taken to a local hospital where his wounds were treated and then booked into the DeRidder Jail. He also has a criminal record with two other stalking charges".


New Mexico man shoots determined thug: "A man coming to the aid of his West Side neighbor shot an intruder, even as the intruder beat him with a crowbar, Albuquerque police say. Police said Gregory Lawrence Powers, 36, broke into the West Side yard around 10 p.m. May 26. After a neighbor arrived with a gun, Powers attacked him with a crowbar, according to a Metro Court criminal complaint. Powers continued beating the Good Samaritan even after being shot three times, the complaint said. Powers was taken to University of New Mexico Hospital and treated for gunshot wounds to the chest and groin. He was released into police custody Monday, a hospital spokeswoman said. Powers is charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. The neighbor was treated and released from UNMH."