Happy Wednesday, damn – Gold Coast police out there playing team captains of Team DGAF. We talk all the time about how there’s not enough common sense in the world, but this crew is out there as the demonstrative common sense unit.
Crime rate too high? Quit trying to go out there and control what people are doing and control what YOU are doing. Ignore reports – actually, just discourage them altogether. Makes sense to me!
Gold Coast police officers are trying to paint a better picture of the official crime rate by “soliciting” victims to withdraw complaints, a damning report has found.
The Queensland auditor general’s report also warns crime statistics collated and released by the state’s police service should be “treated with caution”.
Officers in the Gold Coast district had multiple methods designed to make victims withdraw their complaints, thereby increasing the clearance rate, it was found.
The report said tactics also included sending letters to victims requiring them to respond within seven days or else it would be “presumed” no further action was wanted and the complaint withdrawn.
I bet the seven days started when they sent the letters. First of all, who the fuck sends letters these days anymore? They probably just dumped envelopes in a bin and started a timer. I like that strategy.
The district also supposedly adopted a “three strikes policy” where, if the victim couldn’t be contacted after three attempts, the complaint would be marked as withdrawn.
I also bet these attempts were conducted in succession, too. Like…calling three times in a row, then saying, “Welp – couldn’t contact ’em, I guess it’s the appropriate time to withdraw this complaint.
The scathing report also found a practice of altering crime data statistics by Gold Coast officers had “gone unnoticed or unchallenged at senior levels”.
So, they’re just flat out changing the data, too. Cool. A bit bold, if I may say, but it’s effective, I guess….
“Gold Coast staff reported that an unhealthy focus on achieving performance targets, rather than data quality, has contributed to these results,” it states.
I feel like this could relate to American society, too. I don’t want to get too serious, but we’re more focused on performance than learning in school these days, y’know? In a way, I wonder if it’s similar down under. Like, should we really hold these cops responsible if for their entire lives, they’ve been told metrics matter more than quality of life? I’m just saying – let’s be progressive here.
Police minister Mark Ryan welcomed the release of the report and said it was already being acted on by the police and corrective services commissioners.
“I have also asked the police commissioner for regular updates on improvements to the QPS’ governance and quality assurance systems that are aimed at improving crime reporting quality and accuracy,” Ryan said in a statement.
CLASSIC MOVE. These guys are so sharp – of course, you’re just like, “Yeah, release it. Good. GOOD – I WANT it to come out. I’m clueless in regards to this matter, too!” This guy is the king of deception.
All in all, I love the effort put forth by these guys to truly reduce the amount of crime being reported, and making citizens feel safer by denyingcrime actually happens. Just, you know, probably shouldn’t do this with stuff like public safety. I don’t know, that’s just my opinion.
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network. A strong advocate of GSD (get shit done) and #BeBetter, he’s down to talk Tennessee Titans and Alabama Crimson Tide football over a beer any day. Check him out covering the WWE for WrestlingNews.co. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley, @WrestlingNewsCo
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