ACT Policing to move reporting online for property crimes

The new system would be introduced over the next year with residents encouraged to self-report minor crimes on the internet.

ACT Chief Police Officer Neil Gaughan on Wednesday said as a result police would be less responsive to some property crime.

"If it's a real time issue, if someone is at your house, we will be there. But if you find out your house has been broken into and there's no obvious signs, forensic evidence, we will be asking people to do an online report," he said on ABC radio.

"Everything is moving online - banking is moving online, resources are tight, as they are in every sector - so we find this is going to be more efficient, it will allow our officers to actually have more front line exposure to people for high-end crime."

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However, the opposition spokesman on police, Jeremy Hanson, said this was an "extremely concerning change".

"It seems like now victims of burglary and other property crime will lodge a report online, and then have to wait and see if police will turn up. There doesn't even seem to be a system to let them know if police will attend or not," he said.

"This is not what the Canberra community expects from their police force, it is not what the police want, and it is not what we need to keep Canberra safe.

"This sends a green light to criminals who will know a certain level of crime may not even receive a visit from police."

Mr Hanson said: "Frankly, this a direct result of the fact that there are not enough police in the ACT, as has been stated repeatedly by me and by police themselves, and I call on the government to focus on community policing and give police the resources they and the community need."

Police Minister Mick Gentleman defended the government's commitment to increasing funding for ACT police in Legislative Assembly question time on Thursday.

Mr Gentleman said the ACT government had increased police resources in the budget every year, and police were free to determine how those resources were used.

"This is an operational matter, and the [Chief Police Officer], of course, has been very clear on that. He, of course, has the clear guidance to be able to use operational resources in the best way he sees fit for the Canberra community," Mr Gentleman said.

"I support him in those decisions. I think he has the capability and of course the expertise to be able to decide where those resources should go."

In a statement, Minister Gentleman argued the current government had injected "record funding" into ACT Policing, which included $35 million to modernise services. He said online reporting would "help Canberrans".

He said ACT Policing's workforce had grown with 98 recruits graduating and joining the force last financial year.

"The deployment of these new recruits is delivering on our commitment to grow police numbers across Canberra.

"ACT Policing is not changing how they respond to crime and will continue to keep our community safe. ACT Policing's good work has ensured crime rates are generally down when compared to ten years ago and Canberra remains one of the safest cities in the world."

An ACT Policing spokesperson said the force was exploring a range of modern ways the community could report crime and it would not be compulsory to report crimes online.

"Of course we will always maintain our Triple Zero and police assistance phone lines, but we are considering options such as online reporting," they said.

"We expect people could self-report incidents such as vandalism, minor property damage, minor burglaries (where there is little evidentiary material) and other matters.

"We already have an online tool to allow people to report historic sexual assaults and for many years people have been reporting minor traffic collisions via an Access Canberra form and providing Crime Stoppers with information via an online form."

They said online reporting would provide convenience for the community, and allow police to better respond to incidents where immediate assistance was required.

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