Thin blue line

By Lia Bichel
THE 12 members of the Casey-Cardinia Crime Desk are among the busiest police officers in the state.
“We are one of the top three busiest crime desks in Victoria,” Acting Senior Sergeant Sheree Moore said.
The unit has been swamped with tasks since its inauguration in 2004. Since July 2007, its officers have monitored a massive 8294 reports, attended 1696 burglaries, 1697 theft from vehicles, and completed 652 other tasks.
Snr Sgt Moore said a large number of crimes were committed by young offenders, as Casey had a large juvenile population.
She also said the unit dealt with a large number of thefts from cars, as thieves targeted parked cars at Casey’s shopping centres and public transport stations.
“Thieves know that people park their cars and leave them for the day,” she said.
Last week, members attended 25 cases of thefts from vehicles. They also attended 28 burglaries, and completed 16 other tasks, Acting Sergeant Peter Carroll said.
“Obviously these figures do not include our normal patrol duties,” he said. “We attend hot jobs, assist other units and issue fines.”At each job they attend, crime desk members use forensic and intelligence-based investigative techniques to solve crimes.
Before the new system was introduced, there were often significant delays in solving these crimes.
The process used to take several days as uniformed members without in-depth training attended the scene, Criminal Investigation Unit dusted for fingerprints, and specialists were needed to attend the scene to lift the prints.
“It may have taken us three days to collect information this way. But (with the new system) the crime desk can collect this information within two hours, as we have permission to lift the fingerprints, and the skills and training to know where to find them,” Snr Sgt Moore said.
“This new system is great; it is very victim-focused. It is about an intelligent way of working, which is what we are all about.”