Policing, Victoria-style

Last night in Melbourne, two fresh celebrations of multiculturalism.

In the northern suburbs, police swooped on alleged members of an Islamic terror cell. And down on the St Kilda foreshore, yet another riot involving “youths of African appearance”. Police actually managed to make two arrests in the latter incident, which is most unusual. Normally, as rank-and-file officers have complained privately to Quadrant Online, police are under instruction to stand back and allow the mobs to do their worst.

At the Daily Telegraph, Tim Blair explains the galloping passivity :

... A number of my friends and family are members of the Victorian police force, and to an individual they are among the best and bravest people you will ever meet. But members of the force are presently hamstrung by timid and politically-correct police management, which may explain why reports of African gang riots so frequently feature the line: “no arrests were made”.

Remember, this is the same police force that hit Canadian conservative Lauren Southern with a $67,842 bill for protection from leftist thugs during her mid-year speaking tour …

Not that police brass are entirely averse to laying down the law. It’s just that they prefer to do so with only the easiest targets: otherwise law-abiding citizens who stray a few ticks over the speed limit. Unlike African youths, they don’t resist and pay their fines, which contribute something like one billion dollars a year to the state’s coffers. Newly appointed Traffic Commissioner Stephen Leane explained policing priorities to 3AW’s Neil Mitchell:

• More 40km/h zones in Melbourne
• Lowered speed limits in country areas
• More speed cameras
• A 50 per cent increase in roadside drug tests

New tests could also be introduced to target drowsy drivers soon, along with high-tech long lens cameras to catch distracted drivers.

Very proactive! But that can’t be said of a recent incident in Werribee, where those scallywags of African appearance rented a house for the evening and terrified residents of the street when their party became a freewheeling riot. It was yet another outbreak of mayhem, one that ended only when the Riot Squad was summoned, and which saw no arrests.

Curious, eh? Let traffic supremo Stephen Leane explain, as he did at the time in his previous incarnation, why his officers stood idle and watched the mayhem continue (emphasis added):

If I can deal with the ‘can’t go in’ issue, we certainly have an issue around short term rentals.

Our lawyers are telling us that it’s a lease, even though it’s a one night lease, on that basis it’s a civil matter and you’re off to VCAT if you try and exclude them from the premises.

As Islamists plot murder and African youths terrify St Kilda diners, Victorians are voting in their state election, the result to be revealed on Saturday night. The polls say the Labor government of Premier Daniel Andrews has the edge. What does that say about Victorians? What does that say about the Opposition?

For more on the latest terror arrests follow this link to the ABC’s report.