In a response to organized crime the Victorian Police have drafted a policy response that includes amongst others a reduction of civil liberties, despite the recognition that organized crime can never be removed entirely. The legislation that is targeted for modification includes the Freedom of Information Act, Evidence Act, Crimes Act, Surveillance Devices Act, Police Regulations Act and Privacy Act.

Instead of debating the reduction of civil liberties the people need to determine if the police are doing their job in the first place. Corruption is an integral part of organized crime, and despite the police's internal efforts, an outside group will bring greater accountability. For this reason sortition and spontaneous organizing interest groups should be given the legislative authority to audit, interview and recommend changes or investigations to other independent organizations such as ICAC.

Police and Sortition

The Age claims to have seen a draft of a strategy the Victorian Police are planning to put into place in order to reduce organized crime. The basis for the study is;

"Bloody gang wars between feuding organised drug syndicates raged, police detectives were charged with drug offences, intelligence reports naming a police informer were leaked and he and his wife were subsequently murdered, and a ship from North Korea dropped heroin on our coastline near Lorne," it [the report] says.

"All these are clear indicators of significant organised criminal activity," the report concludes.

Or quite simply the Victorian Police were unprepared or incompetent in their ability to stem organized crime. Organized crime is not new and has been around for along time. Why should Victorians give up civil liberties simply because the Victorian Police have been ineffective, incompetent and corrupt? Yet - like most government departments - the police seek greater secrecy and less accountability in order to achieve;

The laws targeted for change under the strategy are the Freedom of Information Act, Evidence Act, Crimes Act, Surveillance Devices Act, Police Regulations Act and Privacy Act.

The Victorian Police want less checks on their power, yet Victorians have no direct checks on the Police other than these pieces of legislation. Since police corruption is an integral part of organized crime, and the police are obviously no good at halting corruption in their ranks - how about the police forget about changing legislation, or stamping on civil liberties and instead allow themselves to be audited directly by citizens. Spontaneous interest groups can form to audit the police and recommend to an independent commission on suspicion of waste and corruption.

Through sortition small juries and councils can be formed to study, audit and recommend future action on individuals on the police force if corruption and waste is thought to have occurred. Considering the police view civil liberties as an inconvenience, it is about time the public had a check and balance on the police other than just legislation.

It is the people who pay the taxes toward the judicial and police arms which are supposed to provide an ordered society. It is time to give those people a direct voice, rather than through the inefficient process of a party political representative.

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