Conditions

Victorian forensic staff take to the streets

Crime doesn't pay say Vic forensic staff

The general lack of resources is having a major impact on the forensic services provided to Victorians. The lack of resourcing means victims waiting too long for justice, offenders allowed to roam free to possibly re-offend, suspects kept unduly under suspicion, police investigations compromised, court cases delayed, and community expectations not being met.

FACTS AND FIGURES
Just some of the cases awaiting examination

Type of Offence Cases
Murder 124
Sexual (mainly rapes) 421
Burglary and robbery 3092
Drugs 589
Fires and explosives 30
Audio 33
Blood Alcohol 503
Culpable Driving 115

For these cases alone there would be well over twenty thousand samples needing examination. Serious offences such as homicides, rapes, drug trafficking and drink driving, can take up to 18 months to receive attention. Burglaries and stolen vehicles are given low priority and can be delayed indefinitely, and there are many other forensic services with significant backlogs.

The Fingerprint branch has 492 outstanding searches to be conducted and searches take weeks because it is weeks before they are put on the system [SAGEM] because of the lack of staff. Fingerprints have 201 exhibits not yet processed and inked fingerprints of recidivists dating back to March 2001 have not yet been placed onto the system. This impacts on the quality of the fingerprint database. The documents section also has a backlog of 80 cases and cases wait 5 to 6 months before being examined.

Forensic science should be better resourced so that it can make a more significant contribution to the safety of the Victorian community and the Government should stop sitting on the solution and act today.

© 2001 Community & Public Sector Union - State Public Services Federation (CPSU-SPSF) - National Office

http://www.cpsu-spsf.asn.au/campaigns/subsite2/20020703_92.html
Last Modified: 15 Nov 2005