VIC:Knife attacks worry Victorian police

AAP General News (Australia)
12-30-2011
VIC:Knife attacks worry Victorian police

By Steve Lillebuen

MELBOURNE, Dec 30 AAP - A dispute over parking killed three. An egging led to the death
of another. But for all the strange and fatal twists in crime across Victoria this year,
one common thread continues to trouble police.

"Crimes involving knives are a concern," explained Detective Inspector John Potter,
head of the state's 50-person homicide squad, in a year-end interview with AAP.

"If we could do away with knife fights, or knife-related assaults, we would resolve
a lot of issues in the Victorian community."

The state has recorded nine homicides in December alone - half of them have been linked
to the use of knives.

Every year, around 1000 incidents of knife attacks are reported to police across the state.

The vast majority of these cases are assaults of some kind, but they can tragically,
and so easily, end up on the desk of the homicide squad.

"The difference between a non-fatality and a fatality can sometimes be millimetres,"

Det Insp Potter said.

"In the heat of a knife fight, there's always the potential that someone's going to die."

Based out of the St Kilda Road police building in central Melbourne, each homicide
investigator knows they are always on call - and fully aware they could be sent in the
dead of the night to a crime scene as far away as Mildura or Mallacoota.

Detectives are divided into crews headed by a senior sergeant to provide statewide
24/7 coverage. Many keep an extra suit at the ready for when that mobile phone does inevitably
ring.

Their lives are always busy.

While 2011's homicide toll won't be confirmed until July - at the end of the Victoria
Police financial year - detectives typically work on about 100 murder or manslaughter
cases in a 12-month period, or about two cases a week.

Last year, Victoria had 84 homicides classified as murders or manslaughters; two years
ago, there were 129 cases.

Det Insp Potter, a former head of the drug squad, says being a homicide cop can be
totally unpredictable.

Take the month of October, for instance: there were 10 homicides during those 31 days
while the same period last year had none.

"No real explanation," he said. "It was just one of those unexplained peaks in the
type of work we do."

Some cases are solved quickly.

A few homicides in 2011 even saw the suspect turn themselves in, or still at the scene
when police first arrived.

But some investigations can take a much greater toll.

Detectives think of their own families, and their own children - just as they did when
confronted by 2011's most baffling and frustrating mystery.

In June, 13-year-old Siriyakorn "Bung" Siriboon vanished on her way to school in Melbourne's
outer east.

Police fear she has been abducted, but an exhaustive search by a dedicated taskforce
has found little evidence, even after interviewing 200 registered sex offenders who live
nearby.

"Somebody clearly knows what's happened and we're asking that person to ring us," Det
Insp Potter said.

Other cases remain unsolved.

Sydney racing identity Les Samba fled gunfire while on a trip to Melbourne in February,
but died from his wounds in the street.

Detectives have travelled to NSW, South Australia and Queensland, but have made no
arrests or laid any charges.

Despite these setbacks, the homicide squad did solve some horrific cases this year.

A mother was stabbed to death in front of her family in July after confronting a group
of youths who threw eggs at her house in northern Melbourne. The case is now before the
courts.

A death linked to Crown casino transfixed the city.

Several months of investigation resulted in criminal charges being laid against the
casino's security guards - who were allegedly recorded on CCTV holding the man down for
up to six minutes.

He later died of a heart attack.

And the year was bookended by bizarre spats over parking spots.

In February, feuding neighbours in an apartment block in Moe argued over a car park
space until two men died and a third was charged with murder.

A few weeks ago, a 78-year-old pensioner died while reporting an assault at a northeast
Melbourne police station.

Police say the man had been arguing earlier that day with two others over a disabled
car space at their nearby church.

An autopsy report will be key in deciding if criminal charges will be laid, but a decision
won't be made until next year - when Victoria Police will undergo a series of changes.

Officers will get their new uniforms in 2012, which have been dubbed a "New York-style"

tough guy look with dark navy blue shirts.

A new dress code takes effect too.

There will be a management decision made on the wider use of Tasers after a lengthy
trial in rural Victoria.

And a high-profile report into police command is expected to shake up how the force is managed.

The state government has been sitting on the report since November, but has not yet
made it public.

Then there's the ongoing need to recruit over 900 armed guards to staff train stations,
a key state election promise, but the inaugural class took a year to get going and attracted
under two dozen students.

Despite all these changes in policing circles, it will largely remain business as usual
in the state's homicide squad.

Detectives will continue their unpredictable life of waiting for the phone call that
notifies them of another suspicious death.

But Det Insp Potter points out that while many of their cases never make the front
page, detectives treat all victims, whether it's a missing girl or a lonely man with no
family, as equals in homicide.

"They are all of equal importance, regardless of the individual victim," he said.

"We'll continue to pursue these cases - for years, if need be."

AAP sbl/gfr/afr

KEYWORD: CRIME VIC NEWSFEATURE (WITH FACTBOX AND PIX)

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