POLICE procedures for processing warrants will be overhauled to ensure they are enacted more quickly in the wake of the murder of 11-year-old Tyabb schoolboy Luke Batty by his father, Greg Anderson, who was wanted by police at the time of the incident.
Chelsea police had an opportunity to detain Anderson after they spoke to him at a Chelsea Heights address over another violent incident three weeks before he murdered his son last month but failed to do so because they were unaware of five separate warrants out for his arrest.
Anderson was shot by police following the murder and later died in hospital.
Chief Commissioner Ken Lay said an outdated IT system was to blame for the delay in spreading information about the warrants.
A review of Victoria Police’s warrant procedures launched following the incident found that the current process resulted in delays of at least two weeks before all police officers were made aware of the existence of an outstanding warrant.
“The review recognised this inefficient process delayed opportunities to apprehend offenders and has the potential to compromise community safety,” police said in a statement.
Currently, court-issued bench warrants require the warrant and brief to be forwarded by the prosecutor via a secure document exchange service to the informant’s station, police said.
“Once the brief and warrant is received at the station, the informant then has two weeks to attempt to execute the warrant.
“If the warrant is unable to be executed after two weeks, the informant sends the unexecuted warrant to the Victoria Police’s record services division, where it is entered into the Law Enforcement Assistance Program (LEAP).”
New procedures set to be implemented by Victoria Police from 1 April will require warrants to be forwarded directly from the prosecutor’s office via a secure document exchange service to record services where they will be immediately entered onto LEAP, police said.
“The warrants will then be visible organisation-wide within two to four days. However warrants issued for offenders identified as high risk by prosecutors will be given priority and actioned immediately.
“The new procedure will significantly improve the ability to locate and apprehend wanted persons in a timely manner. This will further result in the prevention and reduction of offenders committing additional crimes.”
The state government announced $2.5 million in funding on Tuesday to provide “the additional resources required to ensure the success of the project”.
Police and Emergency Services Minister Kim Wells said the funding would help ensure warrants were available to all police electronically within one to four days of their issue.
Police will also implement a longer-term solution that involves the implementation of technology that would enable immediate upload of warrants direct from the courts.
“We cannot have a situation where warrants for serious crimes are issued against a person but most police don’t know about them,” Mr Wells said.
“In response to a request from the Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Ken Lay, the state government is pleased to provide funding that will significantly streamline processes related to arrest warrants.”
