Shadow minister for police calls failure of GPS monitoring for DV offenders a ‘failure of leadership’

The WA Opposition has labelled a lack of resources available in the regions to electronically monitor domestic violence offenders a “failure of leadership”. The revelation came from a Department of Justice adult corrections officer in Bunbury Magistrates Court earlier this month when he told the court “it’s not feasibly possible” to use electronic monitoring devices in Bunbury and surrounding areas. Since then, the WA Police Union has claimed a lack of resources is frustrating police officers who are responding to breaches by high-risk criminals. Union vice-president Peter McGee said the lack of resources had caused “unnecessary delays” in police response times. “It’s indicative of a common problem amongst the public sector, everyone is trying to run on the smell of an oily rag,” he said. Shadow minister for police, corrective services, and youth Adam Hort said the lack of electronic monitoring had become a Statewide issue. “It’s now clear this is not just a regional problem; this is a Statewide failure of leadership, staffing and resourcing,” he said. “The Premier’s excuse that mobile blackspots are to blame for GPS monitoring failures has collapsed under the weight of its own mismanagement.” Mr Hort said the Cook Labor Government had failed to protect DV victims despite a crackdown on offences late last year. “Victim-survivors were promised protection. In reality, they’ve been left exposed by a broken system,” he said. “Labor’s promise — that breaches would trigger an immediate alert and rapid police response — was either dangerously naive or deliberately misleading.” Mr Hort said the lack of electronic monitoring needed to be addressed by the State Government. “The Cook Government must fix the warrant process, properly staff enforcement operations, and be honest with the community about the scale of the failure,” he said. “Every day they delay, they leave vulnerable West Australians at risk.” Premier Roger Cook said the lack of resources for electronic monitoring was an issue that had “risen lately” and was due to concerns over technology in the regions. “The technology associated with electronic monitoring devices was too reliant upon mobile networks,” he said. “This provided extra complication in terms of supervising people between court appearances. “Where that technology is not as advanced as it could be, we simply have to work to the old measures.” A job advertisement seeking multiple electronic monitoring officers was recently posted by the Department of Justice, which Mr Cook denied was due to inadequate staff. “It indicates we are continuing to resource the area of corrections,” he said. “We continue to make sure we advertise and recruit where we can to make sure we have a full staff.”