End of school events, such as Schoolies Week, can attract large groups of unsupervised young people and are often accompanied by an increase in antisocial behaviour in an area (OCP 2007). When individuals, particularly young people, congregate, it is often a concern for members of the community and the prevention of group violence can pose policing and management challenges (White 2006). Strategies to reduce group misbehaviour for organised events include:
Criminal justice system action to prevent crime is a tertiary-level prevention measure (that is, after offences have occurred). It is conventionally seen as operating directly through deterrence (for example, the criminal law code and certain forms of policing), incapacitation, and rehabilitation (that is, courts and prisons, including probation and parole services) and indirectly through effects on socialisation (for example, the promotion of social norms).
The Australian Institute of Criminology's Drug Use Monitoring in Australia (DUMA) program operates across Australia surveying police detainees on their drug use and criminal behaviour. In the first quarter of 2003 and the third quarter of 2005 a total of 1,597 detainees (1,355 males and 242 females) in seven sites provided details of partner violence experienced and perpetrated over their lifetimes. A partner was defined as someone with whom the detainee had an intimate relationship, whether they lived with the person or not.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics' Recorded crime - victims annual publication, the rate of reported sexual assault has increased in the period 1993-2003. In 1993 the rate was 69 recorded victims of sexual assault per 100,000 population; by 2003 the rate had steadily climbed to 92 reported victims per 100,000 persons. This increase does not necessarily reflect an increase in the prevalence of sexual assault, but is likely to be influenced by an increase in reporting incidents to police.
The inaugural annual report of the National Armed Robbery Monitoring program (NARMP) has been released. This program was established to identify and monitor trends in armed robbery, especially trends in weapon use, following the recommendation of the Australasian Police Ministers' Council. Police services in all Australian states and territories provide information about reported armed robbery victims, the offenders who robbed them, and other aspects of the attack, such as location.
The Victorian Parliamentary Drugs and Crime Prevention Committee (2005) has recently examined the problem of violence associated with motor vehicle use. Statistics on road user violence obtained from Victoria Police were examined for the period 1 July 2002 to 31 May 2004. Road user violence was defined as 'a violent offence committed by strangers based on their behaviour as drivers, cyclists or pedestrians'. The committee found that the number of recorded incidents has remained relatively stable over this period, varying between 50 and 90 incidents in any given month.
The National deaths in custody program (NDCIP) has been responsible for monitoring the extent and nature of deaths in police, prison and juvenile custody since 1980. The 2003 NDCIP annual report shows there were 68 deaths in custody in 2003, a decline from 85 in 2002. The number of deaths in police custody decreased from 33 in 2002 to 29 in 2003, and the number of deaths in prison custody also declined from 50 deaths in 2002 to 39 deaths in 2003.
A report released by the Australian Institute of Criminology, "Firearms Theft in Australia", shows that 25,171 firearms were reported to police as stolen in Australia between 1994 and 2000. This equates to an average of 4,195 firearms stolen per year, or 12 firearms stolen per day. Rifles are the most common type of firearm stolen in Australia, accounting for 52 per cent of all thefts, followed by shotguns (21%) and handguns (14%). "Other firearms" account for 10 per cent of thefts (this category includes cases where the type of firearm was not included in the police report).
'This volume is important beyond the boundaries of Australia. Dr Mukherjee has performed a research coup in being able to pull together the criminal statistical data from all over the country and to provide a model for time-series analysis. The data are rich, the statistical presentation clear, the temporal scope from 1900 to 1976 unusual and fascinating to scholars, legislators, and all others involved in criminal justice.'