The ACT Policing taskforce formed over three months ago to nab car thieves and repeat driving offenders has proved so successful it will be developed as an ongoing operation.
Since Operation Toric (Targeting of Recidivism in Canberra) began on August 1, it has resulted in 137 apprehensions, with 336 charges laid.
Only eight of the offenders arrested were first-time offenders.
Of those offenders arrested up to November 11, 74 were on bail or had court-imposed conditions such as intensive corrections orders.
Commander Linda Champion, who has oversight of the taskforce, said the targeted, intelligence-led operation had been of benefit both in decreasing property crime and other crime types across the Canberra community, and was also fast-tracking the development of investigative capabilities and skillsets within her general duties cohort.
Most of the officers involved in Operation Toric are general duties members, drawn from each of the police stations across the ACT. The second rotation of new members into the taskforce will start in early December.
Before Operation Toric began in August, Canberra had one of the worst car theft rates in the country. Some 29 police vehicles had been damaged and rammed by offenders, while recidivist offenders were endangering other road users with their dangerous driving behaviour.
The death in May of 20-year-old Matthew McLuckie, who was driving home on Hindmasrh Drive when his car was struck head-on by a stolen vehicle on the wrong side of the road, is regarded as one of the key triggers to ACT Policing building the new taskforce and actively targeting these types of offenders.
The brazenness of the offending, where car thieves were deliberately driving at police officers or driving in such a dangerous manner police have had to abandon attempts to apprehend them, has also been a key factor.
"My members are being put in positions every day where they are being forced into a pursuit and then stop when the escalating of the driving becomes unacceptable," Comm Champion said.
"Nobody wins out of that. It's really hard on the officers; they have to pull away knowing this terrible driver is still out on the streets doing what they want. Then those [offenders] that are even more brazen turn around and ram at police. So that's taking it one step further which shows the attitude of these people on our roads."
Crime data published by ACT Policing has revealed motor vehicle theft for September and October fell by more than one-third, burglary rates were trending down, and general types of theft across Canberra had also fallen significantly.
"The [Toric] team is doing an outstanding job and the intelligence behind it is absolutely the key," Comm Champion said.
"Normally we sort of sometimes make gains through the intelligence gathered by our members but with our dedicated intelligence members working behind the scenes on this, working long hours, we really get some good work out there on the roads."
In assessing the link between the work done by Operation Toric and the current high road toll in the ACT, she said about 50 per cent of the offenders targeted were what police regarded as "problem drivers", many of whom were drug- or alcohol-affected.
"The other 50 per cent are people just not driving to the conditions, or paying enough attention, medical conditions or things like that," she said.
Comm Champion said peer pressure on drivers was a fundamental tool for preventing problem drivers causing road trauma.
"We had a job recently where a very short pursuit started, they [Police Operations] were just about to call it off and the driver pulled over," she said.
"The driver pulled over because the passenger told them to. That's what we want. We want the passengers in the car to say, 'It's not fun any more, pull over'."
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