Western Australia Police are placing unlocked e-scooters outside of shopping centres in what they say is a "proactive" operation to combat theft. Legal experts have raised questions about whether the tactic will actually reduce crime.
00:01It's an average Perth shopping centre and the home of a simple police sting.
00:08Officers planted an e-scooter similar to this one, left it and waited for someone to steal it.
00:16In May a 21-year-old was caught and pleaded guilty as part of what court transcripts show was a proactive operation to combat the theft of e-scooters.
00:26The man told the court he fell in the trap.
00:28The magistrate called his behaviour stupid, told him not to get caught in the trap again and gave him a one-month conditional release order of $250.
00:39She also expressed some concerns about the situation the young man found himself in on that day.
00:45One human rights researcher says there are more important issues for police to focus on.
00:50I would have thought with our prisons full to overflowing at breaking point, and this is consistently the concern of the inspector of the prisons,
01:00that we wouldn't be out clogging up courts and prisons with this kind of fairly minor offending, particularly where people are almost induced to commit a crime.
01:12Another legal expert says it's difficult to find data that shows whether this police approach can reduce theft.
01:19I've heard it does in certain circumstances. Those kinds of statistics are difficult to get hold of.
01:24But I think anything that reduces crime is a good thing, as long as civil rights aren't impeded.
01:31WA Police say they use seized or forfeited e-rideables in operations at zero cost to the community,
01:37and that as the target items are secured, the decision to steal rests solely on an individual and they will be held to account for their actions.
Be the first to comment