Facebook Court Order

http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-technology/australia-police-serve-court-order-via-facebook-20101020-16twp.html

The use of the Internet is an everyday occurrence for almost all Australians, and now the police are catching on.
In this news story, police in Victoria have performed an Australian first court order over the social networking site Facebook.
The person was accused of repeated cyber bullying and after multiple attempts at traditional methods of serving the order, such as mail and telephone, the police were granted by a court to serve him over this medium.
With over 9 million Facebook users in Australia alone it seems logical for police to move into this realm, but it could also be dangerous. A new form of social networking has become popular recently using the geotracking software that it standard with many modern day 3G phones. This allows the phones to function like a GPS and guide the users to their destination, but it also can be a social networking tool. Foursquare is a new social networking tool that users can 'check-in' to locations near them and also allowed their friends to know. Facebook has recently added their own version and alongside Google Latitude it is easy to see that social networking has embraced the geotracking function of smart phones. This could also mean a greater 'Big Brother' element, using the technologies that are so greatly embraced to monitor and locate.

With many police forces establishing Facebook and Twitter accounts to inform and educate us, it seems logical that they may soon use the other functions of social networking.

P-plate drivers – Moral Panic?

In the last few years there has been significant discourse in relation to P plate drivers and the restrictions they face to be able to drive.

Currently a learner driver must complete 120 hours of on-road driving experience and pass a practical test, once passed they then move onto a provisional license for the next three years. Their speed is limited to 90kmh on P1 and 100kmh on P2, blood alcohol level of 0 for both levels, limited passenger limit at night and a lower number of demerit points.

An addition to these restrictions has been the introduction of limits to the engine size of the vehicle.

The majority of these restriction have been implemented in recent time due to what could be described as a moral panic surrounding the skills, capabilities and consequences of P Plate drivers. It centred around a perceived hoon culture of dangerous P plate drivers street racing and drink driving in ‘hotted-up’ vehicles. This is comparable to Cohen’s (1971) description of the moral panic surrounding a youth subculture at the time, the Mod’s and Rocker’s. There was heightened focus of them in the media, much like the P plate drivers at the time, sensationalized media reporting and “exaggeration or distorting of the events themselves” (Marsh and Melville, 2010, pg 43)

The restrictions were mainly put in place as a reaction to the moral panic around the drivers, that they were out of control, feel ‘bulletproof’, and in need of discipline and structure. This may have been the case but there is statistical evidence to show that the number of P-plate deaths have decreased in recent times. According to the TAC there were 33 deaths on Victorian roads of people aged between 18-25, down from 49 in 2005 (TAC, 2010). These restrictions as well as greater education and advertisement campaigns could be attributed to this drop

http://smh.drive.com.au/motor-news/new-pplate-laws-to-save-young-lives-20060623-13ygx.html

http://smh.drive.com.au/motor-news/harsh-pplate-laws-working-rees-20090719-149q3.html

Crime Drama vs Reality TV

The recent increase in the number of reality television shows has expanded to incorporate police and crime. In Australia this can be seen in shows such as ‘The Force’ or ‘Recruits’, a show produced by Network Ten that documents a number of new police recruits going through their training at Goulburn and continues on to their early life on the street. This form of television program is shown alongside traditional crime genre shows such as CSI, The Wire, and Blue Heelers etc.

The show such as Recruits and The Force give an account of true stories and “are promoted as behind the scenes accounts of true policing activities” (McGovern, 2009, pg 164) with the shows painting a rosy picture of police life. Generally the story is one of a successful nature, with ‘the bad guy getting caught’ type scenario played out. According to McGovern (2009) these are “good money earners for police agencies” and “give good publicity and a chance to portray an image which they want to be seen.” This can lead to an improved perception of the police, improved quantity and quality of new recruits and can allow the police to perform their duties with the added revenue gained from the production of the shows.

The fictional shows such as CSI, The Wire and Blue Heelers are independently produced and their profitability are determined by the viewer numbers. This viewership demands an entertaining, cutting edge show that in some cases show more extreme forms of policing. This can range from bizarre cases and scenarios in CSI, portrayals of murder policing and corruption in The Wire and the large number of murders, thefts, kidnappings etc that were seen in the small country town of Mt. Thomas in Blue Heelers. This uncontrolled side of crime and police portrayal can at times be detrimental to the polices’ efforts of public relations.

There is no doubting the usefulness of the reality television shows in producing a favourable image of policing but these are often countered by the sometimes extreme story lines seen in the fictional productions on air also.

7 in the car, 3 in the boot plus a litre of wine = sorry?

"serious criminal proceedings will follow" Sgt McGavigan, Victoria Police

I should hope so!!

How do things like this even happen? This woman was driving back from watching motorbike coming back from Phillip Island. This story amazed me in so many ways,mostly how it didn't receive more of a run in the news media, and also why? I looked on Google maps and she had only gone less than a kilometre before she crashed, they could have walked.
Another concerning part is the statement by police that "Six police cars and several police motorcycles were diverted from traffic duty on the highway, a noted trouble spot after the grand prix, to attend the accident scene" (SMH, 2010) This accident not only could have been deadly for the people in the car, it used up police resources away from this busy stretch of highway. It was later revealed that "if that car hadn't been there, there were four or five people talking in the driveway next door and they would have been hit," (SMH, 2010) putting the toll of this piece of idiocy higher.
She released a statement when she was released from questioning saying "I'm so sorry"

This is newsworthy because of the bizarre-ness or extraordinary nature of the incident, the fact there are children present, the level of intoxication, and the fact that in the end, no one was seriously hurt!

http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/crash-driver-says-sorry-for-hurting-kids-20101018-16qoj.html
http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/driver-with-seven-kids-aboard-crashes-20101017-16p9a.html

Alcohol fueled violence and its depiction in the media

A current issue in circulation in the media is the problem of alcohol, the violence associated with it, and the ways of fixing this issue.
there have been two sides to this argument, with the police performing a crackdown over one weekend, with "737 arrest as part of Operation Unite" (SMH, 2010) This operations aims was to crackdown on the alcohol abuse and violence at notorious spots throughout the country, such as Kings Cross and Darling Harbour in the Sydney CBD. This operation gained large amounts of media coverage on the high arrest count it highlights the need for change in alcohol laws. This reactive method of combating the issue is counter with a proactive one seen in a trial in Newcastle, which has reduced pub and club trading hours which in turn "has reduced the number of assaults by a third" (ABC, 2010) with the trial to be expanded to other cities in the near future.

There has been alcohol and violence on Sydney's streets since the first fleet, but recently it has become more newsworthy due to the increased reporting of the incidents, the violence aspect highlighted greatly. This is discussed in Jewkes (2004, pg 53-43) where she describes violence as "it fulfills the media's desire to present dramatic events" and this violent aspect of the problem at the forefront. There is little discussion on the role of the pubs, affects over policing and over use of security on the assaults, the reasons for conflict and also the possible outcomes, apart from one that is being pursued by the government.

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/one-dead-737-arrests-in-nsw-alcohol-violence-crackdown-20100912-156fa.html
http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/man-dies-during-boozeviolence-crackdown-20100912-156ec.html
http://news.smh.com.au/action/printArticle?id=1898748
http://www.smh.com.au/action/printArticle?id=1954173
http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2010/s3014075.htm