Serious and organised crime groups causing harm to the community through the manufacture, trafficking and use of illicit firearms will find themselves under increased targeted scrutiny with the launch of the Illicit Firearms Unit (IFU).
Illicit firearms remain a significant enabler of crime across the state, with the use of illicit firearms featuring strongly in a range of offences including homicides, non-fatal shootings, drug manufacture and trafficking, armed robberies, aggravated burglaries, car jackings, extortion and family violence.
The IFU will focus on proactively deterring and disrupting firearms-related crime through a range of operations and activities, as well as targeting and disrupting a range of groups such as Outlaw Motor Cycle Gangs and Middle Eastern Organised Crime groups who are strongly involved in the trafficking and use of illicit weapons.
The seizure of illicit firearms and removal of their potential to cause further harm in the community is also key for the new team.
In 2020, there were nine fatal shootings and 41 non-fatal shootings resulting in injury.
Police across Victoria have also seized more than 770 firearms last year.
The IFU will be uniquely positioned to use information and intelligence obtained from a range of incidents and investigations to focus on the illicit firearms aspect and follow up the relevant avenues of enquiry.
This includes forensic tracing in order to link the illicit firearms to any related criminal activity across Victoria and nationally.
Illicit firearms can enter the Victorian community in a variety of ways, including international importation, cross-border trafficking, corrupt or inadequately managed sales by licensed dealers, burglaries and local manufacture.
In 2020 police also seized a number of gel ball blasters, which depending on type and following inspection may be classified as either an imitation firearm or a firearm.
There is currently no lawful genuine reason for use in Victoria for gel ball blasters, and they have previously been used to cause significant public alarm and commit serious criminal offences.
The IFU has already been involved in a number of investigations, resulting in the seizure of over 80 firearms.
In early November, detectives from the IFU seized 36 real and imitation firearms, including a number of gel ball blasters, following a warrant in Frankston.
They also located ammunition, other weapons including a conducted energy device, and a quantity of drugs.
A Frankston man was subsequently charged with the following:
• Possess a Traffickable Quantity of Unregistered Firearms;
• Acquisition of a Traffickable Quantity of Firearms;
• Prohibited Person Possess Handgun;
• Acquire General Category Handgun;
• Prohibited Person Possess Imitation Handgun;
• Possess Prohibited Weapon;
• Possess Drug of Dependence; and
• Attempt to Possess a Handgun.
He will face Melbourne Magistrates' Court again in July, 2021.
The IFU will expand on the work of previous firearms teams within Crime Command to provide specialist investigative response and intelligence gathering, as well as assisting with the targeted service and enforcement of Firearm Prohibition Orders across the state.
They officially commenced in September 2020 and are comprised of a number of specialist detectives, led by Detective Inspector Mick Daly, as well as several intelligence analysts.
The IFU will also work in close collaboration with other law enforcement agencies and other key stakeholders in the area of firearms licensing, regulation and legislation.
Quotes attributable to Acting Deputy Commissioner Bob Hill:
"The prevalence, use, and harm caused by illicit firearms are of significant concern to the Victorian community and a high priority for Victoria Police.
The use and movement of illicit firearms by criminals is a challenging national problem, which impacts every Australian jurisdiction and affects the safety of the public.
While Australia has some of the strongest firearm controls in the world, illicit firearms are an increasingly desirable commodity and enabler for serious criminal activity here in Victoria.
Last year in Victoria we seized more firearms than we did in 2019, which shows that a global pandemic had no impact on the prevalence of firearms in this state.
I am confident the IFU will enhance Victoria Police's capability not only to respond to illicit firearms related crime, but to proactively target those responsible."
Quotes attributable to Detective Inspector Mick Daly:
"Illicit firearms are a key component of so many serious crimes across the state and the overwhelming majority of firearms used in incidents such as homicides, shootings, armed robberies and drug offences are illicit firearms.
We have some extremely skilled investigators in those areas, however their focus will rightly be on the incident itself and not the broader circumstances of the firearm used.
Our role will be to take the information obtained during those investigations and start to build a picture of how the illicit firearm is involved - who was it sourced from, where has it come from, has it been used in other incidents, does it give us an indication of any broader trends around areas such as trafficking.
The IFU will use this information to build our overall intelligence in relation to illicit firearms across Victoria in order to provide a greater level of understanding about what drives offending, key players and offender behaviours and trends.
By actively working to reduce the number of illicit firearms in the community, we will reduce the amount of serious crimes those weapons enable."
