The growing violence against retail and hospitality workers has added fuel to serious community concern about public safety in Canberra. Supermarket giant Woolworths recorded 150 violent incidents involving staff and customers in the past year alone. Venue managers report facing individuals armed with knives. Courts are issuing orders to keep violent former patrons away. And adding to the alarm are reports of attempted arson and threats of sexual assault against employees just trying to earn a living.
Statisticians debate whether Canberra experiences less crime today than a decade ago, pointing to falling numbers in several offence categories, with sexual assault remaining a notable exception. Yet, community perception tells a different story. Critics increasingly compare the national capital to other cities notorious for street violence and blatant offending. People feel genuine fear when navigating the city centre after dark.
Caught in the middle is ACT Policing. The police force faces intense pressure. Officer numbers have failed to match territory population growth, leaving the front line thin. Police operate in an environment that demands significant administrative work. They spend countless hours writing reports and meeting training requirements, leaving less time for active patrols. Recruitment remains a challenge because officers understand the physical risks. Every shift carries the threat of abuse, physical injury or worse.
Heavy-handed law enforcement has never been the solution. Policies focused on zero tolerance or mandatory sentencing usually just move offenders to new locations while placing further pressure on an already strained prison system. Arrests and court orders cannot solve a structural social failure.
Communities must examine the root causes of anti-social behaviour. Governments cannot simply legislate an ideal society into existence. Utopian visions consistently falter because human nature remains flawed. In the entertainment precinct, the combination of alcohol and illicit drugs frequently amplifies these human failings.
Beyond the influence of substance abuse on those letting off steam, the streets also hold the dispossessed. People experiencing mental illness regularly fall through the cracks into homelessness, lacking treatment and support. These are the people society has chosen to leave behind.
In the late sixteenth century Michel de Montaigne described a meeting with a visiting chief from the Americas. When asked what he found notable about European society, the visitor expressed astonishment at the stark inequality. He observed half the population was gorging on every comfort, while the other half begged outside the gates, reduced to skin and bone by poverty.
The visiting chief found it curious that the destitute did not seize the affluent by the throat and burn down their houses to redress the obvious injustice.
This historical observation carries a clear message for any society interested in maintaining order while lifting up all of its citizens. No community can expect peace when a significant segment of its population has nothing left to lose. Maintaining public order requires more than security guards and police patrols; it requires a level playing field.
Individuals must take responsibility for the society they inhabit. Relying solely on law enforcement ignores the reality of inequality. When people lack secure housing, adequate mental health care, and basic human dignity, desperation breeds resentment and violence and dangerous addictions.
Addressing violence and harassment demands a broader approach than just locking people up. Reducing the undeniable inequities that exist is the best way to maintaining safety and order on the streets of the national capital.
