June 28th 2024.
The recent death of an intoxicated man in Melbourne's south-west has been deemed "preventable" by the Police Association. The incident occurred near the intersection of Black Forest Road in Wyndham Vale at around 5am. According to reports, the man was walking near the road while under the influence of alcohol an hour before the incident. However, due to new laws introduced last year, the police were unable to arrest or take him to a station.
Unfortunately, the situation escalated and the police were called to another job, leaving the man unattended. The Age reported that a team of state government employees, who are responsible for responding to public drunkenness, were also contacted but refused to assist the man. Tragically, the man was hit by a car and died at the scene. It is believed that he was lying down when the accident occurred.
Wayne Gatt, secretary of the Victorian Police Association, expressed the organization's support for the two officers who tried to help the man before the incident. He stated, "Our full, unequivocal support is behind these two officers, who came to work to help and protect people and who were prevented from doing that because of the government's recently reformed public intoxication laws." Gatt also urged the community to ask the important questions that have been raised since the incident, as they have been advocating for change for the past three years.
The Police Association's thoughts are with the man's family and their members who have been affected by this tragedy. They believe that this death could have been avoided and are calling for action to be taken. In November, changes were made to public drunkenness laws, which means that police are no longer able to arrest individuals for being drunk and detain them in cells. Instead, they are expected to support them in going to a safe space, such as a sobering up centre.
It is worth noting that all other Australian states, except for Queensland, have decriminalised public drunkenness. The driver of the car involved in the incident stopped at the scene and is cooperating with the police investigation. The authorities have stated that the investigation is ongoing.
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