Crime. What is it? Where does it come from?
How many has Donald Trump committed?
The Victorian government recently released a
bunch of statistics about crime in our
state and there's been some crazy
conclusions. Turns out from April last
year April this year there's been a 4%
increase in crime across the state, and
there's been a 20% increase in robbery.
So I guess the real question is;
What's going on in Victoria?
All right, well, we know crime is a
problem. How do we solve it?
Now both parties in Victoria, they have
their own solutions. The Labour Party?
They want to introduce tougher restrictions
on bail. That'd mean people who've committed
violent offences can't be given bail.
The Liberal Party? They have their own solution.
They want to introduce something called
"mandatory minimum sentencing."
We're sitting here with Michael Sharpley.
Michael is a lawyer who's been practicing in the
criminal field for 35 years and he's also
the grandfather of my girlfriend.
So we've sat down with him today to talk
crime and make a good impression.
Would you mind explaining briefly
what a mandatory minimum is?
Well mandatory minimum requires that if
you commit a designated offense,
if you commit a rape for example,
no matter what kind of rape,
and no matter in what circumstances, you
receive a particular minimum penalty.
Well I think they're a dreadful idea.
I've always thought they're a dreadful
idea and I've been fulminating against
them for many years actually. I mean the
whole point of it is, you appoint judges
and magistrates, you pay them a lot of
money and then you effectively say, "Well
you're incapable of making a proper
decision so we're taking it
away from you."
So maybe you're thinking, "All right 
David. You seem like a pretty cool guy.
"You look like someone recycles."
Thank you. I do. But do I even know anything
about crime? You're probably wondering, 
"Have I even met a criminal before?"
Look at me, I'm wearing a tie, I clearly went to
private school. I know a lot of criminals.
I mean they are all white-collar criminals
but, you know, embezzlement takes work.
We're here with Doug Chappell. Doug's a comedian.
He's also got a master's in psychology.
Well I always had a passion for sort of
helping people I think. I grew up in a
sort of a working-class area. I think
I'm sort of drawn to the people you
grew up with and you seen a cycle continue so
you're sort of, if you can, you want to
help break that that cycle.
Well I think, A) How do we how do you break
that cycle and, B) I mean what is it about these
areas that leads to such so much criminality?
I think that the main thing
is if you get people when they're sort
of younger and have programs and have
sort of things we can intervene.
Alright, so we've got changes to our bail act,
we've got mandatory minimum sentencing.
I guess the real question is does any of
this tough on crime stuff actually work?
The Law Institute of Victoria; now this
is an advisory body for the government.
They released a report and the
conclusion they came to was a mandatory
minimums increased crime. And the reason
is actually pretty simple when you think
about it. See, you get these people who've
committed like one crime in their whole lives.
You bring a mandatory minimum in, those people 
have to go to prison, and once they're in prison,
they meet people who sometimes are lifetime
offenders. They start swapping war stories, they
learn things about one another and something
you've got all these new people with
newfound information about crime back in
the population ready to commit more
crime. So, you know, it's criminal fads
popping up everywhere. It's like the
crime version of fidget spinners.
