Australian True Crime – "Closing the Technology Gap in Policing"

Date: November 16, 2025
Host: Meshel Laurie
Guest: David Bartlett (Former Victorian Police Detective and Founder, Safer Places Network)

Overview

This episode explores the technological challenges faced by Australian police, especially Victoria Police, in keeping up with both the public sector and the rapidly advancing tactics of organized and street crime. Former detective David Bartlett—now leading the Safer Places Network—shares candid behind-the-scenes insights about the tech lag in Australian policing, stories from his career, and his vision for closing the technology gap with community-driven solutions like national CCTV registers.

A unique blend of firsthand policing experience and technological acumen brings to light the realities of modern law enforcement and community safety in Australia’s suburbs.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Bartlett’s Policing Background & Passion

• Inspiration & Early Memories
  • Bartlett recounts a childhood memory (Patrick Hildebrandt’s disappearance) that sparked his desire to become a police officer.

    "I knew at the age of five that I wanted to be a cop... And my parents took me up to meet the police. That was a really positive interaction... Bit of a core memory." (05:22)

• Tech and Policing Journey
  • Initially steered into tech by skill, but ultimately followed his passion into the police force.
  • Managed to combine technical expertise with frontline policing.
  • Describes starting on Melbourne’s trains, emphasizing the importance of "soft skills" and true community policing—even in environments that might seem less glamorous.

The Tech Gap in Victoria Police

• Current State of Technology
  • Bartlett reveals Victoria Police is seriously behind global standards:

    "I would say they are at least five to 10 years behind where other people are." (00:49)

  • Attributes some of this to bureaucratic inertia, a risk-averse culture, and heavy reliance on slow, expensive tech contracts:

    "They have a long history of working with the biggest tech companies that charge the most... It’s not always the right way." (13:08)

  • Tech adoption hampered by organizational resistance and lack of change management.
  • AI adoption is particularly slow:

    "The Victorian government has actually put a pause on anything AI related for the next 12 months... But the problem is, 12 months in the world of AI at the moment is like 10 years." (13:25)

• Impact on Crime Fighting
  • Criminal networks exploit gaps and move faster:

    "Organized crime have no red tape, they have no bureaucracy, they have no borders..." (15:06)

  • Even basic national police databases have taken years to roll out, leading to tragic incidents caused by failures to share information:

    (Describes the fatal incident with WA police) "...no warnings on the system for the car, and that member ended up losing their life." (15:50)

Funding and Policing Effectiveness

• Balance Between Tech and Personnel
  • Tech isn’t a panacea:

    "Tech is not just the solution. It's about almost like the workflow of how members operate." (17:20)

  • Real challenge is organization-wide change—trainings, user adoption, behavioral factors.
  • Cites audits finding poor planning for policing resource distribution.
  • Attrition rates rising—average career span now less than five years.

Organized Crime, Youth Recruitment, and Methods

• Organized Crime Structures
  • Higher echelons often live overseas and use technology to recruit vulnerable locals:

    "They use encrypted communications, they use social media, they use social networks to find runners... a fraction of the price without the risk." (25:58)

  • State police usually only catch low-level operatives at the end of the chain.
• Human Weakness as the Entry Point
  • Tech is the facilitator, but psychological manipulation (social engineering) is the recurring weak link:

    "I think the weak link for organized crime is the human element." (28:03)

• Australia’s Attractiveness for Crime
  • High per-gram street price makes Australia a target:

    "For a long time, we held the highest per gram price for cocaine in the world." (30:00)

• Tobacco Crime and 'Practice Runs'
  • Describes tobacco smuggling as a “gateway” operation for criminal training, with minimal penalties compared to drugs.

Money Laundering and Cash Flows

• Old and New Methods
  • Casinos heavily used for laundering—regulators only recently catching up.
  • Transition to cashless society could hamper everyday drug dealing, but sophisticated methods (like using international “ledgers” and high roller offsets) persist.

    "It's literally a spreadsheet...and then...who do I know in Perth who owes me 60 bucks...So it sort of sounds complicated, but actually it's very, very basic and old school." (47:23)

  • Historic "Silk Road"–style offsetting and remittance schemes remain foundational.

Life Inside (and After) Policing

• Social & Psychological Toll
  • Describes personal impact: being on call, secrecy, family disruptions, loss of camaraderie after leaving.

    "It's a lifestyle...I think there's the potential to, you know, potentially lose friends and lose connection with family." (50:14)

The Safer Places Network: Bartlett’s Solution

Concept & Impact

• Origin: Motivated by repeated delays and inefficiency in obtaining CCTV evidence for investigations (notably the Jill Meagher case and Greg Lynn investigation).
• Operation:
  • A national, voluntary register of privately and publicly owned cameras (CCTV, doorbells, home security).

    "It's just about creating a register of CCTV cameras around Australia and all of us can get involved." (01:09)

  • Aims to replace labor-intensive door knocks with a notification system—getting crucial footage to investigators faster and reducing wasted police hours.

    "It's replacing a door knock with an sms, which is the way we've started describing it." (54:06)

• Civil Liberties:
  • No streaming or government access to cameras, just a way to alert camera owners in an area after an incident.

    "Police have got no time to just look at what you're cooking for dinner. That's not what we're talking about at all." (54:22)

• Evidence in Action:
  • References Jill Meagher:

    "The footage from the Duchess Boutique, it took 85 hours to get that into the hands of homicide detectives...and my worry now is if that was to happen again...it could still take 85 hours." (56:57)

  • Example of a Manchester UK synagogue stabbing solved because of a single doorbell camera. (59:58)
• Getting Involved:
  • Open to all Australians at saferplaces.com.au—registering takes about 60 seconds.

    "We don't ask for anything confidential, we don't ask for passwords, we don't ask for anything like that. It's purely you just saying know you. Yep, I've got cameras and I'll be cooperative with police if they come and if they need it." (62:50)

Social Commentary & The Role of the Community

• Community Initiatives vs. Vigilantism:
  • Bartlett cautions against private patrols or security initiatives, advocating instead for digitally coordinated, community-enhancing programs like Safer Places and supporting Neighbourhood Watch.

    "The risk with either private citizens doing patrols or security guards doing patrols is they don't have the training...So if we can spend our time and effort in a more positive way to support our police...that's what we should be focusing our time on." (65:45)

• Morale & Public Safety
  • Growing public fear and declining police morale complicate solutions, but Bartlett remains optimistic about technology, the right kind of community involvement, and future generational engagement (noting, for example, efforts to draw younger people into Neighbourhood Watch).

Notable Quotes & Moments

• On Tech Lag:

  "The Victorian government has actually put a pause on anything AI related for the next 12 months...But the problem is, 12 months in the world of AI at the moment is like 10 years." — David Bartlett (13:25)

• On Organized Crime’s Human Element:

  "They still need to rely on humans at some point to do some kind of work. And that's where I think law enforcement needs to focus their efforts." — David Bartlett (28:03)

• On Money Laundering:

  "A Shoebox can fit $250,000 cash...if we went to a cashless society, I think it would make drug trafficking and drug dealing very, very hard." — David Bartlett (42:30)

• On Safer Places Network:

  "I'm trying to make it as efficient as possible for police to locate what I call a digital witness." — David Bartlett (54:06)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Childhood Inspiration for Policing – 05:22
• Early Police Tech Experiences – 07:18
• Victoria Police Tech Lag Admission – 13:00
• National Intelligence System Limitations – 15:00
• Impact of Funding, Attrition & Recruitment – 17:20
• Organized Crime and Youth Recruitment – 25:58
• Encrypted Communications & Social Engineering – 28:03
• Australia's Drug Market & Money Laundering – 30:00, 42:30
• Personal Impact of Police Work – 50:14
• Safer Places Network Explained – 54:06, 62:50
• Community Involvement & Neighbourhood Watch – 63:58
• Warning Against Vigilante Patrols – 65:45

Tone

The discussion is frank, engaging, and infused with both professional insider knowledge and dry Australian humour. Bartlett's practical, passionate approach balances deep concern for societal and organizational issues with hope for effective, community-led technological solutions.

For Listeners

This episode is essential listening for anyone interested in how technology, policy, and human factors intersect in modern policing—offering rare, actionable insights into both Australia’s crime landscape and how the average person can help make a difference. If you have a camera, consider registering with Safer Places; if you care about policing, understand that real change is both a tech and a people problem.