Vic: Crime doesn't pay as $13.75 million in rewards go begging
19 Jan 2009 1:15 AM
MELBOURNE, Jan 19 AAP - Victorian police have not paid a cent of $13.75 million in rewards offered to solve some of the state's most horrendous crimes.
The Age newspaper reported that Victoria Police has confirmed it does not have a current list of offered rewards and the force began a review late last year to determine exactly how many rewards remained outstanding.
Claims have been made on some of the 43 rewards, The Age says have been posted since 1998 but none of the $13.75 million on offer has been handed out.
Police Minister Bob Cameron would not comment, saying the rewards - paid for by the Victorian government - were a matter for police command.
The situation showed the ineffectiveness of rewards, criminologist Professor Paul Wilson said.
"Politicians and police commissioners tend to like them because they are trying to tell the public concerned about a high-profile crime that they are doing something," Prof Wilson said.
"Not only in Australia but all over the world they have a very low hit-rate. In a few cases they can be successful, but that does not happen very often and Victoria is a classic example of that."
While police and the Department of Justice confirm no rewards have been paid in 10 years, rewards are being offered or boosted for a number of high-profile cases including the murder of police informant Terence Hodson and his wife Christine in 2004.
The top reward for information on crimes in Victoria was lifted from $100,000 to $1 million in 2003.
Department of Justice spokeswoman Melissa Arch said it was considering three claims on the $1 million reward, including that of jailhouse informant and former solicitor Andrew Fraser, offered following the stabbing murder of Mersina Halvagis at Fawkner Cemetery in 1997. Eight $1 million rewards have been offered since.
