Policing the Melbourne Street Heroin Trade: Perspectives of Vietnamese Australian Social Justice Professionals

Abstract

Drawing on a 4-year research project, ‘Exploring the experience of security in the Vietnamese-Australian community: practical implications for policing,’ this article examines the perspectives of the Melbourne Vietnamese Australian community outreach and legal professionals on policing the drug trade. Engaging with current debates on the tensions between traditional or standard policing styles and community-oriented policing styles, the article argues that the current over-reliance on traditional policing styles, with an emphasis on zero tolerance strategies is diminishing already low trust of the police within the Vietnamese Australian community and undermining longer term community engagement strategies.