NEWS : 21.6.09 - Time for us all to get real (Says Victoria's top cop )

[kingpin007]

Time for us all to get real

Simon Overland led the taskforce investigating Melbourne's gangland war.

Fleur Bitcon

June 21, 2009 12:00am

AS they say in showbiz, it's not over 'til the fat lady sings. And for fans of crime drama, the past week's sensational developments in Melbourne's gangland saga will give scriptwriters plot lines they'd never dreamed of.

Few murders would have made as many headlines as that of Des "Tuppence" Moran and the subsequent arrests of his sister-in-law, flamboyant mob matriarch Judy Moran, alleged gunman Geoffrey Armour and his girlfriend Suzanne Kane.

A decade ago, few of us could have named any of Melbourne's mafia. Today they're household names. The level of public intrigue is magnified by the popularity of the TV show Underbelly.

The extraordinary blurring between TV drama and reality has seen the highly dramatised lives of some of the underworld's key players become ingrained in popular culture.

Sex, lies, violence, revenge, booze and drugs - they're all ratings winners. Base the script very loosely on some real-life crims and you have ingredients for a hit TV show.

Police, though, seem to think some people are struggling to separate fantasy and reality.

Queensland police recently blamed Underbelly for a crime wave, claiming a "dramatic" increase in violent offences, with young offenders using standover tactics in their attempts to become known as drug lords. Surely they're not serious.

Victoria's top cop, Simon Overland, is clearly frustrated over the fact that murderers and drug dealers have become celebrities.

"They are not celebrities. They should not be treated like celebrities," he repeatedly says.

He may as well be banging his head against a brick wall. Our fascination with TV versions of glamorous gangsters is hardly new.

Rewind to 1959 and the TV series The Untouchables, a successful small-screen version of US mafia activities in the Depression era.

Along with other controversies, the show prompted the king of the crime bosses, Al Capone, to sue the producers for US$1 million for unauthorised use of big Al's image for profit. Bada bing!

The franchise broke more records a couple of decades later, thanks to the clean-cut Kevin Costner and Sean Connery in the 1987 movie version.

Fast forward to the '90s and the smash hit The Sopranos. New names, new location, same old story. The dramatisation of the life of a New Jersey mob boss was one of America's most successful shows of all time.

Now Australia has it's version. Like most of what we see on TV and at the movies, these shows gloss over the tragic impact our favourite characters' drug trade has on our community.

Between the sex scenes and the wild parties, we should keep in mind that most of the characters in these seedy sagas, on screen or off, are the lowest of society's low.

Their drug-fuelled "high life" comes from sucking the souls, and sometimes lives, from thousands of Australians every year.

The Australian National Council on Drugs estimates about 75,000 Australians are addicted to methamphetamines and 45,000 to heroin.

Together, that's equal to the population of Darwin. That's before we add in those who regularly use cocaine, ecstasy, ice and marijuana.

Four hundred died last year as a result of illicit drug use - way more than swine flu. Experts say while heroin and methamphetamine use is declining, cocaine and ecstasy use is on the rise.

"Nobody sets out to become dependent on illicit drugs. Organised crime figures are only interested in making money.

Their 'clients' are disposable. They are people who feed on the misery of others," says ANCD executive director Gino Vumbaca.

Of course, TV's glossy version is the one we prefer, but amid the hype we should take a reality check.

Des Moran's murder brings the underworld body count to 29. That's nothing compared with the number of lives ruined from the filth that real-life gangsters deal.

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,25665225-5000117,00.html

 

[Miguel Sanchez]

Whilst I know most of us here on BL disagree with the 'mainstream media' about our drug laws I can see the logic in this article. I think the approach of the media re Underbelly has been disgustingly hypocritical. In my field of work if I have any sort of drug conviction then bang, thats pretty much my career gone, all those years of study and work, and I'm sure many of you are in the same situation.

Yet the same tabloid media which contnually push the 'drugs are evil, people who use drugs are losers' line (im thinking of ACA and TT specifically) are happy to pay tens of thousands for a convicted trafficker (Roberta Williams) to give interviews about anything and pose in lingerie. Whilst I know it would be a bit much to expect these shows to demonstrate any sort of principles but what sort of message does this send to the 'kids'? Do a few drugs recreationally and your life will be runied, but become heavily involved in manufacture and dealing and you can be a star?

I know this sounds like a rant from an old pensioner, but it pisses me off.

 

[drug_mentor]

I get a lot of amusement out of how hypocritical the media is when it comes to this stuff. They will demonize drugs at every oppurtunity without even examining the slight possibility drug use is anything less than immoral and wreckless, describe drug dealers with words that should be reserved for child molesters and murderers.

Yet as soon as the big time criminals story gets told and they realize that people want to see more of them, they don't hesitate to line their pockets with cash for all sorts of ridiculous interviews and put their names in the headlines every week.

It is a sad state of affairs when recreational drug users and small time dealers are considered pond scum but the higher up criminals can become local celebrities. The assholes peddling this shit obviously have no real morals or beliefs, rather they just want ratings and will do what ever they can for them.

 

[fortehlulz]

People aren't fascinated by the fact that these people traffick drugs for profit. Its the fact that they have obscene quantities of easily earned money which they are, therefore, not hesitant to fritter on sunglasses worth an average worker's pay and have a 'what, me worry' attitude - an attitude which is only adopted and glorified by those who haven't done the hard yards to make the money, and therefore are loathe to blow it on bullshit.

The financial 'easy come easy go' element which organised crime, and especially drug trafficking, permits, allows a meteoric rise for individuals with the business nous of a Centrelink client but the ferocity of a pitbull on amphetamines to make lots and lots of cash, and who then brilliantly decide to bask in the media limelight... but the result is almost invariably a very public and brutal ending. This sells advertising space. The news isn't there to inform you, its there to entertain you.

Lindsay Fox worked hard to get where he is. Of the four occassions I've come across or spoken with Foxy, he's been wearing a jumper with an open necked shirt when everyone else was besuited... he's worked hard for his cash, and while he likes fast cars, he doesn't need to be a superficial or pretentious egomaniac. He is who he is.