The search for accused double police killer Dezi Freeman may be hard to maintain without government support, given the significant strain on resources and budgets, a former detective says.
Freeman, 56, has been on the run since last Tuesday following the deadly confrontation at his property in Porepunkah, about 300 kilometres north-east of Melbourne.
More than 400 police are searching for Freeman on foot and in the air across Victoria’s high country, and people have been warned not to approach him because he might be armed.
Former homicide detective Charlie Bezzina said the scale of the operation would be challenging to continue.
“Financially, it’s a major impact on the operating budget of Victoria Police,” he said on Tuesday.
“I would hope to see some assistance from the [Victorian] government because if it comes out of the operating budget, there’s got to be resources cut elsewhere.”
As the search enters its second week, Bezzina said there would be difficult discussions about the search effort and potential scale-backs.
Any decision, which could come in weeks or months, would likely take into account factors such as whether or not authorities believed Freeman could survive in the bush or if he was still in the area.
“It will be a very, very difficult call for police command,” Bezzina added.
“It’s difficult because it’s damned if they do, damned if they don’t.”
High-tech equipment would be a key factor in the high-scale search, along with a police helicopter that would have infrared and thermal cameras that can detect heat through dense bushland, according to an experienced drone search and rescue operator.
C-Astral Aerospace Australia operations officer Michael Coates believes the accused killer has either found shelter or moved out of the area.
“If the person is in a cave or a rock ledge or in a mine shaft and they’ve got no visible presence to the sky, then they basically remain unrecognised as there is no way of seeing through the ground,” he said.
“If he was just out sitting under a tree somewhere, they would have found him many, many days ago.
Coates said Freeman may have stashed food and water, but his survival would be hampered by his efforts to stay hidden.
Victoria Police Superintendent Brett Kahan said the force believed people knew the whereabouts of Freeman.
Kahan wouldn’t confirm whether Freeman’s wife, Amalia, would be charged after she was arrested along with the couple’s 15-year-old son at a Porepunkah home last week.
“It’s two different things to be speaking with police and co-operating with police,” he said of Freeman.
The police’s latest appeal for people with information about Freeman’s whereabouts to come forward came as police in South Australia were tracking down a protester who waved a placard appearing to show Freeman’s face at Adelaide’s anti-immigration rally on Sunday.
SA Police Acting Commissioner Linda Williams said the image of the wanted killer over the words “Free Man” was “offensive”, “disgraceful” and “outrageous”. She said police had identified the man and would consider charging him.
Meanwhile, the town of Porepunka is slowly beginning to reopen.
The Porepunkah Pines Holiday Park, which will resume normal trading on Tuesday, said the past week has been “incredibly heavy” on the community.
Marty Robinson, a family friend who has known Freeman for about 30 years, said the deaths of Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson, 59, and Senior Constable Vadim De Waart, 35, had left a mark on the town.
He runs Marty’s Porepunkah Garage and said most of his bookings were cancelled last week. This week was so far proving just as quiet.
Funeral arrangements for the slain officers have been finalised.
De Waart will be farewelled on Friday, followed by Thompson on September 8.
Both will be held at the Victoria Police Academy chapel in Melbourne’s Glen Waverley.
-AAP
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