Wyndham City Community Patrols: Residents rally to tackle youth crime plaguing streets

Fed up with youth crime, a group of concerned residents will soon patrol crime hotspots. But they’re not “vigilantes”, they say.

Fed up with youth crime and wanting to do something about it, residents from Melbourne’s west have decided to take the issue into their own hands.

But they’re not a “vigilante group”, organiser James Hohepa-Smith says.

Instead the Wyndham City Community Patrols wants to engage with wayward youths.

So far, a dozen locals who agree “things need to change” have signed up to patrol shopping centres and bus stops — areas regularly plagued by youth crime.

“It’s a simple concept, we know they’re more likely to engage with people sharing their cultural background, so we’re inclusive of all ethnicities,” Mr Hohepa-Smith said.

The group is made up of people who had “seen the transition of their own sons from being on the streets to incarcerated”, he said.

Mr Hohepa-Smith has experience with community patrols, serving as the chairman of the Victorian Maori Wardens for four years.

“People here have told me they’re upset and feel like nothing’s being done,” he said.

“We can do what Victoria Police can’t. Kids on the street are not suspicious or afraid of us and we can talk to them.

“We’re hoping to catch them and help them make the right decisions before they end up incarcerated, that’s the key.”

Wyndham is Melbourne’s fastest growing municipality and has Victoria’s highest proportion of young people with about 30 per cent or 88,000 people aged 10 to 17.

Youth crime has long been a pressing concern in the community, with surveys by Wyndham Council indicating residents were most concerned about youth crime and gang activity.

At a recent community safety forum, police were keen to tell attendants there had been a 20 per cent decrease in youth offending over the past decade as their approach shifted to early intervention.

“While we have had a decrease in crime, we are heavily focusing on preventing crime in the first instance and trying to divert away youth offenders where possible,” Detective Inspector Scott Colson said last month.

“Youths don’t always make the best decision, as a result we have to do everything we possibly can to get them back on track.”

But some, like a shopping centre manager in the area, told the forum they were worried some youths felt “untouchable”.

“Even just last week at our Tarneit centre, a 16-year-old girl pulled out an eight inch kitchen knife and threatened one of my security guards,” he said.

“She was back at the centre the following day saying obscene things to my security guard, that she was untouchable, so that was a concern.”

Mr Hohepa-Smith said the group hoped to begin patrolling around “high-risk locations” identified by the community, including shopping centres and transport hubs, by the start of next year.

They are currently negotiating with Victoria Police and Wyndham council to secure support.

“I want to make it clear we’re not a vigilante group, we’re looking to engage with them, empower them and make sure they make the right choices,” he said.

“We’re not an authority figure, we‘re individuals that volunteer our time to help these kids.”

As an example of the positive outcomes patrols could achieve, Mr Hohepa-Smith said he recently attended the wedding of a young man he’d met while patrolling with the Victorian Maori Wardens.

“He was 15 and homeless. Over the years I’ve known him he’s now turned around and is married and expecting,” he said.

“Seeing the change in just one person’s life, I just feel so fortunate.”