Wyndham: Youth crime down, some offenders feel ‘untouchable’

Wyndham’s top police brass have sought to reassure residents that criminal kids aren’t “untouchable” and the number of young gang members has dropped.

Wyndham’s top police brass have sought to assure residents that youth offending remains a “significant focus” as some complain youths feel they are “untouchable”.

More than 100 people gathered at the Wyndham community safety forum in Hoppers Crossing on Wednesday as police and residents discussed crime trends and community concerns.

The forum heard there had been a 20 per cent decrease in crimes committed by youth offenders over the past decade as police shifted to an early intervention approach.

“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.

“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.”

Panel of Victoria Police leadership address the Wyndham community safety forum at Encore Civic Centre in Hoppers Crossing on August 17. Picture: Liam Beatty.

Wyndham holds metropolitan Melbourne’s highest proportion of young people, with about 30 per cent or about 88,000 people aged between 10 and 17.

Police in the region have instituted a number of preventative approaches, including regular school visits for years 7 through 12, support workers for each young person taken into custody and a dedicated team to follow up with the families of youth offenders.

Regional operations Deputy Commissioner Rick Nugent said Wyndham police’s approach was deserving of “commendation” with a serious reduction in youth crime and known youth gang members.

“Street gangs are commonly disorganised crime, it’s done for the thrill,” he said.

“What we know is in the majority of these groups, there’s not many kids in there over 22 or over the age of 20, so we do know they move away from this type of offending.”

But community members in attendance raised concerns about high risk areas, such as transport hubs and shopping centres.

One man, who said he represented centre management at a shopping centre in Wyndham Vale and another in Tarneit, spoke about an ongoing issue of youths bringing knives into the centres.

“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.”

He said he knew police could “only do so much” but there needed to be an effort to steer these youths in a different direction.

“I see kids walking into the shopping centre after school and they’re just looking for something to do,” he said.

“That’s when we get the most reports from tenants for petty thefts, and these thefts will just snowball into bigger and bigger things.”

In response, local area command acting Inspector Matt Trask said police were aware of these concerns and a working group with Wyndham City and community groups had been set up to address “high risk community locations”.