Cops had eye on Apex gang years ago, police document reveals
A LITANY of offending by youths identified by detectives as members of the Apex gang was listed in detail in a police document the year before the gang hit the headlines.
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A LITANY of crimes by youths identified as members of the Apex gang were detailed in a police document a year before the gang hit the headlines.
Senior Victoria Police have since sent out mixed messages about whether they believe the gang exists.
But a police document, prepared around August 2015, shows officers on the street then were certain of its existence and its methods.
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Earlier this week Deputy Commissioner Andrew Crisp, in discussing recent incidents involving African youths, said: “Don’t call them a gang. Don’t build them into something bigger than they already are.
“Some of it is serious, but it is relatively low-level.
“Taking over a house for a party and throwing rocks at police is different to where we were seeing very good planning by groups of people sitting off houses, following people home, breaking in and stealing the keys,’’ he said.
But the 2015 document, seen by the Herald Sun, details the picture of the Apex gang developed by police in Melbourne’s southeastern suburbs.
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It was prepared as a guide summarising thefts, aggravated burglaries and armed robberies in Endeavour Hills, Oakleigh and Rosebud.
It states: “The accused (and co-accused) are part of a larger network of offenders who are all members of an organised group known as the “Apex or SK (Sick K--ts) Gang’.
“The gang predominantly hails from the Dandenong area; however, they are responsible for multiple residential aggravated burglaries (person present), thefts of and from motor cars and armed robberies in the eastern and southeastern suburbs.
“‘Missioning’ is the commonly used term within the gang, referring to the process of going out to steal cars.
“Whilst “missioning’, members of the gang will gain entry to homes during the night whilst occupants are asleep, stealing laptops, iPads, mobile phones, wallets, purses and keys to victims’ cars.
“Gang members will then use the car keys to gain access to and steal cars from garages and driveways.
“Stolen vehicles are passed around to various members of the gang to utilise.”
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The police warning came months before a BMW, stolen and then passed around members of the gang, ploughed into mother of two Amanda Matheson in a head-on crash in Mordialloc, killing her.
On Tuesday, Acting Chief Commissioner Shane Patton made Victoria Police command’s strongest comments yet, acknowledging that African gangs were a problem.
“They’re not like a Middle Eastern crime group or an outlaw motorcycle gang, but they’re behaving like street gangs,” he said.
“So let’s call them that because that’s what they are: they’re street gangs.
“We acknowledge that and we acknowledge there is an issue,” Mr Patton said.