Victoria’s crime over the last 12 months has increased with crime offences up by 13.4 per cent
POLICE have been taken off the streets for specialist taskforces despite warnings this left Victorians more vulnerable to crime, officers say.
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POLICE have been taken off the streets for specialist taskforces despite warnings this left Victorians more vulnerable to crime, officers say.
New Crime Statistics Agency figures show crime is up 13.4 per cent statewide — in some regional areas it has more than doubled — in what the state Opposition called a “crime tsunami”.
Family violence continued to climb: 78,012 family-related incidents were recorded in the last financial year — an increase of 10 per cent.
The police union said a “critically under-resourced” force was struggling to keep up with the challenges posed by domestic violence, the ice epidemic, mental illness, and the threat of terrorism.
Frightening home invasions continued to soar: recorded aggravated burglaries were up 40 per cent on the number last year.
Victoria Police is concerned about the number of thefts of cars and licence plates, amid evidence of links to more serious crimes.
There are 60 cars stolen, and 150 thefts from cars, every day in Victoria.
Premier Daniel Andrews said the increasing crime rates were part of trend that began six years ago.
“These are a very challenging set of crime statistics. They’re not numbers, though: they are stories right across the community, and they have a profound effect on people in every part of the state,” he said.
Police told the Herald Sun that rather than being out on the streets where they could help prevent crime, they were often assigned to specialist units investigating past crimes or tied up with search warrants and paperwork on suspects.
Police Association assistant secretary Bruce McKenzie said Victoria Police’s resourcing model was “robbing” police stations of staff.
“The scoreboard — in the form of today’s crime stats — tell us that Victoria Police’s strategy of dragging police off the front line and on to taskforces is failing miserably,” Mr McKenzie said.
“Logic tells us that having more police on the front line out on patrol, providing a highly visible presence, prevents crime from occurring in the first instance.
“Isn’t this far better than creating taskforces to catch the crooks after the crimes have already been committed and the horses have bolted?” Mr McKenzie said.
Deputy Commissioner Andrew Crisp said police were involved in preventive work, such as a Youth Summit earlier this year, as well as “hard- edge” operations and patrols.
“Our members are working hard. They’ve never worked harder,” Mr Crisp said.
Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton said more police recruits would “hit the road” in January.
They would focus on growth corridors in the state, which were under pressure.
“We’ve been working on our new allocation model, which is actually looking at these demand issues … so that we actually know ahead of time how many police we would need to service a community with population growth and demand,” Mr Ashton said. Victoria Police wanted a more “sustainable” model, in which there was a continuing supply of recruits to meet demand, rather than fluctuations in numbers, he said.
VIOLENCE STALKING THE STREETS
A YOUNG woman attacked by strangers who followed her car for more than 20km is now too frightened to drive at night.
“I’m scared it could happen again,” Joanna Christodoulou said of Sunday’s attack, in which the thugs smashed her driver’s side window, leaving her covered in blood from facial injuries.
Shards of glass in her eye temporarily blinded her, and she feared she would lose her vision.
The childcare worker, 23, had been in Lysterfield collecting her younger brother and his friend from a birthday party in the early hours of the morning.
As the trio drove along Kellett St, they noticed a black car with tinted windows pull out from a side road and begin to follow.
“I didn’t think anything of it at first — I thought they were just going the same way,” Ms Christodoulou said.
But about 25 minutes and 20km later, they were still there, and then began tailgating.
About 2.20am, when she stopped at a red light at North and Warrigal roads in Bentleigh East, their car pulled alongside.
“A man was leaning halfway out the window of the passenger seat,” Ms Christodoulou said.
“He reached over with a weapon — it was long and black, either a hammer, a crowbar or a glass breaker. He used that to smash the window.
“And it exploded. I was screaming — I was in a lot of pain, I was vomiting.”
The car sped off as Ms Christodoulou’s teenage brother frantically called 000 for help.
Other motorists were in the area, and police hope someone may have seen the men.
Detective Senior Constable Chris O’Halloran said the attack appeared random.
“It’s obviously a frightening experience for a young woman,” Sen-Det O’Halloran said.
Ms Christodoulou did not know if the men were trying to rob her. “I don’t have any enemies. I hadn’t done anything on the road to provoke them.
“I won’t be driving by myself at night again,” she said.
Anyone with information is urged to contact Crimestoppers py phoning 1800 333 000 or confidentially at crimestoppersvic.com.au