School intrusions increased in Victoria during pandemic

Hundreds of unwelcome visitors and cars have been sighted at Victorian public schools, with numbers spiking during the pandemic.

A fire-damaged portable classroom at Mitcham’s Antonio Park Primary after an alleged arson attack last week. Picture: David Crosling

Police have responded to more than 1700 reports of intruders breaking into school grounds over the past four years.

Data obtained by the Herald Sun revealed there were almost 2000 total incidents involving “unknown persons” entering state-run schools without permission between January 2019 and February 2022.

Officers have been involved in 1748 of the 1984 reported incidents that included responding to “unwelcome” people or vehicles, aggressive behaviours, alarm triggers and burglary.

Figures spiked from 627 reports in 2020 to 696 in 2021, when Victorian students were in and out of the classroom due to Covid restrictions.

The 123 unwanted strangers and vehicles spotted on government school campuses in 2020 also rose to 151 in 2021.

More than 1700 intrusions have been reported at Victorian public schools.

Parents Victoria chief executive Gail McHardy said state schools needed to strike a balance between heightened security measures and ensuring school grounds remained open and safe spaces for students.

“These statistics do not shock or surprise as some unwelcome individuals may take opportunity when they think schools were not as populated during the pandemic and not as many staff and students onsite during lockdowns,” she said.

“Parents Victoria believes that the physical and emotional safety of students must be a paramount and schools do their best to put these protections in place.

“We all have a role to play to remind our children about stranger danger strategies but not allow fear to dictate their lives.”

Incidents remained stable between 2019 and 2020, with 627 reports made in 2020.

Alarm activations were the most common incident with 1007 reports made over that period, and police intervened in 84 per cent of the 316 unwelcome strangers or vehicles entering schools over the four-year period.

While burglary or attempted burglary were the least common offences, the six reported burglaries reported in 2020 more than tripled to 20 the following year.

A Department of Education and Training spokeswoman said: “Every Victorian government school has comprehensive plans and procedures for any emergency or security related incident and works closely with Victoria Police to ensure that school grounds remain safe at all times.”

The state government in 2018 launched the Incident Support and Operations Centre (ISOC) as part of an $8.9 million package that allowed schools to begin reporting incidents as they occur while 24/7 alarm systems were also installed.

A Victoria Police spokeswoman said everyone deserved to feel safe, regardless of their age.

“Police work closely with the entire community, including schools, and are ready to respond and assist should an incident require our attendance,” the spokeswoman said.