Bayside Council pleads for more police to tackle Brighton crime surge

Bayside City Council is urging the Allan government to send more police resources to crime-plagued Brighton and surrounds, saying locals are terrified over a spike in home invasions.

The Bayside City Council has written to Premier Jacinta Allan to request that further police resources be diverted to crime-plagued Brighton and its surrounds as terrified locals remain on edge over a spike in home invasions.

The call comes as the affluent area battles a spike in crime, with an average of 16 criminal incidents recorded in the bayside local government area every day in 2023.

Frightening home invasions, some of which have been caught on CCTV, have raised widespread fear in the community, with police previously confirming a 43 per cent increase in aggravated burglaries in the area.

The letter from Bayside Mayor Fiona Stitfold, which was also sent to Police Minister Anthony Carbines, urged the Allan government to respond by sending more cops to patrol in the area.

The letter was also sent to Police Minister Anthony Carbines. Picture: Luis Enrique Ascui

“I am writing on behalf of my fellow councillors and the Bayside community to seek an increase in local police resources by the Victorian government to address community safety within Bayside,” she wrote.

“Bayside is experiencing a concerning increase in burglaries and home invasions, some involving serious physical harm to residents and all impacting our community’s sense of Safety.

“This increase in crime must be met with a corresponding increase in police resources from the Victorian government.”

Cr Stitfold’s plea comes after two men, a 65-year-old and a 74-year-old, were allegedly assaulted in neighbouring Beaumaris during two seperate incidents on March 25 and April 5.

She said the council was continuing to work with police and other key organisations, and had established the Brighton Neighbourhood Watch.

“With council doing all we can to support local community safety in partnership with local police, it is time for the Victorian government to direct more attention and resources on this issue,” she wrote.

The concerning crime figures has prompted influencer, businesswoman and Brighton local Bec Judd to repeatedly call out the government’s inaction.

Ms Judd was shut down by former premier Daniel Andrews two years ago after trying to bring attention to the issue following two home invasions in the space of a few days.

“Pretty sure someone warned to government about this back in 2022 and was rubbished,” Ms Judd recently posted to Instagram.

“They didn’t care then and they don’t care now. This is a Victorian-wide issue, not just Bayside.”

Brighton MP James Newbury said the Premier needed to act immediately.

“Jacinta Allan, who doesn’t live in Melbourne, needs to stop ignoring the violent crimes occurring in our city,” he said.

“We know it, Bayside Council knows it, and the state Labor government needs to increase police resourcing and fix our broken bail system.”

A Victoria Police spokesperson said the force had “a dedicated operation specifically targeting burglaries and car thefts across Melbourne, including Bayside.”

She urged Victorians to ensure their homes and cars were locked overnight, noting that police were “seeing teenage offenders sneaking into unlocked homes to steal car keys”.

“Almost half of all properties burgled in Bayside between October and February have been unlocked,” she said.

A Victorian government spokesperson said: “An extra 75 police officers have been deployed to the Moorabbin division which covers Bayside to ensure it remains one of Melbourne’s safest places to live - with the third lowest crime rate of all 31 metropolitan local government areas.”

“We’ve also recruited more than 3,600 new police officers and have more police on the beat than any other state or territory,” she said.