‘The court system is overflowing with cases’: Det Inspector Scott Dwyer

Bayside residents have voiced fears to police at a community meeting about rising violent crime in their suburbs, with a senior officer conceding the state’s courts are “overflowing with cases”.

Fed up Bayside residents have called for an overhaul of the state’s justice system amid a wave of terrifying aggravated burglaries in the area.

About 200 residents, police and local politicians gathered at a Victoria Police community forum to dissect the issue that has plagued Melbourne’s affluent suburbs in the past 12 months.

Prominent Brighton resident, influencer Bec Judd, has previously waged a campaign highlighting the rising crime in Bayside.

She has accused the Victorian government of not tackling the growing problem.

“So sick of the rapes, bashings and home invasions at the hands of gangs in Bayside,’’ she wrote in an Instagram story last year.

“The state government don’t seem to care. We feel unsafe.”

Brighton’s Bec Judd with her Rhodesian ridgeback guard dog.

Anxious locals at the Bayside community forum on Tuesday night asked the dozens of police in attendance how they could feel safer in their homes at night.

They also asked why reoffending youths were being granted bail time and time again.

“We’re all frustrated about them being granted bail,” one man at the forum said.

“But it seems the Magistrates are handcuffed to a certain degree.”

Victoria Police Detective Inspector Scott Dwyer said while the force was doing everything in its powers, the court system was overworked.

“The court system is overflowing with cases, when we talk about the 604 offenders arrested (in Operation Alliance), there are only so many Magistrates and so many courts,” he added.

“The court system is not keeping up with the offending that’s occurring.

“I feel your frustration.”

Locals also asked what the force was doing to combat the craze of youths boasting about their crimes on social media.

Nathan, 17, said he’d seen several videos on his social media accounts of other teenagers allegedly committing crimes.

“I’ve seen them posting on Snapchat, on Instagram and I just think ‘what the hell are you doing?’,” he said.

“Why do young kids aged 13-16 have such easy access to lethal weaponry like machetes?

“How is it not monitored? Is there not any sort of protection against that?”

Victoria Police Commander Therese Fitzgerald said detectives were becoming increasingly worried with the social media stunts.

“They go for joy rides and often dump them nearby the next day and sometimes they’re using it for other offending,” she said.

“The concerning thing for us is that they’re also driving at very high speeds at night time, just for the social media likes.

“So, that creates a range of concerns for us.”

Brighton Liberal MP James Newbury asked why the only Bayside police station would be closed as he voiced his concerns.

“Over the last ten years in my community, there’s been 578 per cent increase in aggravated burglaries,” he said.

“There was a decision taken into resourcing which is not your fault.

“(But) for the Bayside police station to shut for one third of the day, we have one police station in the municipality of Bayside, and it’s now shut for a third of the day.

“It is deeply distressing to the community.”