Hannah Hammoud
Victoria Police invited residents from the Whittlesea community to attend the CommSafe Forum on Thursday, March 23.
The forum was run by a Victoria Police panel with the presence of Whittlesea Local Area Commander, Inspector Chris Allen and gave opportunities for locals to talk directly with police about what is important to them.
CommSafe touched on a range of issues including, current crime trends and crime prevention, young people, family violence, road policing, drugs and drug related crime.
Police said that they were pleased to see the overall crime rate for Whittlesea drop by 5.1 per cent compared to 2021, with a total of 12,479 offences recorded.
Police outlined areas of concern such as road policing with eight lives lost on the roads, compared to four fatalities this time last year.
A spokesperson from the Whittlesea Combined Pensioners Association said that robbery, car thefts and youth offending were of particular concern for themselves and the wider community.
The top three offences for the Whittlesea area were, breaching a family violence order, theft and stealing from a motor vehicle.
Alleged youth offender incidents went up with an eight per cent increase compared to 2021.
Nella Palmieri from Whittlesea Neighbourhood Watch (WNW) said that it is important for everyone to be attentive when it comes to their safety.
“A lot of people can be ignorant when it comes to safety as they’ve never been offended before,” she said.
“Our job is to encourage people to remain vigilant about their safety.”
Recently WNH hosted Safe Plate Day which installed anti-theft screws on number plates for the local community.
“We get educated by talking to police and then we go out to the community and educate them on how they can protect themselves,” said Ms Palmieri.
The three hour forum took questions from the audience throughout the event at the Great Hall in the Whittlesea Council Offices.
