Feeling safe is a number one concern for Whittlesea residents, to the extent some are not getting full value out of life in their city.
Whittlesea councillors voted last week to work more closely with local police and community groups on a new strategy to address negative perceptions of safety, as well as initiatives to prevent crimes.
The strategy outlines ways the council can work with Whittlesea police and local groups to help reduce alcohol and drug-related crime, dangerous driving and crimes against property.The strategy includes crime prevention goals the council will set about achieving over the next four years.
Mayor Stevan Kozmevski said community safety is one of its biggest issues.
“Negative perceptions of safety are a barrier to residents accessing local space, and impact on the health and wellbeing of our community in many different ways.”
The strategy noted that 41 per cent of participants in the council’s annual household survey rate their perception of safety in the public areas at night as ‘somewhat unsafe’ or ‘very unsafe’. However, almost 70 per cent rated safety during the day as ‘somewhat safe’ or ‘very safe’.
The strategy noted 14 per cent of 2015 survey participants had rated safety, policing, crime and drugs as important, up from eight per cent in 2014. Cr Kris Pavlidis said it is important to address perceptions of safety. She said while the city’s crime rate hadn’t been cause for concern in recent years, she now frequently heard reports of houses and cars being broken into in the city’s north.
There were 14,889 offences recorded in Whittlesea between April 2015 and March 2016, up from 13,572 in the previous 12 months.
Whittlesea Inspector Paul Tysoe said the new strategy would help improve policing. “We need the support of our council … community groups, business owners and the residents.”
