By LACHLAN MOORHEAD
JACINTA Allan, Shadow Minister for Police and Emergency Services, believes criminal attacks like the one against Ilona Prohaska from Endeavour Hills in May this year are indicative of rising crime in the City of Casey.
Ms Allan, who along with Narre Warren North MP Luke Donnellan met with Ms Prohaska last week, praised the 73-year-old’s bravery after surviving a brutal stabbing in her own home but said her ordeal was a result of increasing crime across the South East.
“We’ve seen crime go up and we have to remember that behind all of the statistics are real people, like Ilona, who have had awful and horrifying experiences that have changed their lives,” she said.
“They have to live with those consequences.”
Ms Allan referred to Victoria Police raw offence statistics for the City of Casey which indicate a 6.4 per cent rise in total crime and slammed the State Government’s $100 million Victoria Police cuts.
“These things add up, they add up to putting pressure on the police force to be able to respond to crime, it puts pressure on communities when they don’t see crime being addressed and it sends a very bad message around community safety,” Ms Allan said.
A spokesperson for Minister for Police and Emergency Services Kim Wells said according to Victoria Police rates per 100,000 in Casey, incidents of violence and robbery in the municipality had decreased.
“Assault, excluding family violence, has actually dropped 1.7 per cent in Casey,” the spokesperson said.
“Robbery and residential burglaries have also decreased dramatically.”
Mr Wells said the government had invested significantly in the state’s police.
“Our government has made an unprecedented investment in law and order, including the $602 million recruitment of 1700 police – the largest ever in the history of the state,” he said.
“These officers are working extremely hard to protect our communities, despite what Labor is claiming.”
