By BRIDGET SCOTT AND LACHLAN MOORHEAD
Police grateful, but concerned about children attacking parents…
DESPITE a community’s huge effort to reduce the rate of family violence, the latest crime statistics have revealed that there has been an increase in this type of crime.
Casey police Inspector Paul Breen has praised the community for its fight against family violence but noted with concern that the rate of assaults, including family violence, have increased.
“Police have been working with the community to fight crime and family violence, which has been inspirational,” he said.
“Thank you for your great support.”
“Domestic violence is unacceptable and the police of Casey are committed to supporting victims and encouraging the reporting of domestic abuse.”
Assaults, including family violence, have increased by 6 per cent while the rate of general assaults is up by 8.9 per cent.
Officer in charge of the Casey Family Violence Unit Sergeant Ian Lane told the News last week that about 3700 family violence incidents had been reported in Casey in the year to date – the highest in the Victoria by just under 1000 incidents.
“Every eight hour shift we’re responding to roughly 10 family violence incidents,” he said.
“That’s a huge number and it’s a huge amount of time. And each one of those 10 will take anywhere between an hour and five hours to complete.
“So that’s a lot of time that the response vehicles are off the road.”
The 36-year police veteran said two trends he saw emerging from family violence incidents were live-at-home children assaulting their parents and the increase of drug-fuelled assaults, specifically ice.
Sgt Lane urged the community to intervene if they heard of a family violence incident nearby.
“When we talk about people getting involved, it’s not always about physically separating people, it’s about offering that sort of support, letting the victims know that there is someone there,” he said.
“Perhaps letting the victims know that if they want a safe haven when something happens, then just come over.”
The crime statistics also revealed that there has been an increase in crime against the person which is up by 5.9 per cent and crime against property is up by 7.5 per cent.
Insp Breen also noted another area of concern which was the “sharp increase” in thefts of and from cars.
“I have recently sent a personal message to all residents as part of a council rates notice pleading for people to lock their cars and houses and not leave valuables in plain sight,” he said.
“These crimes are opportunistic and the practice of leaving vehicles unlocked invites thieves to strike.”
Injuries related to traffic incidents took a decline since this time last year however Insp Breen said the rate is still too high.
“I recently sent a letter to all licensed premises seeking their assistance in promoting the anti-drink and drug driving campaign,” he said.
“In all, we need to be diligent and responsible drivers, especially in the coming summer months, by ensuring we stick to speed limits and provide appropriate patience and courtesy to our fellow road users.”
While Insp Breen acknowledged that there is still some work to do in different areas of crime he saluted his staff and the community for their commitment to crime prevention and road trauma reductions over the past year.
