By Danielle Kutchel
Criminal incidents in Casey are more likely to be committed by an Australian-born offender than someone born in another country.
That’s according to new data from the Crime Statistics Agency, supplied exclusively to Star News Group.
According to the figures, in the 12 months from October 2018 to September 2019, 5249 alleged offender incidents in the City of Casey were recorded as having been carried out by Australian-born people.
This is compared to 306 alleged offender incidents by New Zealand-born people, and 220 alleged offender incidents by people born in Afghanistan.
In a distant fourth were recorded alleged offenders born in Sudan and South Sudan, at 210.
Statewide, the overwhelming majority of offenders in Victoria are Australian-born, representing approximately 71 percent of the unique offender population. This is followed by people born in New Zealand 2.3 percent and people born in India at 1.6 percent.
Despite community concern, just over one percent of offenders in Victoria are born in Sudan and South Sudan.
The data does not indicate the outcome of any investigation.
According to the CSA, an alleged offender incident is an incident involving one or more offences to which an individual, business or organisation has been linked as an alleged offender.
For the purposes of reporting crime statistics, an alleged offender incident involves only one offender (where two individuals have participated in the same incident two alleged offender incidents will be recorded); can involve one or more victims; and can involve offences that occur over a period of time but have been processed by Victoria Police as the same incident.
Casey Local Area Commander Acting Inspector Ivan Petrunic said criminality was “not predicated on nationality, race, culture, sex, gender or age”.
“While Victoria Police and the African community has acknowledged a small group of young people are committing criminal acts, we know the vast majority of the African community, irrespective of their ages, are law abiding people,” he said.
“However, we want to reassure the community that Victoria Police remains focused on identifying those responsible for serious crimes – regardless of their ethnicity – and bringing them before the courts.
“We have proactive patrols and operations running in areas and at times when high-harm offending is taking place.”
A number of initiatives aimed at reducing youth crime are currently in place in the Casey area.
One such program is the Embedded Youth Outreach program, which began in late August 2018.
The program sees police paired with Youth Support and Advocacy Service (YSAS) youth workers every night in areas impacted by increased rates of youth offending and antisocial behaviour, including in the Greater Dandenong, Casey and Cardinia police service areas.Together, police officers and youth workers work collaboratively to identify services to assist youth to tackle issues like breakdowns in family relationships, alcohol or drug abuse, unemployment, mental health issues or disengagement from school.
A Community Leaders Outreach Initiative is also currently running at Fountain Gate Shopping Centre.
This commenced in September 2019 and is a joint initiative between police in the Southern Metro Division 3 and members of the South Sudanese and Pacific Islander communities, who undertake proactive patrols through the centre to engage with youth, identify issues and opportunities, and build relationships with them.
