Tough line on violence

By Lia Bichel
VIOLENCE on Casey streets is on the rise, but Casey’s top cop has vowed to get tough on the crime.
This week, Victoria Police released the statistics from July 2010 to June 2011, which show assaults have increased 8 per cent, while assaults excluding family violence have increased 9.2 per cent.
Casey Inspector Wayne Viney said the increase in family violence meant more people were reporting the incidents to police, but said the rise of assaults in public places was concerning.
“Our focus is to hold individuals accountable for their behaviour. If they are engaging in anti-social behaviour within the community, we will use whatever powers we have to bring them before the courts,” he said.
Insp Viney said alcohol was one of the factors believed to be contributing to the assaults.
“Far too often assaults in public places are fuelled by alcohol, and we will hold licensed premises accountable to ensure they are fulfilling their responsibilities in accordance with their liquor licence,” he said.
“There will be a greater police presence, most commonly on Fridays and Saturday evenings. In the coming months, there will be a combination of increased foot patrols, bike patrols in hot spot areas and we will be looking at utilising resources such as the Operational Response Unit and transit patrol.”
Insp Viney said police also implemented a Bail Engagement Program to ensure people aged up to 24 who were arrested would have bail conditions according to their crime.
“If the crime is committed while they have had alcohol, one of the conditions of the bail would be for them to abstain from alcohol,” he said.
“Or if the crime was committed late at night, one of the bail conditions would be for them to have a curfew.”
While the number of assaults has increased, residential burglaries dropped 23.7 per cent, theft from vehicles dropped 14.1 per cent and property damage decreased 7.4 per cent.
Insp Viney said the improvements were a result of a police efforts. He said in relation to burglaries, police were targeting known offenders.
“If police can stop one or two (offenders) it usually prevents 20 or 30 burglaries- it’s a huge impact,” Insp Viney said.
“This is a fantastic result, and we will continue with this work.”