A series of forums across the region are planning to unite police and the community in the fight against crime.
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Community forums will be held in Warrnambool, Camperdown and Port Fairy from next week.
Inspector Gary Coombes said the events were, in part, a response to the latest figures that showed an increase in crime across the state.
“Warrnambool is no different, it has suffered a bit of a hit in terms of crime, Corangamite as well. Moyne is the only one that trended the other way, it’s down about 8 per cent,” he said.
“The community forums are an idea to provide a bit of reassurance back to the community, let them know what we’re doing, that we do understand the concerns of the community, that we are trying to address them and let them know what sort of practices we’re looking at and how we’re going about business.”
Inspector Coombes said they would provide advice to residents and traders and there would be a chance to ask questions.
“We’ve had a few break-ins (to businesses) and it unsettles people and it unsettles the traders, it’s a big hit for them and they’re all small businesses,” he said.
“There’s simple things that we can pass on that could potentially help them with the security of their business.”
Senior Sergeant Shane Keogh said it would be the first series of community forums in the region for about five years.
“It’s a good opportunity for the community to raise any issues that they may have and get it out in the open so we can actually discuss it together and work together,” he said.
“There will be things out there that they don’t want to ring Crimestoppers about but they do have some concerns, it may be as simple as hoon driving in the back blocks – let us know at these meetings and we can start policing it.
“We actually live in a very safe part of the world. I think we contribute about 1.6 per cent to the state’s crime. Every now and then there are spikes but what we’re really good at down here is catching the offenders.”
Forum dates and times:
- Warrnambool: Community forum, Monday, July 31, 5.30pm at the Archie Graham Community Centre, Timor Street.
- Corangamite: Traders forum, Wednesday, August 9, 7pm at the Killara Centre, Camperdown.
- Corangamite: Community forum, Wednesday, August 23, 7pm at the Killara Centre, Camperdown.
- Moyne: Community forum, Monday, August 14, 5.30pm at the Port Fairy Community Centre.