Police want to hear opinions from the public about priorities

The community sentiment survey is currently open, until Tuesday, to gauge how the public feels about safety, your ideas to improve the work police do and how residents want to engage with police officers.

You can fill out the survey now at https://engage.vic.gov.au/annual-vicpol-community...

In the past motorised bikes, impaired driving and crime at public transport hubs have been among the issues identified in a south-west policing trial now being rolled out across the state.

Victoria Police western region division two Superintendent Martin Hardy previously said the division was part of the trial conducted in Southern Grampians and Glenelg local government areas last year.

He said the trial saw police working in partnership with the community to address identified issues, including motorised bicycles, road safety (including drug driving), public order and crime at public transport hubs.

"We are now expanding the neighbourhood policing model to include Warrnambool, Moyne and Corangamite," he said last month.

Superintendent Hardy said issues previously identified through community surveys in those local government areas included drug and alcohol harm, road trauma and hoon driving, family violence and crimes against the person.

He said understanding and capturing community concerns and sentiment was fundamental to the success of the neighbourhood policing model.

"Victoria Police has always been engaged in community policing. It's at the core of what we do every day and for many it's the very reason they are in the job," he said.

"The neighbourhood policing model aims to provide a purposeful structure and process to ensure prevention of crime and handling of issues the community cares about are key objectives for all police."

Superintendent Hardy said police would keep a register of the issues that matter most to the community and use it to help decide where police resources are deployed.

"In a nutshell - every police officer will proactively engage with their community to encourage the community to work with them and enhance trust and confidence in the work police do," he said.

He said while police were already working in partnership with many agencies and groups across the south-west, there'd be a more consistent, prevention-focused approach to addressing community safety issues.

"You can expect more policing activity proactively focused on the prevention of crime, more opportunities to talk with local police about safety concerns - both in-person and online, community partnerships and shared problem solving to address safety issues and prevent crime, and communication from your local police about what they're doing to address your safety concerns through local media and social media," he said.

In March Victoria Police said it was refocusing its commitment to the south-west communities after the COVID pandemic with a new grassroots approach being launched.

With Victoria returning to a more normal after the worst of the global pandemic, Chief Commissioner Shane Patton's back-to-basics initiative was to see police increase their focus on the issues that matter most to communities statewide.

Victoria Police's new Neighbourhood Policing model has been progressively rolled out.

It sees police engage with the local community to strengthen relationships, share intelligence and find out what issues people care about most.

These are recorded in a community issues register with officers tasked to specifically address concerns and report back to residents on what's been done.

Police work with partners like local councils, community groups and government agencies when issues are more complex.

Other initiatives such as local safety committees and CommSafe forums are also being set up in each police service area so members can directly discuss issues with the public and partner agencies.

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