Deer Park and Derrimut residents are being encouraged to “light up your hood” in a show of community strength following a spate of crime in recent months.
The Derrimut and Deer Park Community Association initiative is aimed at keeping properties brightly lit to ward off criminals.
Association spokeswoman Rosa Mikac said the crime problem required “a new approach that needs to be continuous”.
“Hopefully it [leaving a light on] becomes second nature, like brushing your teeth,” she said. “I believe it can give everyone a sense of contribution to a great cause. And it bonds the community even more. There is no greater feeling than working as one.”
She said police had informed the association at a recent forum that crime could sometimes increase over the school holidays.
“The youth are not engaged,” she said. “A simple way to engage our community and make them feel like they are helping is by getting involved in preventing crime – and that’s as simple as making sure our streets are well lit up.
“Dark corners are great places for these criminals to hide. But if we make a small effort and turn on porch lights and sensor lights, it actually illuminates the street making it bright.”
Police flooded “high-risk areas” such as Keilor Downs, Caroline Springs and Sunshine earlier this month to address “fearful” residents’ concerns about increased crime.
Inspector Wayne Newman said “high-risk” locations in Brimbank were patrolled as part of a nightly operation called Regnant.
“We know that the community … are feeling fearful after a number of incidents of young people breaking into homes to get access to car keys,” he said.
Mrs Mikac said the Deer Park and Derrimut community was the “eyes and the ears for the police”.
“We won’t stop protecting our area,” she said.
The big switch-on bid comes as two Brimbank teenagers were among six charged last week following two alleged aggravated burglaries and a carjacking in the north-west, all within the space of an hour.
A 15-year-old Kings Park boy and a 14-year-old Burnside boy were charged with aggravated burglary and theft of a motor vehicle.
