Crime in Keilor village has been found to be “quite low”, a police audit reveals.
But traders still hold fears for their businesses and personal safety after a spate of high-profile break-ins and a ram-raid earlier in the year.
Leading Senior Constable Matt Mudie told a meeting of Keilor village traders and Brimbank council staff last Tuesday that a survey had indicated that crime in the area was quite low, with most offences falling into the category of property crime.
There was only one crime committed against another person.
“Twenty-two of the 32 businesses surveyed hadn’t been a victim of crime,” he said.
“Our information unit didn’t show a huge amount of crime … less than one a week.
“As far as police are concerned, it [Keilor] doesn’t come up on our radar,” he said.
Leading Senior Constable Mudie did acknowledge the Keilor TAB had recently been held up, and the Keilor Village convenience store had been ram-raided. The police audit was conducted over three days in late August and early September.A meeting of Keilor village traders, police and council staff was first held in July to address business owners’ concerns about increasing criminal activity in the area.
Around the same time, a number of aggravated burglaries had been reported in Melbourne’s outer west. In response to these, Victoria Police allocated an extra six patrol units to monitor the west, including Keilor, with overnight patrols.
Leading Senior Constable Mudie said he was unsure whether these additional patrol units would now stay in the area.
“It’s being maintained, but I don’t know how much longer,” he said. “It creates a real strain on our rostering.”
He advised traders to clean up their rear alleyways, to consider installing more lighting, and to leave internal lights on overnight.
Keilor Residents and Ratepayers Association secretary Kelvin Bennett said thefts had quietened down since the audit, but crime remained “a real issue for Keilor”.
Brimbank council officer Angilee Grasso said the council had fixed broken street lighting that had been identified in the audit.
