Max Hatzoglou
Victoria Police has launched a new initiative in Brimbank, focusing on issues that matter the most in local communities.
The initiative will take a grassroots approach through neighbourhood policing which will see police compile a register of important local issues, task officers to specifically address these concerns and report back to residents on their progress.
The new initiative will see police engage with the local community to strengthen relationships, share intelligence and find out what issues local residents care about most.
Police will work with local councils, community groups and government agencies when issues are more complex.
The Brimbank police service area is rolling out the grassroots effort, which is now in place statewide.
Since reopening from lockdowns, Victoria Police have renewed their focus on community policing by bolstering the return of protective services officers to most train stations and the revitalising involvement of police with schools.
Victoria Police have also launched a new “community sentiment” survey in every local government area.
The survey will help gauge how safe people feel, any ideas on how to improve safety and how comfortable people feel approaching police and PSOs.
Brimbank Inspector Trevor King said building more connections with the community is needed.
“Our Brimbank Police community want to provide as safe and cohesive a community as is possible,” Mr King said.
“It has been identified that there is a need for a whole of community approach and engagement with a wide range of stakeholders, we need to get to the underlying cause of issues wherever possible.
“To that end I am very excited about the newly launched Neighbourhood Policing which essentially aims to bring the community together with its Police service to ensure that we, as Victoria Police, are meeting the needs of our local community.”
Mr King also said other projects were underway to solve some of the local issues.
“We have also initiated the Youth Crime Early Intervention Project which looks at alternate dispositions for youth involved in crime and linking them to support services in an effort to redirect them from the criminal court jurisdictions.
“We have been able to re-establish the Safer Communities Tasking Unit, allocate specific resources to Errington Reserve to combat unsociable behaviour, allocate a Senior Sergeant to each of our most important High Risk Community Locations thereby establishing connections to simplify engagement and address underlying issues.
“We have recommenced our Brimbank Principals network meetings to ensure we engage with schools and our youth who are so vital in establishing behavioural standards and acceptable behaviour.”
Chief commissioner Shane Patton said while the pandemic took up a lot of the force’s focus over the past two years, it’s now time to “reset and reconnect with the community.”
“Our new back-to-basics approach is about making sure we’re listening to the community and tackling the issues they care about,” Mr Patton said.
“Delivering on this commitment not only means we can get on top of issues before they become more serious but make people feel safe to go about their everyday business.”
