Youth focus

By Kath Gannaway
SIX MONTHS into the job as Local Area Commander, Inspector Paul Rosenblum has identified public order and youth issues as a focus for policing in Yarra Ranges.
Insp Rosenblum said Yarra Ranges was a “bit above the state average” in stats on youth offending. Based at Lilydale, Insp Rosenblum has 10 stations under his watch in an area he said took him three days and 675 kilometres to get around when he took up the job in February.
Seven of the 10 are 16-hour stations.
“Not all our stations are open 24 hours a day, and clearly we have a limited number of people working in Yarra Ranges,” he said.
He said his job was to make sure those people were working where the demand was.
Insp Rosenblum said licensing was also a big issue, particularly given that there were so many licensed premises in Yarra Ranges.
Healesville was an area, he said, where resources have been limited and where a greater police presence was warranted.
Healesville will soon get another member and vehicle, and along with Yarra Glen, Yarra Junction and Warburton will benefit from a new Senior Sergeant position.
The new senior sergeant will be based between Healesville and Lilydale and act as a support to the current sergeants.
“Most of our business is local youth issues – offenders, kids in need of assistance, assaults at local railway stations and shopping centres … a lot of that can be attributed to youth issues, he said forecasting an increase in resources dedicated to targeting youth issues.
“We understand some of the limitations and issues local youth have given their geographical situations, but we are not going to tolerate behaviour that puts members of the public at risk or creates a nuisance,” he said.
While steering clear of the over-used “zero tolerance” model, Insp Rosenblum said police would certainly be adopting a “very low tolerance” when it came to anyone abusing what he said was the privilege of having a good time.
“I think I can say with some certainty, we will be taking a firm hand with people we think need to have a firm hand taken, but also we will be trying to help and support (young people) which is part of our mandate.”
Insp Rosenblum said statistics also revealed that people’s perception of safety was down. He attributed that partly to police not properly selling the message of what they were doing in the community.
He said much of what police did at a local level was not reported.
Identifying definite days when local police stations would be manned was one strategy police were working on to provide a better sense of police presence in communities.
“What we need to do is re-engage with local communities and we have strategies we are working on to achieve that,” Insp Rosenblum said.