CCTV for crime spree

By Tania Martin
COCKATOO residents say hills youths are terrorising the town with a continual barrage of vandalism, graffiti and bad behaviour.
Their concerns have prompted visiting Minister for Justice David Johnson to tell a crime forum in the town that he would look favourably on a plan to tackle the problem with CCTV cameras.
Residents told Mr Johnson at the crime forum on Monday that they fear retribution if they report the bad behaviour to police.
Cockatoo traders and residents have been calling for something to be done about the out of control behaviour of youths in the town for months.
But they say it’s not just kids from Cockatoo but the surrounding towns of Gembrook, Emerald and Monbulk that are terrorising the town.
Dot Griffin from the township group said it was only a small minority of kids from Cockatoo causing trouble.
“It’s a group of 30 kids who are holding the whole town to ransom,” she said.
Newsagency owner Jemma Epstein says she has to get up at 3am every morning so that when her newspapers are delivered at 3.30am they are not stolen or set on fire.
Ms Epstein said if she didn’t get up so early to rescue the papers youths would put piles of newspapers in front of other shops and set them alight.
She said the youth were scaring a lot of traders and townspeople into keeping quiet.
“A lot of people are scared and although they know who the kids are they feel threatened and don’t get involved,” she said.
Traders told Mr Johnson that they fear that if they get involved they will become the youths’ next target.
Ms Griffin said one of the main problems was that youths are riding trail bike around unregistered and unlicensed.
She said they have no respect for anyone and have, on several occasions, deliberately driven their bikes at passers-by.
Neil Mitchell of the opportunity shop said someone would be killed one day if something isn’t done about the trail bike riding.
He said although townspeople have reported the youths for trail bike riding, it was difficult for the police to catch them.
Mr Mitchell said the youths have a mobile phone network set up where someone alerts them that the police are coming which means by the time the police arrive they have gone.
Cardinia Shire police District Inspector Chris Notman said crime in Cockatoo had increased by 35 per cent in the past 12 months.
He said property damage had risen 65 per cent and thefts from motor vehicles had increased by 55 per cent.
But District Inspector Notman said although crime had risen the police had managed to apprehend those responsible for 43 per cent of the crimes reported in Cockatoo.
He said one of the options to improve the crime in the town would be for police to use a mobile closed circuit television (CCTV) system, where footage from cameras placed around the town could be transmitted straight to police when they’re on the road.
Residents recently joined forces with the Shire of Cardinia and local police to put in an application for funding for CCTV cameras and education and crime prevention programs.
Mr Johnston said the crime forum was a great opportunity for him to put faces to the complaints about the issues in Cockatoo.
“This has been very beneficial for me and because I have the final say about the application, it has been helpful for me to hear you all,” he said.
“All I can do now is to listen to you and give it (the application) every possible chance.”