Town won’t cop it

By Kath Gannaway
HEALESVILLE resident Val Owen is pushing for a community rally to drive home the need for a 24-hour police presence in Healesville.
Ms Owen has been a campaigner for adequate police resources in the town for several years and was instrumental in rallying more than 200 people to attend a meeting with police hierarchy three years ago in an attempt to deal with hoon behaviour in the town.
She says she believes nothing will change unless residents are prepared to stand up and be counted on the issue of police numbers.
“People were prepared to march to keep the post office in the main street and against Red Rooster setting up in the town and this is something that is a huge problem for our community,” she said.
The call to arms comes a month after Yarra Ranges Council voted to write to the Chief Commissioner of Police demanding a 24-hour police station at Healesville and Yarra Junction, and urging residents to support them with a letter-writing campaign.
Police at regional level have consistently argued that reports to police do not justify a 24-hour response and it’s an argument Ms Owen says is supported by default.
“People are telling me, and have been for a long time, that they are not reporting things that should be and need to be reported,” she said.
“People are getting bashed but are too scared to report it – people are appalled at the things that are happening but unless the police get those reports on paper nothing will happen.
“This is why the public perception is so different to what the police hierarchy’s perception is,” she said.
The “perception versus reality”’ on crime figures was also called into question last week by Opposition police and emergency services spokesman Andrew McIntosh, who said the gap between police statistics and the every-day experience of the community was borne out by calls to 000 seeking police assistance.
He called for a closer examination of reporting and cited the Ombudsman’s recommendations that calls to 000 should be linked to the main crime database, better training in recording and use of crime data and the elimination of manual forms for recording crime data.
Does Healesville need a 24-hour police station and do residents feel strongly enough about the issue to march in the streets?
“That’s the question I would like to put to people,” Ms Owen said.