The victim of a home invasion is calling for more active police personnel to be deployed in the Wyndham area.
Avanish Gupta said his Tarneit home was broken into by four people on the morning of Thursday 16 October while his wife and toddler were asleep with him.
Police believe the property was broken into at about 4.25am, the kitchen was searched and the alleged offenders located car keys and stole a Subaru Forester that belonged to Mr Gupta.
While no one was injured and the car was recovered shortly after in Williams Landing, the matter is still under investigation.
Mr Gupta said he and his family were shocked when they looked at the security cameras when they woke up.
“We were all still asleep, so I didn’t realise it was happening and they were super quiet,” he said.
“It was horrifying because you know I have heard in Tarneit there are cars being stolen in front of houses, so I started keeping mine in the garage.”
He said he was amazed at how brazen the intruders appeared to be.
“They spent about 45 minutes in the house, so I am wondering how they have so much confidence and aren’t even scared?
“Because they know even though they get caught, maybe in the next few hours they will be free again to do the same thing again.”
Mr Gupta said even before the incident, crime dominates the conversations he has with other community members and that police should be given more power to crack down on violent crime.
“Everyone talks about crime. When I lived in Sydney, people were mostly talking about things in terms of resources and infrastructure.
“That doesn’t speak to a developed country, that is more like a developing country– we shouldn’t be talking about safety, that should be assumed.”
Wyndham council was asked about the status of its six-month security patrol trial it committed $372,000 to as part of this year’s budget.
A spokesperson said the trial has not begun and contractors will not carry weapons.
“Council is finalising procurement of a licenced provider,” the spokesperson said.
“Guards will not carry firearms.
“Decisions by other private security firms to hold firearms are matters for those organisations and Victoria Police.”
Star Weekly asked Victoria Police if there was a shortage of police in the Wyndham area.
A Victoria Police spokesperson said the organisation was “working extremely hard to fill vacancies across the state.”
“While you may not always see us, please be assured there are police working 24/7 to keep the Wyndham community safe,” the spokesperson said.
“Wyndham police remain available at any hour, seven days a week, to respond to urgent incidents and ensure safety.
“On top of this, we have Alliance Taskforce officers out every day targeting youth gangs, local detectives investigating serious crime, highway patrol officers ensuring road safety and specialist family violence detectives holding perpetrators to account.”
The spokesperson also said police regularly conduct a range of proactive operations to target safety from all angles, including Operations Shows where local police team up with the Air Wing and Dog Squad to target crime at night.
A spokesperson said the state government’s “record investment in Victoria Police has delivered 144 new police officers for the west” and built the Wyndham 24-hour Police Complex to sort crime.
They also said stronger bail laws, a machete ban and increased stop and search powers for Victoria Police is part of a plan to mitigate crime in Wyndham.
“The Chief Commissioner has also announced his plan to deliver a safer Victoria and a new-look Victoria Police — getting more officers out from behind the desk and on the streets deterring crime.”
