A surge of violent crimes has Tarneit and Truganina residents living in fear.
Star Weekly has spoken to several residents, who asked not be identified because of fears for their safety, who say they are afraid to leave their homes after dark.
One resident, who was attacked by a group of up to 10 youths while jogging in a Truganina park on May 19, said he feared he would die in the attack.
“I was in a war-torn place for the last few years,” he said. “I thought when I came to Australia that it would be safer – now I have got to re-think that.”
A Tarneit resident, who lives near the Ecoville Community Park, said youths who frequented the park often engaged in anti-social behaviour.
“We’ve seen them with bats, knives and a taser,” he said.
A woman said her family was still traumatised after an aggravated burglary at their Truganina home in July last year in which five youths allegedly hit her husband several times with a hammer.
The woman said many residents in the area were feeling unsafe in their own neighbourhood.
Residents are calling for more police in Wyndham, stricter sentencing for offenders and additional initiatives to engage with at-risk youths.
Neighbourhood Watch Tarneit chairman Rishi Prabhakar said the group had joined with the Heartlands Residents Committee to host a security forum on Sunday.
He said the forum would give residents ideas about how to be safe.
Inspector Martin Allison said police were “particularly concerned” about “high-victim impact crimes” such
as aggravated burglaries and carjackings.
“With respect to the aggravated burglaries in Tarneit and Truganina, we’ve already deployed additional resources to those areas,” he said.
Inspector Allison said more police officers had been placed on night shifts to allow for an increased response and presence.
Wyndham safer communities portfolio holder Kim McAliney said the council was in regular contact with groups such as the Maori Wardens and the South Sudanese Wyndham Patrol
in efforts to engage with disaffected youth.
The security forum will be held from 2.30-3.30pm at Club Heartlands, Tarneit, on Sunday, June 4.
