By ANEEKA SIMONIS
PAKENHAM police have backed a community initiative which has caused a major spike in drug-related tip-offs.
The Crime Stoppers program Dob in a Dealer was recently taken up by traders in Moe who pooled funds into an advertising campaign which encouraged people to report information relating to the manufacture and distribution of crystal methamphetamine or ice.
Since the campaign was launched on the side of a local bus in early April, police have received a 263 per cent rise in tip offs of suspected drug activity in the area.
The campaign assures potential informants anonymity.
Acting Senior Sergeant Darren Hedge from Pakenham police said he had encouraged the campaign to be rolled out locally.
“We rely on information from the public to carry out investigations,” he said.
“Reporting even a small amount of information or information that may seem insignificant is useful for us.
“Our intelligence officers gather all this information and may be able to draw links between separate reports which can lead to further investigations.”
Police recently visited a number of Pakenham business owners to collect information about crime or suspicious activities in the area.
Moe police are still working through the gathered intelligence and plan to issue warrants to investigate specific claims further.
“The bus has been a great success with greater intelligence, but with increased intelligence comes increased workload.
“A lot of crime is linked to drugs, the result of drugs or an addition to feed habits,” he said.
McMillan MP Russell Broadbent addressed Parliament saying he hoped the campaign will be rolled out further, including into the Pakenham and Officer areas, where more people are becoming addicted to the dangerous drug.
“This ice epidemic is staggering,“ he told MPs.
“When you speak to the police, they tell you that they have never struck anything like it in the whole of their careers, and they are 20 and 30-year veterans.
“They say ‘we have never struck anything like it, and it will attack anybody’.”
Mr Broadbent said he had directly seen the devastation the drug could cause.
“I know for sure that this ice epidemic has directly killed two people around the Warragul area.
“They were not from low socioeconomic, deprived families,” he said.
“These were young, bright, brilliant tradies with a magnificent future in front of them, destroyed in moments – quality business people destroyed in three months; going from 30 people on their staff, down to nothing; their business gone in three months, and their family destroyed.
“Sadly, so many lives will expire before we deal with the ice epidemic.”
Earlier this year, the State Government committed $45.5 million to the Ice Action Plan which is designed to reduce the supply, demand and harm of the life-ruining drug.
Victoria Police statistics indicate that drug related offenses in the state have risen by 12.3 per cent from 2012 to 2013.
Crime Stoppers has helped seize more than $170 million worth of illicit drugs and stolen property over the past 28 years.
Are you a trader in Cardinia shire and would you sponsor similar advertising? Join the conversation at www.facebook.com/PakenhamBerwickGazette.
