Our cops under attack

Heavily armed police used shields to protect themselves from a knife-wielding man in Dandenong in March. 152114 Picture: ROB CAREW

By ANEEKA SIMONIS

POLICE working the beat in the outer south-east are victim to a shocking number of physical assaults.
And they aren’t the only ones.
Data released by the Victoria Police crime statistics agency shows an disturbing rate of assaults on paramedics and hospital staff out to help those in need in Cardinia, Casey and Dandenong.
Last year, there were 240 reported cases of police assault in the region.
Exactly half of the assaults occurred in the Greater Dandenong area, which recorded 121 police-targeted attacks.
Casey recorded 97 police assaults while Cardinia recorded almost a fifth of that total with 22 assault reports.
Emergency workers, mostly paramedics, were also a target for assault last year.
Five emergency workers in Dandenong reported being assaulted on the job and a further three assault reports were lodged in the Casey region.
Alarmingly, paramedic abuse and assault rates jumped by almost a quarter in the past five years to the extent that some homes are now ‘blacklisted’ – not to be entered before police arrive on scene.
The majority of those homes are located in the south-east, including Dandenong (34), Cranbourne (22), Noble Park (15), Hampton Park (11), Narre Warren (10) and Pakenham (9).
Protective Service Officers (PSOs) also got hit with a fair whack of abuse.
The data recorded 47 assaults against PSOs within the outer south east region – 36 reports in Dandenong, 10 reports in Casey and a single report in Cardinia.
Pakenham police Senior Sergeant Graeme Stanley did not deny the inherit dangers police members faced when out on the street but assured rates were low within the local unit.
“No member is currently off-duty due to injuries received on-duty,” he said.
Assault categorised under Section 31 of the Crimes Act 1958 takes in actions that intentionally or recklessly injure or insult a person or deprive them of their liberty.
Statistics show the rate of assault against emergency workers including police and ambulance staff in the region jumped 53 per cent in the past five years.