By Mitchell Clarke
Pakenham residents are uniting with a shared motive to make the streets safer, amid a “rise in gang violence”.
Two Facebook groups, ‘D Crime Pakenham’ and ‘Pakenham Uncovered’, have gained notoriety in recent months as concerned community members post up-to-date information about “gang” activity in the area.
The founders of each group have told the Gazette their respective groups were made in response to an escalation in violence, but said the online forums were in no way linked to any “vigilante” style behaviour.
D Crime Pakenham founder Daniel Moore said the page was regulated often and about 25 people had been removed for threatening messages, bullying or vigilante talk.
“We don’t want that. That’s not the intention of the group. The main intention is to just get the community together and to speak up about the problem so we’re actually heard,” he explained.
“I started the group because I don’t want my kids to grow up and not be able to walk out the front door. That’s what people are feeling at the moment.
“I feel like it’s been getting progressively worse in the last few months. The issue has really exploded in that Henty Estate and Arden Estate area. I know there are other problem areas as well, like the Cardinia Lakes estate and around the train stations.”
Pakenham Uncovered founder Joshua Triggs created his group to collect live data on violent crimes within the area.
“I had noticed a trend on similar groups in regards to an escalation in local violence, predominantly within the African youth community,” he said.
“I found these posts would often turn into racial debates with extreme views from both parties. This would lead to a removal of the post, which I believe took away attention from the frequency and severity of these attacks.”
The brutal attack on Ben Wooley hit home for Mr Triggs, who lost a close friend in 2004, after he sustained traumatic brain injuries in a one-punch assault.
He said he had no intentions of creating a “vigilante or hate group”, rather a diverse group for people of all backgrounds.
“For this reason I started a group, and ensured it never broke any legal guidelines. I don’t tolerate racism – it’s beneath a civilized community. And believe it or not, our goal is to ensure the safety of the young women in these videos,” he explained.
“I decided at this point that enough was enough. The primary focus of a community must always be to ensure the safety of its citizens, especially its kids.”
Both men argue local police aren’t adequately resourced to deal with the issue at hand.
“The police don’t have the resources or the personnel to throw at it in Cardinia. There are 1100 members on D Crime, I want to see if the police can utilise us. I want to work with the police, not against them,” Mr Moore said.
State Bass MP Jordan Crugnale met with Cardinia Local Area Commander Inspector Dee Dummett and Community Engagement Coordinator Senior Constable Steve Butler at the Pakenham police station to discuss crime, including recent events at Ron Andrews park.
“I want people to know that we are committed to keeping the Pakenham community safe,” Ms Crugnale told the Gazette.
“There are more police present and conducting patrols in the Pakenham area, and with a number of arrests being made following recent incidents in the area, I have full confidence in Victoria Police to keep us safe.”
Since 2016, 187 more full time officers have been deployed to the Dandenong police area – which includes Pakenham. The roles include a specialist Public Order Response Team as well as more transit police, uniformed members and plain clothed detectives.
Ms Crugnale said Protective Service Officers (PSOs) also continued to provide a “highly visible presence and strong deterrent” to crime on public transport and hubs in Pakenham and surrounding areas.
“We are active also in getting to the root causes of crime with our Building Safer Communities program launched just last week where community groups and councils can apply for innovative crime prevention projects through two streams which will open in January 2021,” she said.
That program offers grants of between $25,000 and $300,000 to deliver grassroots and community focused projects to prevent crime.
“These grants give local communities the resources they need to tackle the crime and safety issues that matter most to them,” Crime Prevention Minister Natalie Hutchins said.
Cardinia Shire Council and local non-profit organisations can apply to fund various prevention initiatives or urban design projects, which deter crime, increase safety and activate public places.
A separate fund will also support community-designed and delivered projects that take an evidence-informed and innovative approach to addressing crime.
“I really encourage people, community groups and council to have a think about creative projects that can change the look of an area, activate a public place, deter crime and make it safer, as well as what partnerships can be formed to address crime and safety issues,” Ms Crugnale said.
In October last year, the State Government also granted Cardinia Shire Council with $500,000 to install or upgrade CCTV across 10 sites in Pakenham, Kooweerup, Lang Lang and Emerald.
The sites slated for extra surveillance in Pakenham are Henry Street, James Street and Station Street.
Grab a copy of this week’s Gazette to read Ms Crugnale’s editorial titled ‘Crime on agenda’.
