Melbourne CBD 'safer than public perception'
By Lauren Wilson
The Australian
September 11, 2009 07:12am
Police statistics provided exclusively to The Australian show that while the population of the Melbourne city centre has increased 18-fold since the mid-1990s, the number of assaults recorded in the city has risen at a much slower rate.
When the population growth is taken into account, the chance of a resident being attacked in the inner city today is lower than it was in 2002 or 2003, and about half what it was in 2000.
Victoria Police Deputy Commissioner Kieran Walshe said the potential for a city resident to be attacked, "is far, far less than it was. People have been given the impression it is war out there and it's not", he said.
On top of the CBD population surge, Melbourne City Council estimates about 771,000 people come in to the CBD daily - with 40 per cent of those being "night users" of the area - and on average about 5.4 assaults a day occur in the city.
"It hasn't been as bad as what the perception is in the minds of the community," Mr Walshe said.
"There will always be assaults - we can have police on every corner of every street, but that's not going to stop everything happening."
However, what the statistics failed to show was that the assaults had become more violent in recent years, he said.
And the police are increasingly finding themselves the targets of street violence.
Read more on this story at The Australian
Melbourne CBD 'safer than public perception' | National News | News.com.au
wow who would have thought /sarcasm
By Lauren Wilson
The Australian
September 11, 2009 07:12am
- Number of attacks not as bad as public thinks
- Melbourne CBD safer than at start of decade
- But attacks are more violent, police admit
Police statistics provided exclusively to The Australian show that while the population of the Melbourne city centre has increased 18-fold since the mid-1990s, the number of assaults recorded in the city has risen at a much slower rate.
When the population growth is taken into account, the chance of a resident being attacked in the inner city today is lower than it was in 2002 or 2003, and about half what it was in 2000.
Victoria Police Deputy Commissioner Kieran Walshe said the potential for a city resident to be attacked, "is far, far less than it was. People have been given the impression it is war out there and it's not", he said.
On top of the CBD population surge, Melbourne City Council estimates about 771,000 people come in to the CBD daily - with 40 per cent of those being "night users" of the area - and on average about 5.4 assaults a day occur in the city.
"It hasn't been as bad as what the perception is in the minds of the community," Mr Walshe said.
"There will always be assaults - we can have police on every corner of every street, but that's not going to stop everything happening."
However, what the statistics failed to show was that the assaults had become more violent in recent years, he said.
And the police are increasingly finding themselves the targets of street violence.
Read more on this story at The Australian
Melbourne CBD 'safer than public perception' | National News | News.com.au
wow who would have thought /sarcasm
