By VANESSA CHIRCOP
More than 100 people have been charged with weapons and explosives offences in Hobsons Bay in the last financial year.
Statistics obtained exclusively by Star, have revealed police charged 108 offenders with 116 weapons/explosives offences between July 2010 and June 2011.
Thirty-eight people were charged with possessing a controlled weapon, 15 people were charged with possessing a prohibited weapon and nine were nabbed for possessing ammo without a licence.
Other charges laid included carrying a dangerous article in a public place, carrying ammo in an unsafe manner, carrying a firearm under the influence of alcohol and using a controlled weapon without excuse.
Hobsons Bay Inspector Bill Mathers said Hobsons Bay police were working hard to send a message out to the community and young people that it is not okay to carry weapons in public.
“Anytime we find a person with a weapon in our streets it’s a cause for alarm because situations can very easily escalate and get out of control,” he said.
“We think it has improved and we’re looking at our public order of management to see if we can improve it.
“The last two summers we’ve been very pleased with the results, in terms of public offences, assaults and people carrying weapons – but we do try and police it heavily.”
Insp Mathers said flick knives are some of the most common weapons found on people.
“In the last 12 months we had a group who had shanghai (slingshots) and went around and caused a lot of damage throughout Werribee and Altona,” he said.
“These were probably among the more unusual weapons.”
Insp Mathers said police often attend homes for unrelated issues such as domestic disputes or to execute a warrant to search for stolen goods and may come across illegally kept weapons.
“A lot of it comes into contact with police, especially when we take people into custody and we search them.
“We find they have either weapons or other paraphernalia that they shouldn’t have.”
With the issue of people illegally carrying weapons widespread across Melbourne Insp Mathers said the excuse many people use for carrying weapons is “for protection”.
“We would suggest avoidance is the best form or safety – by not putting themselves in dangerous situations.”
