By Karen Poh
WYNDHAM’S newly promoted police Inspector Bill Weatherly will target youth issues and family violence as he begins his new role.
The former Senior Sergeant had been Wyndham’s acting inspector since January last year after moving from Footscray.
Insp Weatherly said Wyndham had a large proportion of young people and underage drinking had become a major concern.
“We have so many people between the ages 14 and 21. Friday and Saturday nights they’re out on the streets, that’s a huge issue,” he said.
Another major issue was family violence but that was something they had begun to “make inroads into”, the 53-year-old said.
Insp Weatherly said he was proud of the efforts of the police’s family violence unit that had been established in Wyndham.
Insp Weatherly acknowledged that Wyndham and other western suburb municipalities were among the most challenging. But he said despite poor results last year, crime rates in Wyndham were beginning to drop.
“When I came down here in January 2007 our crime was 50.1 per cent up on the year before. We finished at 44 per cent up for the year,” he said.
“This year, we’re 19 per cent down. We’re probably the best in the state at the moment,” he said.
Insp Weatherly said the improvement was because Wyndham was “starting to be looked after a bit”.
The Wyndham crime desk had begun operating successfully, more officers have been deployed and an extra three cars patrolled the area every Friday and Saturday night.
Inspector Weatherly said he believed building strong community partnerships was the key in Wyndham.
“The area is growing so quick and if we don’t form partnerships, we won’t be able to do the jobs by ourselves,” he said.
“I’m just about to start two members on our community members liaison role, which is simply about being out there for our community – going to schools, engaging the elderly, going to wherever we think we might have a community issue.”
Insp Weatherly has plans to organise a forum, gathering principals from every school to discuss how partnerships can be formed.
He hopes his appointment will bring a sense of “stability around the place” for the Werribee police, after a string of acting inspectors, acting senior sergeants and acting sergeants.
“For the members of Werribee, it’s the first time in a long time since they’ve had a head bloke here.
“So that itself is a win,” he said.
The appointment is a significant milestone for Insp Weatherly.
“It’s been a really big day today. I got presented with my Australian Police Medal at Government House, and as I was driving there, I got the phone call to say I got promoted. Thirty-six years in the job, I’m probably a late bloomer to be an inspector,” he joked.
“I’ve always worked in the western suburbs, Footscray, Williamstown, now Werribee.
“It’s been a long journey, but I’m really happy.”
