By Alesha Capone
WYNDHAM police have advised teenagers not to walk alone when possible, as they investigate a series of street robberies which have been targeting school students in the area,
On the Victoria Police ‘My Place’ website, Wyndham Inspector Bill Weatherly said “an emerging issue is the number of robberies occurring, which has increased in the past 12 months”.
“They are street robberies and the victims are usually soft targets like school children walking home or the elderly,” he wrote.
“Police are concentrating their efforts to address this problem and a tasking unit has been assigned and has begun to gather intelligence.”
Last week, he spoke to Star about the issue and advised young people to walk in public with a friend when possible.
“The victims are predominantly teenagers walking home, not necessarily from school,” Insp Weatherly said.
“The offences are throughout the Wyndham area. I must stress the numbers are not big but when you come off a consistent zero base 12 months ago, the numbers impact greatly percentage wise.”
Insp Weatherly said street robberies “have been a concern across metropolitan Melbourne for the past two-three years, however it has emerged in Wyndham over the past twelve months”.
He said the offenders have been taking ipods, laptop computers, money and clothing from young people.
“Young teenagers and the elderly are vulnerable so they are easy targets,” Insp Weatherly said.
Anyone with information can contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
