By Alesha Capone
ALMOST half of Wyndham’s residents feel unsafe when walking the area’s streets at night, according to a police survey.
A copy of the National Survey of Community Satisfaction with Policing (NSCSP) – which was carried out in Police Service Areas between July-September this year – was obtained by Star through a Freedom of Information request.
The survey showed 46 per cent of respondents reported feeling unsafe while walking around Wyndham at night, compared to the 86 per cent who felt secure while walking around in daylight.
The NSCSP also showed many residents of the Wyndham community trust police, with 77 per cent of those surveyed saying they have confidence in police.
The NSCSP asked Wyndham residents about their driving behaviour within the past six months.
Sixteen per cent admitted to driving while on the phone and 15 per cent admitted to speeding.
Driver behaviour was also seen as the biggest problem in Wyndham’s neighbourhoods, with 83 per cent of residents reporting it caused trouble in their area.
Wyndham’s Police Inspector Bill Weatherly said driver distraction was increasingly becoming a problem on the area’s roads.
“Driving while using a mobile phone is a significant distraction, it can impair a driver’s reaction time, ability to maintain speed and position on the road and general awareness of other traffic,” he said.
“Speed was the major contributing factor in about 30 per cent of fatal collisions last year. Our local Highway Patrol Units actively target speeding and mobile phone use on our roads.
“Our Highway Patrol Unit, along with general duties members, run many traffic operations throughout the year to address road safety issues.”
In addition, 52 per cent of people said drugs were an issue in their Wyndham neighbourhood, but Insp Weatherly said the latest crime statistics in Wyndham indicated drug offences have decreased 8.6 per cent per 100, 000 population.
“Detectives from Wyndham Crime Investigation Unit and general duties members have a dedicated drug tasking team that gather intelligence and investigate drug-related crime,” he said.
Just under half of the surveyed residents said gangs were an issue in their area.
However, Insp Weatherly said gangs were not a significant problem within Wyndham.
“No, our intelligence suggests it is more the actions of individuals in a group that sometimes engage in an anti-social behaviour, at times committing graffiti or other public nuisance activities rather than serious crime,” he said.
