BATTLING Frankston’s “negative image” – especially at shopping hubs in Beach St – was the topic of discussion at Tuesday night’s FUNC meeting in Karingal Place Neighbourhood Centre.
Frankston United Neighbours Connect secretary Tracey Hopgood said a daily paper’s description of thefts and vandalism in the long street, and how traders were overwhelmed by crime, were sullying the area’s reputation.
“We were frustrated by the negativity,” she said. “There are a lot of really good Frankston residents.”
About 20 residents and traders attended the meeting in Ashley Av to discuss crime in the street and work out ways to combat it.
FUNC is working hard to put residents on the front foot when it comes to tackling crime. “We don’t want them to feel afraid or intimidated,” Ms Hopgood said.
“We don’t want people to think that crime is just a police responsibility. It’s all our problem and change can come very quickly if we all get together and become involved.”
Because of the length of Beach St, the group will hold three trader meetings over the next few weeks to thrash out problems and work out counter strategies.
Begun about a year ago when a few residents in three streets banded together to combat street crime and rooming house issues, FUNC now has representatives in 14 streets and about 140 members.
Meetings are usually held monthly, with neighbourhood representatives letting their neighbours know in advance what streets will be the subject of discussion.
Ms Hopgood urged residents to call Triple 000 if they witness a street crime, rather than their local police station. “In that way, the crimes still get reported to the police for immediate action, but they also are collated into statistics which can be used to detect patterns of crime,” she said.
“Police can then use these patterns to catch offenders in the act, for example, hooning. If residents repeatedly see hooning at a certain time they should call that number and police will ‘sit off’ the road to catch the offers.”
In the past, this concerted action by residents has resulted in “pushing people along – particularly drug dealers,” Ms Hopgood said, “rather than risking arrest by staying in an obviously targeted area.
“If we can get people to report 10 incidents then that’s too much so police will take action.”
Frankston Acting Senior Sergeant Steve McRae, who attended the Karingal meeting, said residents should give police details of anti-social behaviour so it could be forwarded to the tasking unit and action taken to prevent further crimes.
“There are definitely issues at Beach St – mostly shoplifting – and we are trying to deal with them. It is important that residents feel empowered and that neighbours are looking after their areas.
“We want to target enforcement, so it’s important that neighbours keep diaries of street crime and send the information to us.”
Acting Senior Sergeant McRae said FUNC’s action 12 months ago in curbing street crime by boarding house residents in Darley Ct, Frankston North, was a “classic example of a neighbourhood group looking after their own environment”.
“The group’s influence is spreading and that’s great.”
Ms Hopgood said the “whole point of FUNC” is that residents know that they are not alone when standing up to crime.
“People are sometimes fearful; that if they stick their neck out they will be in trouble, but we have got their back,” she said. “We can help.”
