Volunteer community leaders who have teamed up with the Police and Youth Leaders Engagement Team (PYLET) are proving to be an effective means of dealing with young offenders.
Young people from suburbs such as Springvale – and other places in the Local Government Areas of Casey, Greater Dandenong and Cardinia in Victoria’s south-east – are participating in a program that uses a proactive approach to tackle crime.
Sergeant Joey Herrech, who co-ordinates the project, said policing was no longer exclusively a police officer’s problem but rather a community issue, and the volunteers were playing an important role by engaging with youth to help reduce the incidence of crime in the local area.
He added that program volunteers were leaders within the community, and represented various ethnic backgrounds.
Much of their work is undertaken early at night, when it is considered an ideal time to approach young people and establish a rapport, with a key objective being to recognise any potential risk situations. They accompany police on their rounds.
Confidential statistics indicate the program is working well, with police recording a dramatic downturn in callouts.
Although not publicly circulated via marketing strategies such as flying printing, the initiative has won a number of awards, including those issued by the Police and Community Multicultural Advisory Commission and the Human Rights Commission.
A similar program is soon to be introduced in Frankston.
