Our Say: Chief Commissioner sets record straight on city violence |
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| Thursday, 01 October 2009 15:48 |
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Today’s Herald Sun claimed Mr Overland was ‘in denial’ about the attacks. But on 3AW Radio this morning, Mr Overland challenged the reporting, describing it as ‘disappointing’ and said his remarks had been taken out of context. He said: “I’ve acknowledged repeatedly that there is a real problem, that assaults are increasing, that the level of violence within these assaults is getting worse, and that we need to do something about it. “But there still is this perception that the whole city is not safe. And that’s not true. There are parts of the city that are still really quiet safe. “The perception is being fuelled by the playing of CCTV footage of very violent incidents, and that scares people and I understand it scares people.” "Perception is important because we don't want good people giving up on the city, because if good people give up on the city and don't come in there, it just leaves it for the ratbags.'' Mr Overland said that news channel broadcasting of CCTV footage was a crucial tool in the battle to catch offenders. But it also meant that people were being exposed to graphic and violent incidents that they would never have seen years ago. “It’s shocking and it upsets people and the point I was trying to make is that you don’t need too many of those incidents playing through the media or over the internet for people to see these things and understandably have a reaction to them.” “We are working hard to make the city a safer place and we want the community to work with us so that good people continue to come in to the city. “We are taking much stronger enforcement action around violence in the city and have been doing so since October 2007 with the Safe Streets Taskforce. “Our enforcement data is up and has almost doubled in the last twelve months because of the action we have been taking.” Share This Page  
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