Our statewide figures show that in 2007/08, 1,447 people of Indian origin were victims of crimes against the person such as robberies and assaults, an increase from 1082 the previous year.

This was compared to 24,260 Caucasian victims and 36,765 victims overall. In 2008, there were almost 160,000 international students in Victoria. Of these, more than 46,000 were from India, making Indian students the largest group of overseas students in Victoria. This has more than doubled since 2006.

Unfortunately, this issue is symptomatic of what we are seeing across the community as a whole. In recent years there has been a rise in street level robberies with people walking alone seen as ‘soft targets,’ particularly if they are carrying laptops, mobile phones and MP3 players.

I know this term has caused concern among the Indian students who think the term ‘soft target’ is derogatory. While I understand their concern, it is important to clarify that when we use the term ‘soft target’ we are referring to anyone in the community, irrespective of their background who is perceived to be vulnerable to crime due to their circumstances.

I understand that the Indian students believe that these crimes are race-based. Some of these crimes are racially motivated; however I also believe that many of the robberies and other crimes of violence are simply opportunistic.

We know that a lot of international students work and study late at night and are often travelling home by themselves on trains, equipped with their laptops and phones. Unfortunately they are often just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Whatever the motivation, racism in any form is wrong and these crimes are wrong and Victoria Police has already dedicated a lot of time and effort to tackling this problem.

Only last week I met with the Indian High Commissioner and Consul General to discuss these matters. That is why I am surprised and disappointed at the protest held in Melbourne over the weekend and claims amongst some sections of the Indian community that Victoria Police is doing nothing about the problem.

The demonstration caused significant disruption to the CBD, and whilst police were very patient and tolerant it reached a point where we had to forcibly disperse the crowd to resume traffic flow.

Whilst the demonstrators may have made a powerful point to the community, Victoria Police already understands and is addressing the issues they were raising. We have been taking the issue seriously and will continue to do so.
In fact, in the western suburbs we instigated the Police Indian Western Reference Group to collectively discuss ways to decrease the level of victimisation of Indian students.

We have run a number of operations in Melbourne’s west. We have doubled the size of our Embona Robbery Taskforce and only last month detectives charged more than 20 people with robbery related offences.

Last weekend more than 75 undercover and uniform police flooded the streets of Sunshine and St Albans as part of a continued approach to target robberies. The two day operation resulted in seven arrests and a number of weapons seized.

Three previous operations resulted in the arrest of about 40 people for around 70 various offences including robbery, serious assault and possession of regulated weapons.

Importantly, these initiatives are already proving successful with a decrease in the numbers of assaults occurring in that area.

Whilst police will continue to address this issue through enforcement and working with the community there is also a need for others to share the responsibility. No matter how many police we have, we simply can’t be present for every crime that takes place. That is why we have been asking the community to play their part – to keep themselves and their belongings safe.

I urge the Indian community to continue to work with us to find an effective and sustainable solution.

Simon Overland
Chief Commissioner

Our Say allows the community to hear the view of Victoria Police on current issues involving police.

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