Drug reports down, rape reports up

By Shaun Inguanzo
DANDENONG Police have praised local drug action committees for helping to reduce the number of drug offences in the City of Greater Dandenong.
Crime statistics released by Victoria Police this week for the 2006-07 financial year show a 6.4 per cent reduction in drug offences since 2005-06.
Greater Dandenong Inspector Derek Lamb said a drop in the number of drug offences was due to better teamwork from police units, and also to input from the local drug action committees.
“It is hard to put a specific value on them, but it means we can work with those people who have interest in drug issues and have feedback about what they are doing,” Insp Lamb said.
“They also provide us with information on drug issues because they are often the eyes and ears at a community level.
“The drug action committees also help to provide reassurance to people in terms of action being taken on drugs.”
Insp Lamb defended a 71 per cent increase in rapes over the 12 months.
He said people had come forward to report old incidents, and the number of rapes that actually occurred during the year was lower than the figures showed.
“We haven’t had a spike in rapes or sex offences,” he said.
“Some of them are quite old and people have come forward and reported them for various reasons.”
Overall, the figures show crime has reduced by four per cent in Greater Dandenong, a point of which Insp Lamb is proud.
“A four per cent reduction is a great result for Greater Dandenong and already this year we are only into the third month and we have received a greater reduction in crime,” he said.
“Our main focus for the next 12 months will be to focus on robberies, assaults and property damage.”