By Danielle Kutchel
Australian-born criminals outnumber offenders from Sudan and South Sudan, 11 times to one.
That’s according to new data supplied exclusively to Star News Group by the Crime Statistics Agency (CSA).
In the 12 months from October 2018 to September 2019, 3923 recorded alleged offender incidents were committed by Australian-born people, compared to 353 by people born in Sudan or South Sudan.This was followed by 278 born in New Zealand.
The number of recorded alleged offender incidents committed by an Australian-born offender has increased since the 2017-18 reporting period, up 9.4 per cent.
This is compared to the recorded number committed by those born in Sudan or South Sudan, which decreased by 11.3 per cent.
The data does not indicate the outcome of any investigation.
According to the CSA, an alleged offender incident is an incident involving one or more offences to which an individual, business or organisation has been linked as an alleged offender.
For the purposes of reporting crime statistics, an alleged offender incident involves only one offender (where two individuals have participated in the same incident two alleged offender incidents will be recorded); can involve one or more victims; and can involve offences that occur over a period of time but have been processed by Victoria Police as the same incident.
Greater Dandenong Local Area Commander Inspector Mark Langhorn said criminality is not “predicated on nationality, race, culture, sex, gender or age.”
“While Victoria Police and the African community has acknowledged a small group of young people are committing criminal acts, we know the vast majority of the African community, irrespective of their ages, are law abiding people,” he said.
“However, we want to be clear that police will not tolerate those who break the law or engage in anti-social and violent behaviour that puts the safety of others at risk.
“We are working hard to prevent crime on a day to day basis with police committed to holding offenders to account.”
Police in the Greater Dandenong area have implemented a number of initiatives aimed at reducing youth crime over the past several months, including the Embedded Youth Outreach Program (EYOP) which began in late August 2018.
The EYOP aims to address and reduce youth crime and sees police paired with Youth Support and Advocacy Service (YSAS) youth workers in areas where youth offending and antisocial behaviour has increased.
Together, youth workers and police identify services that can help young people address family issues, alcohol and drug abuse, unemployment, mental health and disengagement from school.
Police from the Southern Metro Division 3, which includes Greater Dandenong, are also involved in the Community Leaders Outreach Initiative which sees members of the South Sudanese and Pacific Islander communities undertake proactive patrols at Fountain Gate Shopping Centre.
The patrols are community led and supported by police who are rostered on at the time, and aim to engage with young people in the community, identify issues and opportunities facing them, and develop relationships.
Just over one per cent of unique offenders in Victoria are born in Sudan and South Sudan, compared to 71 per cent born in Australia, followed by 2.3 per cent born in New Zealand and 1.6 percent born in India.
