Priorities: Inspector Gary Bruce settles into his role as the region’s new top cop at Geelong Police Station.
By Michelle Herbison
PARENTS who fail to “exercise effective control” are responsible for increasing youth crime in Geelong, according to the region’s new top cop.
Inspector Gary Bruce said tackling youth crime was high on his agenda as Geelong’s police service area commander.
Other priorities included family violence and road incidents, he said.
Insp Bruce attributed Geelong’s recent increase in youth offences and alcohol-related incidents to a change in young people’s attitudes.
“There’s an element of young people in particular who are roaming around the streets in the middle of the night,” he said.
“For a lot of those offenders, traditionally you would be saying parents should know where they are and they should be at home.
“Being a parent, I know it’s difficult. Some parents are trying their hardest and sometimes it just doesn’t work.”
Insp Bruce said Geelong police would work with the departments of human services and education on prevention initiatives.
He looked forward to working in his new role for “at least five years”.
Insp Bruce replaced Chris Gawne who took over after Phil Swindells became ill last year.
Insp Bruce said he was back in uniform after a career involving mostly detective work.
He first worked in Geelong as a sergeant in 1989 after transferring from Melbourne.
“The last five to seven years I’ve been working on strategic crime issues in the western region, working with management to try to reduce crime,” he said.
“I did this job for a few months six or seven years ago. While a lot of the issues remain the same, I think there are more pressures than before in terms of trying to achieve good results for the community.”
Insp Bruce believed police had successfully made central Geelong safer than 15 years ago.
But traffic accidents were still a problem in the region, he said.
“Geelong has for a number of years been in the top 10 police service areas for traffic incidents. We continue to have accidents caused by negligence and failing to comply with the road rules.”
Insp Bruce said he would put more police on the region’s roads.
He would also target family violence.
Insp Bruce attributed a recent increase in family violence reports to police strategies.
“Domestic violence was substantially under-reported and we’ve worked extremely hard over the last few years to increase reports to Vicpol,” he said.
“We’ll ensure repeat offenders are the main focus.”
