One local woman from Queens Park has taken a stand against rising crime in her suburb by presenting a petition with 60 signatures to the City of Canning.
Speaking at this month’s ordinary council meeting, Shirley Scala voiced her concerns about the perceived lack of action being taken to address crime in her suburb, urging the City to implement necessary measures.
“Residents of Queens Park are very concerned about ongoing and recent criminal activities,” Ms Scala said.
“We would like to know what has been done to reduce the criminal activities in our area.
“Even though we have CCTV, these criminals are not going away.”
According to Red Suburbs Australia, crime in Queens Park increased by 33 per cent from 2022 to 2023, with 381 theft cases reported in the suburb last year.
Ms Scala believes the street lights in the area are not bright enough at night, and she and the local community have had enough of the persistent problems.
“When I went door knocking at each house, getting signatures, some residents were crying and saying that some of their houses had been broken into six to seven times,” she said.
“The day when my daughter’s car was broken into, there were another 11 cars targeted on the same night.”
City of Canning Mayor Patrick Hall told Ms Scala that he believes the City is doing everything it can to address the ongoing crime issues, but there’s only so much a local council can do to assist the community, given their limited authority.
“Whilst councils have a very small part to play, as does every member of the community, crime is a matter for the Western Australian police; it’s a state government responsibility,” Mayor Hall said.
“Councils can only do so much, as we have no authority to act on matters about cars being broken into or suspicious people walking the streets at night and breaking into homes.
“I believe that we are doing all that we can here at the City of Canning to assist our community with the small amount of authority that we actually have.”
As part of its commitment to helping residents enhance their security, the City of Canning offers an annual Security Incentive Scheme that provides rebates for the installation of home security items, including CCTV.
So far, the City has subsidised the installation of more than $1 million worth of security items within the community.
Mayor Hall assured Ms Scala that discussions are ongoing between the City and members of Parliament to potentially increase funding for security rebates and that he and Councillor Michelle Hurn recently met with Zaneta Mascarenhas to discuss this.
After a brief off-mic discussion with Canning’s Director of Infrastructure and Environment Warren Bow, Mayor Hall added that someone from the City would assess the street lights in her area and evaluate the feasibility of installing LED globes.
“We’ll get somebody to come out and actually see where you live, look at those lights and see what can be done about those,” he said.
“That’s something that perhaps we can influence.”
